Dec. 29, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Following almost nine hours of action on the mat, the Navy wrestling team is in sixth place with 38 points after day one of the two-day Southern Scuffle held at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center. Eight Midshipmen remain active in the competition, including six who advanced on the championship side of the bracket.

Cal State Bakersfield, whom the Mids defeated 23-16 in dual action earlier this year, holds a half a point advantage over Virginia Tech to lead the team standings with 44.5 points. Cornell stands third with 43.5 points, followed by Kent State in fourth (41.5) and Edinboro in fifth (40.5). Navy, meanwhile, holds a two-point advantage over North Carolina who is in seventh place.

"We've had some good performances by our guys, but this has been a tough tournament for us," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "Like some of the other teams, we had finals and went straight to the Reno (Tournament of Champions) and then we were off for seven days for the holidays. It's easy for me to see who took the time and worked out as they were supposed to and those who did not. I would have liked to have seen some better results today, but again, this gives us an idea of where we stand and where we need to be.

"We have six guys that are going strong in the championship bracket, but they will be challenged tomorrow. It's nice to see some of our young wrestlers gutting it out and still wrestling on day two. And it's good to see Tyler Moyer go 2-0 in his first competition of the season as a senior. We've got a ways to go, but we'll continue to work hard and improve."

Among the eight remaining wrestlers for the Midshipmen are four freshmen, two in the championship bracket and two in the consolations (Prescott Garner at 125 pounds and 133-pounder Aaron Kalil). Chicago native John Majka has a quarterfinals date against third-seeded Vincent Ramirez of North Carolina at 141 pounds, a foe he's likely to meet in just weeks as the two programs lock horns in North Carolina in dual meet competition. Majka looked strong in his three matches on the opening day which featured a pin against Davidson's Ben Thompson in the first round, followed by a 4-0 victory over Richie Spicel of Gardner Webb.

Classmate Luke Rebertus (Elkton, Md.) is looking for his third individual crown of the season, as he will face George Mason's Bagna Tovuujav in the quarterfinals Sunday Tuesday morning. While Rebertus is seeded fifth at 174 pounds, he faces a tough road ahead as six of the seven other wrestlers active in the weight class are seeded. Though Tovuujav is not seeded, he did put away the sixth seed Hunter Meys by a 16-9 count. Rebertus, who is now 21-3 on the year, captured wins over Davidson's Kevin Cook (8-2) and Nick Tenpenny of North Carolina (3-1) to advance to the quarters.

Like Rebertus, sophomore 149-pounder Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) is hoping to put together back-to-back tournament wins. Saddoris, who has dominated his competition with a 23-1 record this winter, has won three tournaments to date, including the Reno Tournament of Champions just before the holiday break. En route to advancing to Tuesday's quarterfinals matchup against seventh-seeded Kaylen Baxter of Old Dominion, Saddoris pinned Duke's Dan Adamo, before dispensing a pair of foes by way of major decisions.

Boasting a 58-13 career record, Saddoris is just one win shy of tying the school record for most wins by a wrestler in his first two seasons. Greg Gingeleskie won 59 matches from 1996-97.

Junior Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.) will represent the Midshipmen in the quarterfinals at 157 pounds against Hofstra's Jon Bonilla-Bowman. Shober picked up back-to-back 6-1 decisions over Bloomsburg's Mike Wechsler and Trevor Hall of Cal State Bakersfield to earn the right to advance in the championship bracket. A win by Shober of Bonilla-Bowman would set up a likely match against the nation's top-ranked wrestler, Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro.

Navy's final two quarterfinalist are out of the big man's category, the heavyweights. A year ago, team captain Scott Steele (Baltimore, Md.) was stopped short of picking up the championship title by his teammate Ed Prendergast, who pinned him in extra minutes to win. Steele, though, has another chance to stand atop the podium after easily advancing to the quarters behind wins over Joe Sheffield of UNC Greensboro (5-0) and Jordan Enck of Hofstra (11-1). Tuesday's matchup against Steele, the third seed, and Edinboro's Joe Fendone will be a good one as Fendone checks in as the No. 5 seed.

