Nov. 22, 2008

• 2008 Navy Classic Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy wrestling team claimed two of the 10 individual titles and had 17 wrestlers place, as the Midshipmen won the 2008 Navy Classic held Saturday at Halsey Field House in Annapolis. The Mids dueled second-place Virginia Tech the entire day, coming out on top of the Hokies by two points, 155.5-153.5, to take their home tournament for the 16th time in the 31-year history of the Navy Classic.

Going into the place-winning rounds, Navy and Virginia Tech were deadlocked at 141.5 points each. Both teams sent five wrestlers to championship bouts and both programs had two individual winners. In the end, Navy placed 17 wrestlers, while Virginia Tech placed 12 of their 15 wrestlers.

With the lead bobbing back and forth throughout, the match was tied heading into the 197-pound matches. Virginia Tech's DJ Bruce dropped an 8-3 decision to top-seeded Cayle Byers in the championship bout, while Navy senior Philip Neese (Lexington, S.C.) came through for the Mids in the third-place match. Neese's escape to start the third period tied the score at four apiece. With time winding down, Neese not only scored the takedown against The Citadel's Odie Delaney, he put his shoulders to the mat and scored an extra-point pin to give the Mids the two-point advantage heading into the heavyweight bouts. It was a lead, Navy would not relinquish en route to winning the team title.

"Speaking from the standpoint that we won the tournament and had a bunch of wrestlers place, we had a good day," said ninth-year Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "We took home a lot of hardware and had some fine performances.

"All that said, it all comes back to doing the little things right and we've struggled this last month trying to perfect our fundamentals. We lost several matches in the last few seconds just from getting away from the basics. Even some of the matches we won were closer because of the small things we let get in our way. It comes down to preparation and I'm going to continue to stress it. That's how we are going to get better."

Elkton, Md., native Luke Rebertus became only the sixth Navy freshman to win an individual title at the Navy Classic and the first since Tyrone Neal in 1998 when he clipped UNC Greensboro sophomore Byron Sigmon, 3-2, at 174 pounds. Rebertus, who was the No. 3 seed, led from the opening period and never trailed in the match. The rookie has now placed in the top two in each of the two tournaments in which he has competed this season and owns an 11-1 record.

"It makes me feel good that I'm one of the few freshmen at Navy who have won an individual title at the Navy Classic, but to be honest it's just a step," said Rebertus, who has the overwhelming responsibility of `replacing' Navy's all-time winningest wrestler Matt Stolpinski at 174 pounds. "It's the first step in me qualifying for the NCAA Championship. It certainly matters, but placing at the NCAA Championship is my ultimate goal this year. If I wrestle up to my standards and working on getting rid of some of my mistakes, I think I can make an impact for my team."

Joining Rebertus atop the podium was sophomore 149-pounder Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.), one of two returning NCAA qualifiers for the Midshipmen. Like Rebertus, Saddoris never trailed in his match against second-seeded Kevin LeValley of Bucknell. Saddoris lead 2-1 after the first period before pushing his lead to 6-3 by the end of the second stanza. He built an 8-5 lead before taking the 9-5 decision with riding time. It marked the second consecutive year Saddoris defeated LeValley in the third-place bout at the Navy Classic.

Saddoris, meanwhile, stands undefeated this year, winning all 11 matches, including individual titles at the Eastern Michigan Open and now the Navy Classic.

"I've really been working hard in the wrestling room," said Saddoris, who though just a sophomore, can lend his experiences and success to a young Navy team. "I've just been trying to bust my butt and get better.

"When I went to the NCAA Championship last year, I was just happy to be there," added Saddoris, who owns a 46-12 career record. "But once I got there and saw my teammates wrestle and reflected upon the experience, I realized the caliber of opponent that I need to beat and have the potential to beat. It gave me the confidence to continue to work hard.

"The main key is working hard. That's what I'm trying to show my teammates right now."

Three additional Navy wrestlers made appearances in the championship bout, but fell short. Rookie Prescott Garner (West Linn, Ore.) wrestled his way into the title match at 125 pounds, defeating second-seeded Derek Reber of Bucknell in the semis, 10-7. Garner gave a good effort in his match against top-seeded Jarrod Garnett and got as close as two points early in the second period, but went on to drop the 11-3 decision and place second.

Perhaps the biggest upset of the evening was at heavyweight where Duke's unranked Konrad Dudziak scooted by fifth-ranked Scott Steele (Baltimore, Md.) to hand the Navy team captain his first loss of the 2008-09 campaign. After a scoreless first period, Steele managed the first point with an escape that was followed by a Dudziak takedown. With the two bitterly fighting one another, Steele suffered an injury that brought the trainers to the mat to tend to him. He looked to have shaken off the injury and knotted the score with an escape to close the period. Dudziak, though, would not be denied as he was able to get loose to start the third period and the one-point margin would be all he needed in a 3-2 upset win over Steele.

