Jan. 8, 2009
• 2009 Virginia Duals Bracket
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy wrestling team will look to open the new year on a winning note when it makes the trek to Hampton, Va. for the first time since 1998 to compete in one of the most prestigious dual meet tournaments, the 29th Annual Virginia Duals. Navy opens the tournament on Friday at 11:00 am against seventh-seeded Virginia at the Hampton Coliseum. The Mids will face either No. 2 seed Oklahoma State or Clarion in its second dual of the tournament at 3:00 pm.
In addition to Navy, the 16-team field is comprised of No. 8 Lehigh, No. 12 Central Michigan, No. 13 Oklahoma State, No. 15 Edinboro, No. 22 Penn, No. 23 Old Dominion, Bucknell, Clarion, Kent State, Liberty, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Ohio, Rider and Virginia. Lehigh is the No. 1 seed, while Oklahoma State is No. 2. Seeds three through eight are Central Michigan, Edinboro, Penn, ODU, Virginia and Kent State, respectively.
Virginia (4-4) and Navy (2-1) have one thing in common - injuries. Both teams have suffered costly losses, however, both programs proved to weather the storm and put forth solid finishes at the Southern Scuffle a week ago. Virginia finished seventh after five Cavaliers placed, including sophomore 174-pounder Chris Henrich who was dropped by Cornell's Steve Anceravage in the title match.
Four Cavaliers are among the InterMat individual rankings this week - Rocco Caponi, ninth at 184; Henrich, 10th at 174; Brent Jones, 19th at 197; and Jedd Moore, 20th at 157.
The Midshipmen are coming off a sixth-place finish at last week's Southern Scuffle, where it held a 10-point advantage over Virginia. Six Navy wrestlers placed at the Southern Scuffle with second-year standout Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.), taking runner-up honors to NC State's Darrion Caldwell, who was named the meet's most outstanding wrestler. The loss to Caldwell was just the second of the year for Saddoris who owns a 25-2 record, dropping matches to the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the country, Bubba Jenkins, and now the third-ranked wrestler.
He boasts a 60-14 career record and now holds the school record for most wins by a wrestler in his first two seasons of action. The previous recordholder was Greg Gingeleskie who won 59 matches in his first two seasons of action (1995-96 and 1996-97).
Senior captain Scott Steele (Baltimore, Md.) battled his way into the championship heavyweight bout against ninth-ranked Jermail Porter of Kent State and had all the makings of a fine match. With roughly 32 seconds remaining in the final period and the match tied at 2-2, Steele dove in for a takedown. Porter, however, countered the move, crashing down on Steele's shoulder and forcing him to forfeit the match and is out indefinitely.
Three of the Mids' six placewinners were out of the rookie class, including 174-pounder Luke Rebertus (Elkton, Md.) who finished third, while Prescott Garner (West Linn, Ore.) placed seventh at 125 pounds and John Majka (Chicago, Ill.) turned in an eighth-place performance at 141 pounds. Rounding out the list of placewinners for the Mids was junior Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.), who grabbed eighth at 157 pounds.
Four Navy wrestlers are among the InterMat individual ranks this week - Saddoris, fifth at 149; Joe Baker, seventh at 133; Steele, eighth at heavyweight; and Rebertus 16th at 174.
Navy has never lost to Virginia in wrestling (6-0), however the two programs have not met on the mat since 200 when the Mids claimed a 27-12 Navy victory.
Virginia Duals Pairings
#1 seed Lehigh vs. Ohio
#8 seed Kent State vs. Bucknell
#5 seed Penn vs. North Dakota State
#4 seed Edinboro vs. Rider
#3 seed Central Michigan vs. Liberty
#6 seed Old Dominion vs. Northern Colorado
#7 seed Virginia vs. Navy
#2 seed Oklahoma State vs. Clarion
### Go Navy ###
