Dec. 2, 2010

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Members of the Navy wrestling team will participate in two tournaments this weekend and in two completely different directions on the map. Navy's top wrestler at each weight class will head west to take part in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational on Friday and Saturday, while 20 additional wrestlers will make the trip to Penn State for the annual Nittany Lion Open on Sunday.

The 29th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational features some of the premier programs in the country, including 12 teams ranked in the top 30 by InterMat. The two-day, 36-team tournament will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center (Hall C-5) with pigtails beginning at 9:00 am Pacific Standard Time on Friday. In addition to Navy, the following teams are on tap to compete at this year's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational: Air Force, No. 12 Arizona State, No. 2 Boise State, Brown, No. 27 Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, California Baptist, No. 10 Central Michigan, Columbia, No. 1 Cornell, Dickinson State, Drexel, Duke, Grand Canyon, Harvard, No. 23 Hofstra, No. 16 Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, NC State, North Dakota State, North Idaho, No. 20 Ohio State, No. 7 Oklahoma, Oregon State, No. 28 Purdue, San Francisco State, Southern Illinois Edwardsville, UNC Greensboro, Utah Valley, No. 19 Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Western Wyoming, No. 4 Wisconsi.

Additionally, five of the nation's No. 1-ranked wrestlers are expected to be in action this weekend - 141 - Zack Bailey, Oklahomal; 149 Kyle Dake, Cornell; 165 - Andrew Howe, Wisconsin; 174 - Mack Lewnes, Cornell; and 184 - Kirk Smith, Boise State. Four of the top five wrestlers at 133 pounds will also be on hand to battle for the title, as well as the top three at 141 pounds.

Meanwhile, over 400 wrestlers are expected to compete in the Nittany Lion Open, which features both attached and unattached wrestlers from around the nation. There is no team scoring kept for this event. Live updates will be available via the web on Escape Sports' site at http://test.escapesports.com/Results/Results.php . In addition to Navy, some of the teams who are expected to send wrestlers to the Open include Army, Binghamton, Bloomsburg, Boston, Buffalo, No. 10 Central Michigan, Columbia, Drexel, Edinboro, No. 23 Hofstra, No. 15 Lehigh, Lock Haven, No. 25 Maryland, North Carolina, NC-Greensboro, Ohio, Old Dominion, No. 5 Penn State No. 17 Pittsburgh, Rider, Rutgers, The Citadel and No. 17 Virginia Tech. The tournament will take place on 14 mats (10 in the Rec Hall main arena and four in the South Gym) beginning at 8:30 am.

Looking for their third tournament win of the season will be senior 157-pounder Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) and junior Luke Rebertus (Gloucester, Va.) at 184 pounds. Both wrestlers opened up the 2010-11 campaign with back-to-back tournament wins at the Eastern Michigan Open and the Navy Classic two weeks ago. However, this weekend's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational field will be the most difficult Navy as a while has faced this year. Ten of the top 20 wrestlers at the 157-pound weight class will be in action, including eighth-ranked Saddoris. It is likely he will face at least one of the top four wrestlers in the country (Bubba Jenkins, Arizona State; Adam Hall, Boise State; Colt Sponseller, Ohio State) this weekend.

Saddoris, who will make the first of two trips back to his home state of Nevada this month, heads into the weekend with a spotless 8-0 mark. Additionally, boasting a 118-32 record, he stands fifth on Navy's career wins list and is just two wins shy of passing Navy's only three-time All-American John Reich, who finished his collegiate career in 1983 with a 119 wins. Saddoris is also two wins from becoming only the fourth wrestler in school history to win 120 matches in his career, joining Matt Stolpinski (141, 2005-08), Greg Gingeleskie (127, 1996-99) and Mark Conley (126, 1999-02).

Meanwhile, Rebertus is one of eight ranked wrestlers who will be vying for the 184-pound title. Also 8-0, Rebertus last faced competition of this magnitude last December at the Southern Scuffle. He looks to have made a smooth transition into the heavier weight class this fall and will have the tall task of taking down the nation's top wrestler, Boise State's Kirk Smith.

Senior Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.) is coming off a title win at the Navy Classic and owns an 8-1 record at 174 pounds this season, while returning NCAA Qualifier Aaron Kalil (Salem, N.H.) has also jumped out to an 8-1 record and claimed the 125-pound crown at the Navy Classic for a second straight season.

After failing to place at the season-opening Eastern Michigan Open due to injury, rookie Joe Locksmith (Kissimmee, Fla.) will look to compete for the 141-pound title. With a 5-2 record in tow, he is coming off a title win at the Navy Classic where he edged out teammate and classmate Raymond Borja, 8-7. Locksmith will wrestle in one of the toughest weight classes this weekend which features nine ranked wrestlers including No. 1 Zack Bailey of Oklahoma, No. 2 Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois and No. 3 Kellen Russell of Michigan.

Sophomore heavyweight Dan Miller (Berlin, Md.) hopes to use the momentum from his Navy Classic crown to propel him into a dogfight in Vegas. Eight of the top 20 ranked wrestlers will be on site, however, five of the eight are in bottom half of the top 20, giving him the opportunity to make some noise.

Last year the Mids placed 14th out of 42 teams at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with Saddoris finishing sixth at 157 pounds, while Oscar Huntley (Stafford, Va.) (165), Rebertus (174) and Andrew Buck (Carson, Wash.) (184) placed eighth in their respective weight classes.

Meanwhile, DeMichiel was Navy's lone placewinner at last year's Nittany Lion Open where he finished sixth at 184 pounds.

Reno Tournament of Champions
• 125 - Aaron Kalil
• 133 - Allen Stein
• 141 - Joe Locksmith
• 149 - Eric Filipowicz
• 157 - Bryce Saddoris
• 165 - Bobby Barnhisel
• 174 - Matt DeMichiel
• 184 - Luke Rebertus
• 197 - Andrew Buck
• HWT - Dan Miller

Nittany Lion Open
• 125 - None
• 133 - Ben Levin, Pat McCaffrey, Tyler Sackett
• 141 - Raymond Borja, Dustin Haislip, Ben Hunter
• 149 - Zach Basich, Zach Johnson, Collin Leadbeter
• 157 - Matt Jackson
• 165 - Mason Bailey, Jake Schalles
• 174 - Oscar Huntley, James Mannier
• 184 - Mike Brant, Greg Prioleau
• 197 - Ben Hatef, Chance Rauscher
• HWT - Mike Landis, Mike McCarthy


### Go Navy ###