Dec. 19, 2008
RENO, Nev. - Sophomore Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) and freshman Luke Rebertus (Elkton, Md.) each claimed individual titles in their respective weight classes to lead the Navy wrestling team to a fifth-place finish on Thursday evening at the 14th Annual Brute Reno Tournament of Champions held at the Reno Downtown Convention Center.
Oklahoma State captured the team title edging out No. 17 Edinboro, who placed second with 132.5 points. North Carolina and Cal State Bakersfield finished in third and fourth place with 94 and 87 points, respectively, while the Mids rounded out the top five with 79 points.
In addition to its two individual champions, Navy also placed in the heavyweight and 157-pound divisions as senior Scott Steele (Baltimore, Md.) and his classmate Joel Ahern (Herkimer, N.Y.) each earned fourth-place finishes.
"We had some good performances and some not-so-good ones," said ninth-year Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "We had two champions and both Bryce and Luke did a good job of making that happen."
Saddoris, ranked fifth in the latest InterMat/NWCA individual rankings, won all five of his bouts to claim the title at 149-pounds. He cruised through the opening rounds, besting Buffalo's Desmond Green and Ohio's Kevin Christensen before earning a 2-0 decision over Oklahoma State's Luke Silver to set up a semifinal match with 15th-ranked Torsten Gillepsie of Edinoboro.
In a hard-fought affair, Saddoris came out on top with a 2-1 victory to advance to the championship, where he would take down unseeded Nick Stabile, 7-4, to win his third tourney title this season and the fourth of his career.
With his impressive effort, the talented second-year grappler is now 20-1 on the year with three wins over ranked opponents. Seeded second at 174-pounds, Rebertus posted a 5-0 mark to improve to 19-3 and claim his second tournament title this season. Along the way, he recorded his first victory over a ranked opponent by knocking off fellow first-year standout and No. 18 Shane Onufer of Wyoming in the semis with a 5-2 decision.
In the championship bout, Rebertus earned a 6-2 decision over Nebraska's Kamarudeen Usman, who previously upset top-seeded and 15th-ranked Austin Trotman of Applachian State in the other semifinal.
Ahern placed fourth at 157, going 4-2 with a pin and major decision. Ahern won his first three matches before falling in the semifinals to the nation's top-ranked wrestler and eventual champion Gregor Gillepsie of Edinoboro.
Ahern would rebound by taking a 2-0 decision from Stanford's Lucas Espericueta, but fell short against North Carolina's Thomas Scotton in a hard-fought 5-3 decision to finish fourth.
In what some considered the tournament's deepest weight class, No. 9 and second-seeded Scott Steele won four of his six bouts to place fourth. Steele got off to a strong start, posting a major decision (13-2), a pin and a 7-0 decision to set up a semifinal match with No. 15 Konrad Dudziak of Duke.
Dudziak, who a little over a month ago recorded a 3-2 upset win over Steele at the Navy Classic, once again edged the Mids' top heavyweight - this time by a narrow 5-4 decision. Steele came back to beat Minnesota State-Mankato's Brady Wilson 5-2, but in the third-place bout, Cal State Bakersfield's Mitch Monteiro, the fourth-seed in the tourney but No. 7 nationally, dealt the Navy standout his second hard-luck setback with a 3-1 decision.
"It wasn't our best showing by any means," added Burnett. "I don't make excuses because there are none in this sport, but with everything the kids went through this week between travel and finals, I know it was tough. Still, we need to get better, fix up the areas where we are struggling and get ready for our next big tourney."
The Midshipmen will be off during the holiday break before taking to the mats on Dec. 29-30 to participate in the Southern Scuffle competition in Greensboro, N.C.
Team Standings1. Oklahoma State, 146.5 points2. Edinboro, 132.5 points3. North Carolina, 94.0 points4. Cal State Bakersfield, 87.0 points5. Navy, 79.0 points6. Arizona State, 63.0 points7. Wyoming, 62.5 points8. Oregon State, 59.5 points9. UC Davis, 58.5 points10. Cal State Fullerton, 57.0 points
*** GO NAVY! ***
