Dec. 5, 2009

• 2009 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Results

PRIMM, N.V. -- Four Navy wrestlers placed among the top eight to lead the Midshipmen wrestling program to a 14th-place finish out of 42 teams at the 2009 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Saturday evening. The Mids, who made just their fourth appearance in the talent-packed event, competed against 14 of the nation's top 25 teams in a tournament that featured better than 100 wrestlers currently ranked in the top 20 of their respective weight classes.

"We came to this tournament in hope of finding out where we are at in terms of wrestling on a national level," said 10th-year Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "This tournament truly provided us with a vision of what we'll see in March. What I think we found out is that we have some young men who can compete, but we have quite a bit of work to do if we hope to get some of our wrestlers on that podium in the spring.

"I just can't say enough about how proud I am of the way our wrestlers competed and represented the Naval Academy. Bottom line is there were more positives than negatives we can take from this weekend and I can't wait to get back in the wrestling room and continue to take a step forward."

Junior All-American Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) was the Mids' top place-winner, finishing sixth at 157 pounds. Ranked 16th in the country and seeded eighth, Saddoris earned wins in his first three matches, including a 5-3 decision over 19th-ranked and ninth-seeded Keegan Davis of Oregon State. He went on to earn an 11-2 major decision over Michigan's Dave Johnson to set up a semifinals matchup between Saddoris and sixth-ranked Adam Hall. Hall, however, shattered Saddoris' hopes of winning the title by shutting him out, 4-0. Saddoris went on to drop a 4-2 decision to Virginia Tech's Jesse Dong (#15) in the consolation bracket, as well as his fifth-place match against Cal Poly's Chase Pami, the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the weight class.

Burnett, meanwhile, continues to be pleased with the growth of his rookie class. Four freshmen were on the mat for the Mids this weekend with two finishing among the top eight. Coming off his Navy Classic win, 165-pounder Oscar Huntley (Emerald Isle, N.C.) worked his way through the consolation bracket to finish eighth.

Huntley opened the tournament as the No. 11 seed and picked up an 11-4 victory over Cal Poly's Travis Rasmussen before Buffalo's John-Martin Cannon sent him to the wrestleback bracket with a 9-3 setback. Huntley, however, produced three straight wins, including putting 19th-ranked and fourth-seeded Donnie Jones of West Virginia on his back for a pin in just over one minute. P.J. Gillespie of Hofstra snapped Huntley's winning streak and sent him to the seventh-place match. Cannon once again had Huntley's number, however, as the Navy rookie dropped an 11-6 decision.

Fellow newcomer Andrew Buck (Carson, Wash.) also turned in an eighth-place finish in the 184-pound weight class. Buck won the first match of the tournament, 7-1, against Cal Poly's Tyler Holt, but eighth-seeded Ben Clymer of Hofstra handed Buck a 3-0 setback in the second round. Buck went on to win his next three matches, two by fall, including a pin at 2:35 against Western State's Charlie Pipher who had upset 19th-ranked Tommy Spellman in the opening round. Buck's winning streak was derailed by West Virginia's Matt Ryan, who got Buck on his back and pinned him. The Navy freshman went on to lose his seventh-place match against UNC-Greensboro's Andrew Saunders, 7-0.

Sophomore 174-pounder Luke Rebertus (Elkton, Md.) won a narrow 6-5 decision over Cal Poly's Ryan DesRoches (6-5) before dealing 16th-ranked Shane Riccio of Bucknell a 4-2 loss to earn a spot in the quarters. Rebertus, ranked 13th in the nation, was matched up against Annapolis native and No. 1-ranked Mack Lewnes. Despite his best effort, Rebertus suffered an 18-1 tech fall, sending him to the consolation bracket where he defeated Wyoming's Brock Smith, 6-4. Rebertus, however, was unable to continue in the tournament on the second day and was forced to medically forfeit matches against No. 11 Ryan Patrovich of Hofstra and No. 20 Dave Rella of Ohio State.

In addition to Saddoris, Huntley, Buck and Rebertus, the following Midshipmen also saw action at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational: Aaron Kalil (125, 2-2); Pat McCaffrey (133, 3-2); Matt Pagan (141, 1-2); Glenn Shober (149, 2-2); Chance Rauscher (197, 0-2); Dan Miller (HWT, 1-2).

Ohio State took the team title by way of a one-point advantage, 122.5-121.5, over Cornell, while Oklahoma (109.5), Boise State (97.5) and Nebraska (94) rounded out the top five.

While competition closed out at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Navy also sent a 24-man squad to compete at the Nittany Lion Open on Sunday.