March 20, 2009

• 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championship - Day 2

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Senior Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) became just the 15th wrestler in school history to earn All-America honors multiple times, as he earned what would be a bittersweet win in his 133-pound match against Penn State's Jake Strayer. Meanwhile, fellow All-American Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) will move to the consolation bracket Saturday morning following a tough loss to Darrion Caldwell of NC State in the semifinals Friday evening.

It's the third consecutive season Navy head coach Bruce Burnett has put at least one of his wrestlers atop the the All-America podium and for the first time since 1970-71 and 1971-72 (Lloyd Keaser and Tom Schuler in both seasons), Navy has had multiple All-Americans in successive seasons. A year ago Baker was joined by heavyweight Ed Prendergast and 174-pounder Matt Stolpinski in the All-America parade.

"This is a grueling tournament and today was a prime example of why we put together such a challenging schedule throughout the year," said Burnett. "The wrestling you see here is at the highest level and there are no easy matches. In order to perform, you have to train all year long because you need to be able to wrestle match after match after match. Would I have liked to have had more All-Americans? Certainly. But I can't say enough about our team and how they fought through adversity this year. I'm proud of every one of our accomplishments and am happy that we were able to get a win for each of our five qualifiers."

Baker stepped to the mat to battle 10th-seeded Jake Strayer in the fourth round of the consolations and quickly found himself trailing in the match, 2-0. Baker, however, was awarded a point for an illegal hold by Strayer. Moments later, Baker writhed in pain, suffering what turned out to be a season-ending knee injury. The Navy senior was unable to continue the match and because Strayer had been warned about the move previously, Strayer was disqualified and Baker was awarded the win. Though perhaps not the way he scripted it, Baker earned the win he needed to secure All-America recognition for a second straight year.

Baker was to have faced Maryland's Steven Bell Friday evening to advance in the bracket, however, he was unable to compete and was forced to medically forfeit his match. Baker will drop to the seventh-place match scheduled for Saturday, though he will not be able to compete and will finish eighth.

"Joe really had a strong day today on the mat and so it's tough to see his career end the way it did tonight," said Burnett. "I suppose that after a career full of injuries and in particular this season, that you might expect for it to end this way, but it's such a shame he didn't get a chance to wrestle all the way through. He's really had a great career and I'm proud of the fact that he fought his way back after two early injuries. He's a tremendous competitor and I'm happy that he was at least able to end his career as an All-American."

Saddoris, meanwhile, failed to advance to the championship match at 149 pounds, as NC State's Darrion Caldwell beat the Navy sophomore for a second time this season. Caldwell looked like a man on a mission, as he built a 9-1 lead by the end of the first period, thanks to a pair of nearfalls. Saddoris managed only an escape in the final two periods as Caldwell claimed a 13-2 major decision, sending Saddoris to the consolation round where on Saturday he will meet Wisconsin redshirt junior Kyle Ruschell for the right to advance to the third-place match.

"Bryce really struggled in his match tonight, but Caldwell is an awfully tough customer," added Burnett. "He got behind and was never able to quite get the momentum swayed his direction and instead it kept getting worse. All that said, Bryce has a chance to come back tomorrow morning and earn a chance to wrestle in the third-place match. He has the talent, we just need to put it in action."

Navy, meanwhile, inched up to 23rd in the team standings, alongside Arizona State, while Ohio State maintained the lead with a 3.5 advantage over Iowa.


NAVY WRESTLERS AT THE 79th NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP
>>Thursday, March 19
First-Round Matches
125 -- #9 Tyler Clark (Iowa State) tech fall Prescott Garner, 19-5
133 -- #8 Joe Baker dec Thomas Kimbrell (Cal State Bakersfield), 6-0
149 -- #7 Bryce Saddoris dec Nick Stabile (North Carolina), 5-2
174 -- Luke Rebertus dec Ian Hinton (Michigan State), 6-2
184 -- Patrick Flynn (Oklahoma) pinned Casey Caldwell, 0:37

Second-Round Matches
133 -- #9 Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra) pinned #8 Joe Baker, 6:49
149 -- #7 Bryce Saddoris dec #10 Kyle Borshoff (American), 9-5
174 -- #1 Steve Luke (Michigan) dec Luke Rebertus, 6-0

Consolation Matches - Rd. 1
125 -- Prescott Garner dec Eric Olanowski (Michigan State), 9-7
184 -- Casey Caldwell dec. Mickey Moran (Buffalo), 7-6


>> Friday, March 20
Quarterfinals
149 -- #7 Bryce Saddoris dec Paul Gillespie (Hofstra), 3-2

Consolation Matches - Rd. 2
125 -- Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) major Prescott Garner, 18-5
133 -- #8 Joe Baker dec Cory VomBaur (Wyoming), 5-4
174 -- Luke Rebertus dec Jeff James (Oklahoma), 7-5
184 -- A.J. Kissel (Purdue) pinned Casey Caldwell, 2:36

Consolation Matches - Rd. 3
133 -- #8 Joe Baker dec Brandon Low (UC Davis), 5-3
174 -- #9 Newly McSpadden (Oklahoma State) dec Luke Rebertus, 5-3

Semifinals
149 -- #3 Darrion Caldwell (NC State) dec #7 Bryce Saddoris, 13-2

Consolation Matches - Rd. 4
133 -- #8 Joe Baker dec #10 Jake Strayer (Penn State), DQ, 2:41

Consolation Matches - Rd. 5
133 -- #12 Steve Bell (Maryland) dec #8 Joe Baker, Medical Forfeit



Updated Records
133 -- Prescott Garner; 29-16 Season, 29-16 Career
133 -- #8 Joe Baker; 18-1 Season, 79-29 Career
149 -- #7 Bryce Saddoris; 43-6 Season, 78-18 Career
174 -- Luke Rebertus; 36-11 Season, 36-11 Career
184 -- Casey Caldwell; 32-16 Season, 56-36 Career


### Go Navy ###