This is the second time in the last year that Dudziak has beaten Steele. At last spring's University Nationals, Dudziak denied Steele in the consolation bracket, 3-3, 1-0, sending him to the seventh-place bout.

Senior All-American Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) was forced to forfeit his title match against second-seeded and defending Navy Classic winner David Marble of Bucknell after suffering an injury. Baker, who has been sidelined the first three weeks of the season, won his first three matches of the tournament, including two by technical fall and a third by major decision.

In addition to Rebertus and Garner, four other freshmen placed for the Mids, including Austin Clouse (Annapolis, Md.), whose 5-3 win over Virginia Tech sophomore Jared Jones for fifth place would become a major factor in the Mids winning the team title.

Also placing for the Midshipmen were Allan Stein (Portland, Maine) (6th at 125), Aaron Kalil (Salem, N.H.) (3rd at 133), John Majka (Chicago, Ill.) (4th at 141), Cory Vernon (Great Meadows, N.J.) (6th at 149), Joel Ahern (Herkimer, N.Y.) (3rd at 157), Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.) (4th at 157), Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.) (3rd at 165), Jason Coyne (Trafford, Pa.) (4th at 165), Mike Billings (Waterford, Mich.) (6th at 174), Casey Caldwell (Liberty, Ind.) (3rd at 184).

Navy will be back in action Dec. 7 when it travels State College, Pa. to compete in the Nittany Lion Open.

Final Team Standings
1 - 155.5    Navy
2 - 153.5    Virginia Tech
3 - 120.5    Bucknell
4 -  69.5    UNC Greensboro
5 -  69.0    George Mason
6 -  46.5    Duke
7 -  45.5    The Citadel
8 -  34.0    Campbell
9 -  33.0    Franklin & Marshall
10 - 30.5    Gardner-Webb
11 - 23.0    Duquesne
12 - 20.0    West Virginia

Championship Finals:
125 - Jarred Garnett, Virginia Tech 11-3 Prescott Garner, Navy
133 - David Marble, Bucknell MFF Joe Baker, Navy
141 - Chris Bencivenga, Greensboro 6-3 Chris Diaz, Virginia Tech
149 - Bryce Saddoris, Navy 9-5 Kevin LeValley, Bucknell
157 - Jesse Dong, Virginia Tech 5-3 Andrew Saunders, Greensboro
165 - Andy Rendos, Bucknell 8-2 Matt Epperly, Virginia Tech
174 - Luke Rebertus, Navy 3-2 Bryon Sigmon, Greensboro
184 - John Barone, Duke 7-3 David Thompson, Bucknell
197 - Cayle Byers, George Mason 8-3 DJ Bruce, Virginia Tech
285 - Conrad Dudziek, Duke 3-2 Scott Steele, Navy

Consolation Finals (for third and fifth):
125 - Brock LiVorio, Virginia Tech 6-1 Billy Chamberlain, Duquesne; Derek Reber, Bucknell 15-7 Allan Stein, Navy
133 - Aaron Kalil, Navy 9-3 Denny Herndon, George Mason; Austin Clouse, Navy 5-3 Jarad Jones, Virginia Tech
141 - Kelin Bidelspach, Campbell F1:16 John Majka, Navy; Adam Healy, Bucknell MFF Rob Tate, Gardner-Webb
149 - Peter Yates, Virginia Tech 19-6 Al Gianforti, Franklin & Marshall; Matt Rosen, Virginia Tech 11-6 Cory Vernon, Navy
157 - Joel Ahern, Navy 3-1;sv Glenn Shober, Navy; Frankie McLaughlin, George Mason 4-1 Jake Bohn, George Mason
165 - Matt DeMichiel, Navy 5-3 Jason Coyne, Navy; Kramer Whitelaw, George Mason 8-3 Aaron Keeton, George Mason
174 - Shane Riccio, Bucknell 2-0 Anthony Trongone, Virginia Tech; Justin Herbert, Franklin & Marshall 19-10 Mike Billings, Navy
184 - Casey Caldwell, Navy 5-4 Matt Weston, West Virginia; Kevin O'Connor, Virginia Tech F2:39 Ryan Sughrue,, Greensboro
197 - Philip Neese, Navy F5:52 Odie Delaney, The Citadel; Jay Hahn, Bucknell 15-8 Nathan Jones, Bucknell
285 - Dustin Porter, Gardner-Webb 3-2 David Merone, Virginia Tech; Khiry Reid, Campbell 6-5 Joe Sheffield, Greensboro