Feb. 6, 2009

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy wrestling team will look to fend off seven competing military institutions in hopes of capturing its eighth overall All-Academy Championship crown this Saturday. VMI will play host to the 15th annual event which will be held at Cocke Hall in Lexington, Va., beginning at 9:30 am. Navy's seven All-Academy Championship titles are the most by any of the teams competing.

Despite winning five of the 10 title bouts at last year's tournament, Navy came up short in its fight for a fifth-consecutive All-Academy Championship title as Army edged the Mids, 111-106. Nine Midshipmen place third or higher, including winners at 133, 149, 157, 174 and heavyweight. Additionally, Navy's Matt Stolpinski was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler as he became the first wrestler in Navy history to win a title in all four years.

While Army turned in a five-point advantage over Navy, the Mids nearly doubled third-place Air Force's score, as the Falcons finished a distant third with 54.5 points. The Citadel followed in fourth with 49.5 points, while the Merchant Marine Academy was fifth with 43.0 points, VMI was sixth with 34.0 points, Coast Guard was seventh with 5.0 points and Norwich closed out the scoring with 1.0 point.

The Mids sent seven wrestlers to the finals, while Army appeared in every championship bout except 165. Air Force had two wrestlers in title matches, while The Citadel had one individual in the championship.

Navy has won 50 individual crowns in All-Academy Championship history, including 24 of the 50 titles over the last five years. The Mids won the team title in 1995, `97, `99, `04, `05, `06 and `07, while they have claimed five or more individual titles in 1997, `99, `04, `05, `07 and in `08.

In all, five of the 10 individual winners from last year's championship will return to defend their titles, however, Army junior Matt Kyler has bumped up from 141 to 149 pounds to battle reigning 149-pound championship Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) from Navy in what is sure to be the featured match of the day. Saddoris stands No. 6 in the rankings, while Kyler is ranked 11th.

Saddoris has enjoyed a near-flawless season where he has produced a 33-3 record, including an 11-1 mark in dual action. Boasting a 22-2 tournament record, the second-year standout has won three tournament titles (Eastern Michigan Open, Navy Classic, Reno Tournament Champions), while serving as the runnerup at the Nittany Lion Open and the Southern Scuffle. With 33 wins to his credit, he is just two victories shy of matching his win total from a year ago. Meanwhile, he is tied with Greg Gingeleskie (1996-97) for second in the Navy record book for wins by a sophomore. Steve Kovach holds the record, coming up with 38 wins in 2000-01. Additionally, Saddoris has already smashed the program record for wins in a wrestler's first two seasons combined, toting a 68-15 mark, bettering previous record holder Gingeleskie's mark of 59 wins.

While Saddoris will look to defend his All-Academy title, so too will All-American 133-pound Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.), who has twice won All-Academy crowns and heads into the weekend ranked 10th in the country. As a freshman he was one of four individual winners to lead the Midshipmen to the team title and last year he was once again the premiere wrestler in his weight class. After being sidelined for the better part of the last two months, Baker has returned to the mat where he is undefeated with a 6-0 record. He made his return on Jan. 16 when he edged American's Jasen Borshoff, 3-2, before sitting out another week. Last weekend he looked much stronger and claimed victory over eighth-ranked Steven Bell of Maryland in a 7-4 decision before turning in a major decision over East Stroudsburg's Matt Swallow a day later. A title win by Baker would make him just the fifth Navy wrestler to win at least three All-Academy titles, joining Gingeleskie (1997-98-99), Mark Conley (2000-01-02), Tanner Garrett (2004-05-06) and Stolpinski (2005-06-07-08).

All eyes will be on Navy heavyweight Tyler Moyer (Baltimore, Md.) who has big shoes to fill. Navy has won the heavyweight title in each of the last five All-Academy Championships with Tanner Garrett taking three titles from 2004-06 and All-American Ed Prendergast winning each of the last two. Moyer, who has only been wrestling since the end of December after recuperating from an injury, will certainly have his hands full, but he has the experience in what is a wide-open weight class.

Freshman Luke Rebertus (Elkton, Md.) will look to continue the Mids' success at 174 pounds when he hits the mat on Saturday. The Navy rookie has amassed a 27-7 record, taking titles at the Navy Classic and Reno Tournament of Champions, while falling in as the runnerup at the Eastern Michigan Open. Rebertus, who is three wins shy of becoming just the fourth Navy rookie to reach 30 wins in a season, is looking to give Navy its fifth straight title in his weight class.

All-Academy Championship Team TitlesTeam                       No.     LastNavy                        7      2007Air Force                   4      2002Army                        2      2008Va. Military                1      2003Merchant Marine Academy     0      ---Coast Guard                 0      ---The Citadel                 0      ---Norwich Academy             0      ---

Schedule of Events9:30 am      Preliminary Round12:00 pm     Semifinals/Consolation Round One3:00 pm      Consolation Semifinals5:00 pm      Finals