Meanwhile, Steele's classmate and roommate Tyler Moyer advanced to the quarters in what has been his first competition of the season. Moyer has been recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, but has managed to edge his competition to keep his hopes alive for a championship victory. He beat out Ohio's Tim Samson and Nico Somers of Franklin & Marshall by one point each. He will face second-seeded Jermail Porter of Kent State in Tuesday's quarterfinals.

Navy wrestlers remaining in action:
Championship Bracket
141: Quarterfinals - John Majka vs. Vincent Ramirez (North Carolina)
149: Quarterfinals - Bryce Saddoris vs. Kaylen Baxter (Old Dominion)
157: Quarterfinals - Glenn Shober vs. Jon Bonilla-Bowman (Hofstra)
174: Quarterfinals - Luke Rebertus vs. Bagna Tovuujav (George Mason)
285: Quarterfinals - Tyler Moyer vs. Jermail Porter (Kent State)
285: Quarterfinals - Scott Steele vs. Joe Fendone (Edinboro)

Consolation Bracket
125: Prescott Garner vs. Brian Wright (George Mason)
133: Aaron Kalil vs. Jason Guffey (Bloomsburg)

Southern Scuffle Team Standings - Following Day One
1 44.5 Cal State Bakersfield
2 44 Virginia Tech
3 43.5 Cornell
4 41.5 Kent State
5 40.5 Edinboro
6 38 Navy
7 36 North Carolina
8 31 Hofstra
9 28.5 Virginia
10 25.5 Bloomsburg
11 24 UNC Greensboro
12 23.5 George Mason
13 22 Boston
13 22 Ohio
15 20.5 Binghamton
15 20.5 NC State
17 20 Duke
18 19.5 Liberty
19 18.5 The Citadel
20 18 Gardner-Webb
21 17.5 Appalachian State
21 17.5 East Stroudsburg
23 16 Franklin & Marshall
24 15.5 Princeton
25 14.5 Lock Haven
26 13.5 Campbell
26 13.5 Old Dominion
28 11 Davidson


Below are opening-day results for the Midshipmen participating:

125: Prescott Garner (Unseeded; 3-1)
Pigtails: lost to Eric Morrill (UNC Greensboro), MD 10-1
Consolations: def. Mike Moreno (NC State), MD 11-1
Consolations: def. Nick Shields (North Carolina), Fall 3:50
Consolations: def. Frank Lomas (Cal State Bakersfield), Fall 5:46
Consolations: vs. Brian Wright (George Mason)

125: Allan Stein (Unseeded; 2-2 Eliminated)
Pigtails: def. Peter Terrezza (Duke), 16-14 SD
First Round: def. Mitchell Johnson (UNC Greensboro), 13-10
Second Round: lost to Ross Gitomer (Virginia), 11-6
Consolation: lost to Tyler Sim (The Citadel), 7-3

133: Aaron Kalil (Unseeded; 2-1)
First Round: lost to Danny Mitcheff (Kent State), 7-1
Consolations: def. Richie Apolina (Campbell), TF 18-3
Consolations: def. Jared Jones (Virginia Tech), 6-2
Consolations: vs. Jason Guffey (Bloomsburg)

141: John Majka (Unseeded; 3-0)
Pigtails: def. Derek Royster (The Citadel), 6-3
First Round: def. Ben Thompson (Davidson), Fall 2:07
Second Round: def. Richie Spicel (Gardner Webb - unattached), 4-0
Quarterfinals: vs. Vincent Ramirez (North Carolina)

141: Matt Pagan (Unseeded; 0-2 Eliminated)
First Round: lost to Chris Bencivenga (UNC Greensboro), 9-4
Consolations: lost to Joel Webster (Edinboro), Fall 4:28

149: Bryce Saddoris (#2 Seed; 3-0)
Pigtails: def. Dan Adamo (Duke), Fall 2:34
First Round: def. Savva Kostis (Appalachian State), MD 15-4
Second Round: def. Nick Murray (Virginia Tech - unattached), MD 17-4
Quarterfinals: vs. Kaylen Baxter (Old Dominion)

149: Cory Vernon (Unseeded; 0-2 Eliminated)
Pigtails: lost to Peter Ferrara (Virginia), Fall 2:56
Consolations: lost to Thomas Windom (Kent State), 11-8

