Feb. 6, 2010

• 2010 All-Academy Championship Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Six Midshipmen won individual crowns, while four others placed second as the Navy wrestling program scored its ninth All-Academy Championship team title Saturday in Annapolis. It's the first time in the 16-year history that Navy has claimed six of the 10 individual titles.

With 123.5 points, Navy won the tournament by 49 points over second-place Air Force (74.5), who had six of his wrestlers finish among the top three including a pair of title winners. The Falcons, meanwhile, held off The Citadel (70.0) by 4.5 points, as the Bulldogs landed one individual winner and seven wrestlers in the top three. Merchant Marine (51.0) finished fourth, followed by VMI (47.5), Coast Guard (10.0) and Norwich (0.5).

Navy has been the dominant team in the 16-year history of the tournament, winning nine of the 16 championships including six of the last seven. Navy has won 59 individual crowns in All-Academy Championship history, including 33 of the 70 titles over the last seven years. The Mids won the team title in 1995, `97, `99, `04, `05, `06, `07, `09 and `10, while they have claimed five or more individual titles in 1997, `99, `04, `05, `07, `08 and in `10.

"The elements were tough out there, but I appreciate the fact that the teams were willing to battle the snow and make this tournament happen," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "It's a great event we have each year and we really wanted to get it in.

"We had all 10 of our wrestlers qualify for the championship, so you really can't ask for more than that. We had some exceptional performances today and even those guys who didn't win, someone like Matt Pagan, they did a fantastic job preparing and wrestling today. There were some tough wrestlers entered into the competition and we were able to really get some quality matches in today."

Despite a record-breaking snowfall in and around Annapolis, seven of the eight teams (Army withdrew due to concerns with the weather and travel) gathered at Halsey Field House to continue the traditional service academy tournament sponsored by USAA. The Mids appeared to be the odds-on favorite with six wrestlers heading into the tournament as the No. 1 seed. Ironically, two of the six top seeds hailing from Navy would not win their respective individual title, while two Mids went on to upset their higher seeded foe to win the individual crown.

Wrestling in his first All-Academy Championship, sophomore Aaron Kalil (Salem, N.H.) claimed the Mids' first individual crown of the day by scoring an 11-8 win over Air Force's Sam Sheppard. Kalil, who now stands at 19-9 on the year, cruised through the first two rounds pretty easily, pinning Norwich's Scott Maclean in just over two minutes before claiming a tech fall over VMI co-captain Jonathan Pope. Kalil is just the sixth Navy wrestler to win at 125 (118 prior to `99) pounds and the first since Alex Usztics in 2006.

Senior captain Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.) won his second individual title of the season thanks to posting a 3-0 record in the 149-pound weight class at Saturday's All-Academy Championship. Shober, who is ranked 32nd according to the NCAA Div. I Coaches Panel Rankings, picked up a 13-6 win in the opening round against Air Force's Gabe Martinez before scoring a major decision over Michael Long of VMI. The title bout featured top-seeded Shober against second-seeded Derek Royster of The Citadel, but it was Shober who handled the match with ease in an 8-3 decision. It's just Navy's third win at 149 pounds and first since Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) beat Army's Casey Thome in 2008.

Speaking of Saddoris, he won his second All-Academy Championship crown, this time at 157 pounds, by bouncing second-seeded Dan Twito of Merchant Marine, 11-4. Saddoris, who was named the championship's Most Outstanding Wrestler, was on the mat just short of one minute in the opener, pinning VMI's Joseph Munno. He followed up with a 4-1 decision over Turtogtokh Luvsandorj to punch his way into the championship bout for the third straight year. Saddoris, ranked eighth nationally, is the 13th Navy wrestler to win at least two titles in All-Academy Championship history. He owns a 26-9 record this season and will head into the Army match in two weeks boasting an eighth-match winning streak.

Junior Robby Neill (Brick, N.J.) was the first of two Navy wrestlers to knock of the tournament's favorite. Neill, who eclipsed the 20-win mark for the season and is riding a six-match winning streak, was the No. 2 seed in the tournament. He earned a 6-4 win over unseeded Justin Shadrix of Air Force before pinning Norwich's Clayton Brittingham (2:27). Neill would not only meet top-seeded Vincent Renaut of the Merchant Marine Academy, but Renaut was the lone returning champion from last year's event. A tactical match, Neill held off Renaut to take a 3-2 win in what was his first collegiate tournament title. It's Navy's first win at that weight class since Mike Barikian scored a major decision over Blaine Brown in 2004.

Neill's win perhaps inspired teammate Mike Billings (Waterford, Mich.), who not only upset the No. 2 seed at 174 pounds, Air Force's Tyler French, but he knocked off top-seeded J.C. Oddo of The Citadel to win his first collegiate crown. Billings opened the day with a 6-1 decision over VMI's Andrew Szymborski before edging out French, 7-6, in the semis. With both he and Oddo having tough semifinal bouts (Oddo won 8-6 in sudden victory), it set up a spectacular championship with Billings earning an 6-4 win. Meanwhile, Navy has now won six straight titles at 174 pounds (4 by Matt Stolpinski, 1 by Luke Rebertus).

Just the seventh Navy freshman to win an All-Academy Championship title, rookie Andrew Buck (Carson, Wash.) pinned Air Force's James Ciccone in just over a minute-and-a-half to take the 184-pound crown. Buck scored a fall in just 40 seconds over Michael Monica of Norwich in the first round before taking a 7-6 win over The Citadel's Kelby Smith in the semis. It's the third straight season a Navy rookie has won an All-Academy title, as Buck joins Travis Campbell (`95), John Cox (`04), Matt Stolpinski (`05), Joe Baker (`06), Bryce Saddoris (`08) and Luke Rebertus (`09).

Navy's second-place finishers included sophomore Pat McCaffrey (Chicago, Ill.) at 133 pounds, senior Matt Pagan (Carteret, N.J.) at 141 pounds, senior Charles Carafano (Germantown, Md.) at 197 pounds and senior Scott Steele (Towson, Md.) at heavyweight.

McCaffrey, the top seed, dropped a 6-3 decision to Air Force's Derek Gillespie, while Pagan was pinned at 6:59 by Air Force's Cole VonOhlen, who is ranked 16th nationally. Carafano, seeded second, fell short in a 9-3 decision against top-seeded Erik Vincent of the Merchant Marine Academy. Steele, meanwhile, won his first two bouts but was forced to bow out of the tournament with an injury, giving the title to The Citadel's Odie Delaney, whose first match against Norwich's Raistlin Delisle was also called because of a medical forfeit.

The Mids will use the next two weeks to prepare for their biggest dual of the year, the annual Star Match against Army. The two teams will square of at Alumni Hall in Annapolis on Feb. 20 beginning at 7:00 pm and will be streamed live on Navy All-Access, available on the Mids' web site at www.NavySports.com(.) Navy owns a 43-5-5 record against the Black Knights and have won nine in a row. The Mids have lost just once in the last 47 matches in the series (41-1-5).