Jan. 8, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - Friday night's Navy-American wrestling dual lived up to its billing as fans were treated to an old-fashioned duel. Navy twice erased deficits in the match to avenge last year's two-point loss in Annapolis by claiming an 18-17 victory over the Eagles in the nation's capital.

"I wouldn't go as far as saying we looked strong in getting the win tonight, but we did get some good performances," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett, who improved to 91-45 over his 10-year collegiate coaching career. "Andrew Buck put on a great performance tonight and gave us bonus points after we lost the previous match by a tech fall. It was an important match for us to win, but the manner in which he won was impressive. Scott (Steele) got us a bonus point win, as well.

"I think the match really came down to the bonus points that Buck and Steele were able to provide us with tonight. Truth be told, we had our chances in some of the other matches, but just couldn't complete the task. That's something we need to work on as we push forward and get closer to the conference meet and nationals."

The match kicked off in American's favor, as the opening two bouts put a pair of nationally-ranked American wrestlers on the mat. Twelfth-ranked Kyle Borshoff secured a 4-1 victory over Navy team captain Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.) at 149 pounds by way of a takedown late in the match. The Eagles then took a 6-0 advantage when fifth-ranked Steve Fittery got the best of Navy All-American Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) at 157 pounds. Saddoris, ranked eighth nationally, was caught in a compromising position early in the match and was put on his back, leaving him to try and battle back against a talented wrestler in Fittery, who would close out the match behind a 9-3 decision. While Saddoris slid to 18-9 on the year, Fittery now owns an impressive 19-1 record.

Junior 165-pounder Robby Neill (Brick, N.J.) put Navy's first points on the scoreboard, as he dominated American's Tanner Shaffer in a 7-0 decision, while junior Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.) breezed to a 13-6 victory over American redshirt frosh Phillip Barreiro to even the match at 6-6. Both Neill and DeMichiel were just a point shy in each of their respective matches from giving Navy a two-point advantage in the overall team score.

American pulled ahead once again when 2009 All-American Mike Cannon, ranked fourth at 184 pounds, dealt Navy senior Mike Billings (Waterford, Mich.) a 16-0 loss. The Eagles' celebration, however, would be short-lived as Navy rookie Andrew Buck (Carson, Wash.) made his debut at 197 pounds look easy by earning a 15-0 tech fall over fellow freshman Kenneth Clessas to knot the match at 11-all. After sitting out the Southern Scuffle, Buck made his return by making the move from 184 pounds to 197. Ironically, he had battle DeMichiel throughout much of the early part of the season for the starting spot at 184 pounds and neither is currently wrestling at that weight class.

A week ago, Navy got a boost from senior heavyweight Scott Steele (Towson, Md.) when he returned to school, as well as the Mids' lineup after suffering a severe shoulder injury. Steele, already ranked ninth in the country, gave Navy the lead for good by earning a 15-4 major decision over newcomer Blake Herrin.

Despite an outstanding performance by Navy sophomore Aaron Kalil (Salem, N.H.), 20th-ranked Jasen Borshoff held off his Navy foe for 4-3 decision at 125 pounds, cutting into the Mids' lead. But Navy pushed its lead back to four when sophomore Pat McCaffrey (Chicago, Ill.) controlled his match against Thomas Williams to post a 9-4 win.

Similar to last year's match, American needed a win to give it a chance at winning the match. However, not only did 141-pounder Jordan Lipp need a win, he needed a bonus-point victory to at least tie the match. But Navy senior Matt Pagan (Carteret, N.J.) would not have it. Though Pagan would come up short in the battle, it was a hard-fought bout that would see Lipp escaping with a 2-1 decision, but coming up shy in the team total.

"Our wrestlers are going through a pretty tough conditioning stage and I do think it showed in their legs tonight, but that's what you have to do in order to prepare yourself for the end of the year. You have to be mentally tough to finish strong. We're certainly not in peak form and we have quite a lot to improve upon, but we have the time. We have a challenging schedule ahead of us and we will need to get that much better if we are going to beat the likes of Maryland, North Carolina, NC State and Lehigh in the coming weeks."

The Midshipmen will be back in action next weekend when they head to Pennsylvania to face East Stroudsburg and Lehigh in dual matches on back-to-back days. Navy and ESU will battle next Friday at 7:00 pm, followed by a 3:00 pm matchup between the Mids and Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem.


Navy 18, American 17
Jan. 8, 2010 • Bender Arena • Washington, D.C.
Exhibition 141- Dustin Haislip (N) won by major dec. Nick Pitas (A), 14-3
149 - #12 Kyle Borshoff (A) won by dec. Glenn Shober (N), 4-1 0-3
157 - #5 Steve Fittery (A) won by dec. #8 Bryce Saddoris (N), 9-3 0-6
165 - Robby Neill (N) won by dec. Tanner Shaffer (A), 7-0 3-6
174 - Matt DeMichiel (N) won by dec. Phillip Barreiro (A), 13-6 6-6
184 - #4 Mike Cannon (A) won by tech fall Mike Billings (N), 16-0 6-11
197 - Andrew Buck (N) won by tech fall Kenneth Clessas (A), 15-0 11-11
HWT - #9 Scott Steele (N) won by major dec. Blake Herrin (A), 15-4 15-11
125 - #20 Jasen Borshoff (A) won by dec. Aaron Kalil (N), 4-3 15-14
133 - Pat McCaffrey (N) won by dec. Thomas Williams (A), 9-4 18-14
141 - Jordan Lipp (A) won by dec. Matt Pagan (N), 2-1 18-17
Exhibition HWT - Mingo Grant (A) won by dec. Mike Landis (N), 5-3

### Go Navy ###