157: Joel Ahern (Unseeded; 2-2 Eliminated)
Pigtails: lost to Carlo Ferrandino (Boston U), 6-5
Consolations: def. Mike Wechsler (Bloomsburg), MD 8-0
Consolations: def. Ollie Cooperwood (Lock Haven), 2-0
Consolations: lost to Ross Tice (Kent State), 9-5

157: Glenn Shober (Unseeded; 2-0)
First Round: def. Mike Wechsler (Bloomsburg), 6-1
Second Round: def. Trevor Hall (Cal State Bakersfield), 6-1
Quarterfinals: vs. Jon Bonilla-Bowman (Hofstra)

165: Jason Coyne (Unseeded; 1-2 Eliminated)
Pigtails: def. Tyler Mullen (Davidson), 9-5
First Round: lost to Chad Porter (Liberty - unattached), 4-2
Consolations: lost to Beau Fisher (Virginia), 8-2

165: Matt DeMichiel (Unseeded; 2-1 Eliminated)
Pigtails: def. CJ Inglin (Boston U), 9-5
First Round: def. Jimmy Kaden (George Mason), 4-3
Second Round: lost to Ryan McGarity (Binghamton), 7-4
Consolations: lost to Matt Coleman (Edinboro - unattached), medical forfeit

165: Robby Neill (Unseeded; 3-2 Eliminated)
Pigtails: def. Aaron Keeton (George Mason), 9-8 SV
First Round: lost to Kyle Kiss (North Carolina - unattached), 10-4
Consolations: def. CJ Inglin (Boston U), 5-4
Consolations: def. Steve Wilson (Ohio), 3-1
Consolations: lost to Kyle Blevins (Appalachian State), 8-3

174: Mike Billings (Unseeded; 1-2 Eliminated)
First Round: lost to Eric Decker (Old Dominion), 10-4
Consolations: def. Nate Graham (Bloomsburg), Fall 4:32
Consolations: lost to Nick Tenpenny (North Carolina - unattached), 8-3

174: Luke Rebertus (#5 Seed; 2-0)
First Round: def. Kevin Cook (Davidson), 8-2
Second Round: def. Nick Tenpenny (North Carolina - unattached), 3-1
Quarterfinals: vs. Bagna Tovuujav (George Mason)

184: Casey Caldwell (Unseeded; 2-2 Eliminated)
First Round: lost to Dustin Kilgore (Kent State), 6-2
Consolations: def. Joseph Son (Liberty - unattached), 4-2
Consolations: def. Jonathan Velazquez (Gardner Webb), MD 13-4
Consolations: lost to Tom Kocher (Lock Haven), 3-1

184: Russ Kropp (Unseeded; 2-2 Eliminated)
First Round: lost to Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro), MD 10-2
Consolations: def. Eddie Ebewo (East Stroudsburg), 13-12
Consolations: def. Brian Hurley (The Citadel), TF 19-3
Consolations: lost to Ben Clymer (Hofstra), 13-9

197: Charles Carafano (Unseeded; 1-2 Eliminated)
Pigtails: def. Chris Iammarino (Ohio), 5-4
First Round: bye
Second Round: lost to Riley Orozco (Cal State Bakersfield), MD 11-3
Consolations: lost to Dan Tulley (Duke), 6-1

197: Philip Neese (Unseeded; 2-2 Eliminated)
Pigtails: def. Corey Waite (Binghamton), 8-6
First Round: lost to Josh Arnone (Cornell), 6-1
Consolations: def. Dylan Wrage (Ohio), 4-2
Consolations: lost to Cameron Simaz (Cornell), 10-4

285: Tyler Moyer (Unseeded; 2-0)
First Round: def. Tim Samson (Ohio), 3-2
Second Round: def. Nico Somers (Franklin & Marshall), 5-4
Quarterfinals: vs. Jermail Porter (Kent State)

285: Scott Steele (#3 Seed; 2-0)
First Round: def. Joe Sheffield (UNC Greensboro), 5-0
Second Round: def. Jordan Enck (Hofstra), MD 11-1
Quarterfinals: vs. Joe Fendone (Edinboro)

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