Jan. 31, 2009

• Complete Navy-Maryland Results

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- A 2-1 overtime win by Maryland sophomore heavyweight Patrick Gilmore denied the Mids an opportunity to win the match, as the Terrapins turned in a 20-14 victory over the reeling Navy wrestling team, who dropped its fifth consecutive dual decision.

Following an 18-4 major decision by Maryland's Hudson Taylor, ranked No. 10 at 197 pounds, the Terrapins held a slim 17-14 lead heading into the final match of the night.

Navy senior heavyweight Tyler Moyer (Bremerton, Wash.) needed to at least win the bout against Gilmore to secure a tie and needed an extra-point win to snap the Mids' losing streak. After a scoreless opening period of action, Gilmore scored the match's first point with an escape to start the second. Moyer, in turn, had his chance to start the third period down with an attempt to escape. Gilmore rode Moyer hard, giving him little wiggle room to get loose. Moyer finally somersaulted his way out of the hold just in time, as Gilmore had built 56 seconds of riding time before his Navy foe was able to free himself.

Both wrestlers managed to survive the one-minute sudden victory period, though Moyer had his chance for the takedown with under 20 seconds remaining. Moyer was able to get Gilmore off his feet, but could not get the positioning he needed, as both wrestlers were gassed.

Gilmore began the first of two 30-second tie breaker periods in the down position and with 27 seconds remaining, scored the go-ahead point. Moyer got his chance to even the score in the second tie breaker, but Gilmore held on to ride out the period and take the 2-1 (TB) decision to secure the Terrapin win.

"Tyler has only wrestled the last few months after recovering from an injury that required surgery," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "He's done a good job for us since Scott went out with his injury. Truth be told, Tyler was the aggressor in the match. He took more chances and tried to make something happen, but it just wasn't to be."

Similar to last year's event, the match looked to be dead even, a thought that had crossed both coaches' minds heading into the match.

"I really thought it would come down to bonus points," said Burnett. "I saw each team winning five matches, but thought bonus points would make the difference. I think Maryland did, too. We certainly had our chances, but just didn't finish the takedown when we needed to."

Ironically, each team scored a pair of major decisions, however, Maryland won six of the 10 matches and left Navy questioning what went wrong.

The Terps took the early 3-0 lead as Brendan Byrne outlasted Navy rookie Prescott Garner (West Linn, Ore.) at 125 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Byrne rode Garner the entire second period to build the point from riding time, while denying Garner the escape point. Byrne took the 2-0 lead on a takedown, but Garner quickly got free to trail by just a point. Garner was unable to get the takedown he needed to salvage the match and Byrne earned the 3-1 win.

Navy knotted the score at three apiece when the 133-pound match pit a pair of ranked wrestlers against one another. Senior All-American Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.), who improved to 5-0 on the year and is ranked No. 10, was the aggressor early on, building a 5-1 lead heading into the final period. Eighth-ranked Steven Bell mounted a counter attack, though,as he trimmed the lead to one with a minute to go after putting together an escape and a takedown. Baker, however, pushed his lead to 6-4 with under a minute remaining with an escape and held on for the 7-4 win thanks to a 1:03 in riding time.

"Joe really is not 100 percent, but he came in and wrestled hard," said Burnett. "He stepped up and took the win against Bell, who is a tough competitor. I'm very proud of how Joe performed tonight."

Maryland took a 7-3 lead in the match following a 14-5 win by 13th-ranked Alex Krom over Navy rookie John Majka (Chicago, Ill.) at 141 pounds.

The Mids, however, answered with a major decision of their own to even the score once again. Burnett looked no further than his ace 149-pounder Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) who is now 32-3 this season. Saddoris, who is ranked sixth nationally, scored seven takedowns built up more than three minutes of riding time en route to earning a 17-6 win over Maryland's Dex Lederer.

Wins by Maryland's Kyle John at 157 pounds and Brian Letters at 165 pounds opened up a 13-7 lead by the Terps.

Navy, though, was unwilling the throw in the towel as rookie Luke Rebertus (Elkton, Md.) returned to the mat for the first time since succumbing to injury at the Virginia Duals three weeks ago. Rebertus looked fresh and despite his youth, took command of the match early on. By the end of the first period, Rebertus had built a 7-1 lead that featured a three-point nearfall with under 15 seconds left. Nielson narrowed the lead to 7-2 after two periods of action, though Rebertus own better than a minute of riding with just one stanza remaining. Rebertus pushed his lead to 10-2 with 1:30 to go thanks to an escape and a takedown. Rebertus set Nielson free in hopes of getting another takedown, but was denied. However, Rebertus earned the extra point for riding time and closed the Navy deficit to just two points thanks to his 11-3 bonus win.

Casey Caldwell (Liberty, Ind.) followed up by earning an 11-7 decision over the Terps' Chris Lloyd at 184 pounds. Caldwell never trailed in the match, however his takedown with 41 seconds left in the second period gave the Navy senior the lead for good, as well as giving the Mids' their only lead of the night at 14-13 with two matches remaining.

Taylor rang up seven takedowns and was awarded two extra points for stall warnings against Navy's Philip Neese (Lexington, S.C.) that led to an 18-4 major decision. The win gave Maryland the lead once again, but it would come down to the heavyweight bout between Gilmore and Moyer to determine the outcome.

The Midshipmen will be back in action Saturday evening when they play host to EIWA foe East Stroudsburg. Action is set for 7:00 pm at Halsey Field House in Annapolis.

Maryland 20, Navy 14125 - Brendan Byrne (MD) dec. Prescott Garner (Navy), 3-1; MD 3-0133 - #10 Joe Baker (Navy) dec. #8 Steven Bell (MD), 7-4; Tied 3-3141 - #13 Alex Krom (MD) major dec. John Majka (Navy), 14-5; MD 7-3149 - #6 Bryce Saddoris (Navy) major dec. Dex Lederer (MD), 17-6; Tied 7-7157 - Kyle John (MD) dec. Joel Ahern (Navy), 5-3; MD 10-7165 - Brian Letters (MD) dec. Matt DeMichiel (Navy), 3-1; MD 13-7174 - Luke Rebertus (Navy) major dec. Patrick Nielson (MD), 11-3; MD 13-11184 - Casey Caldwell (Navy) dec. Chris Lloyd (MD), 11-7; Navy 14-13197 - #10 Hudson Taylor (MD) major Philip Neese (Navy), 18-4; MD 17-14HWT - Patrick Gilmore (MD) dec. Tyler Moyer (Navy), 2-1 TB; MD 20-14