March 18, 2011

• 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championship - Session 4 Results

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Navy senior wrestling captain and seventh-seeded Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) earned a 5-2 victory over Oklahoma State's Robert Erisman in the consolation quarterfinals Friday evening to become just the 16th wrestler in Naval Academy history to receive All-America honors multiple times in his career. Meanwhile, junior 184-pound Luke Rebertus (Gloucester, Va.) won his opening bout of the morning at 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships held at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, but exited the tournament following the third round of consolation matches.

Saddoris, just the program's sixth four-time NCAA qualifier, began the day having his hopes of becoming an NCAA Champion dashed, as he was pinned at 4:11 in his match against second-seeded Steve Fittery of American. It was the second time in the last two weeks the two wrestlers have met with Fittery, who is undefeated to date, earning wins over Saddoris in each.

Fittery opened the bout with a takedown at the 2:35 mark, but Saddoris fought his way free to trim Fittery's lead to 2-1. However, with 32 seconds left in the opening period, Fittery took a 4-1 advantage with his second takedown of the period. Saddoris opened the second period down and was hounded by Fittery, who was able to ride until turning Saddoris. Although he fought him for nearly 45 seconds on his back, Saddoris finally succumbed.

Saddoris, however, bounced back in the evening session where he met Erisman for not only an opportunity to continue in the tournament, but also for All-America laurels. Saddoris struck a minute into the match, getting the takedown at the edge of the mat. Saddoris picked up 30 seconds of riding time before Erisman broke free. Erisman knotted the match with his escape just two seconds into the second period, but Saddoris took the lead for good with a takedown with just 10 seconds remaining in the second frame. Saddoris tacked on a point for an escape to begin the third period en route to claiming a 5-2 win and All-America honors.

"If you look at what Bryce has been able to accomplish not only this year, but throughout his career, it's just not east to do," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "There are a lot of All-Americans who never have a chance to get back on the podium during their career because the level of competition is so incredibly intense.

"I'm so proud of him - how he competes, how he leads, how he represents himself and his teammates."

In his final bout of the evening, Saddoris met sixth-seeded Derek St. John of Iowa. Although Saddoris scored the match's first points with a takedown early in the first period, St. John posted the escape and followed with a quick takedown of his own to take a 3-2 advantage. Saddoris, though, broke free at the edge of the mat and was awarded a point just before the buzzer for excessive unsportsmanlike activity. St. John evened the match at 4-4 before scoring a takedown with 59 seconds left in the second period to take the lead for good. He tacked on two points for a single-leg takedown with under a minute to go in the match and built up nearly three minutes of riding time to earn a 9-4 win over Saddoris.

"I'm excited about becoming an All-American, but I'm not happy with my performance in my last match tonight," said Saddoris. "I don't think it probably has sunk in just yet that I'm an All-American and it probably won't until the competition is over."

Saddoris will meet 11th-seeded Walter Peppelman of Harvard in the seventh/eighth-place match Saturday morning. Saddoris defeated Peppelman by a 5-1 decision at the EIWA Championship two weeks ago to earn his way into the championship bout. Saddoris also defeated Peppelman at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December by a 5-1 count to place third.

In typical Luke Rebertus fashion, he used extra minutes to capture his second-round consolation victory over Hofstra's Ben Clymer. After a scoreless opening period, Rebertus deferred and sent Clymer to the mat. Clymer escaped almost immediately, but the remaining of the bout rendered little action and no points. It took Rebertus 35 seconds to score the escape in the final frame and the two once again could get no offense going. Neither wrestler scored in the one-minute sudden victory period and two 30-second tie breaker periods were ordered up. Clymer was the first to go down and Rebertus did an admirable job of clipping his leg out from underneath of him time and time again to ride him out the entire period. Clymer in turn was strong on top in the second tie breaker period, but as time expired Rebertus freed himself for the match-winning point in a 2-1 TB decision.

Rebertus, however, bowed out of the 81st NCAA Wrestling Championship after he was shut out by eighth-seeded Kevin Steinhaus of Minnesota, 4-0. The two battled to a scoreless opening period, but Steinhaus broke Rebertus' grasp early in the second frame and with under a minute to go scored the takedown to take a 3-0 lead. Although Rebertus was able to break free, it was too late as Steinhaus rode Rebertus nearly the entire third period and with over two minutes of riding time, Steinhaus claimed a 4-1 win.

The Midshipmen stand 38th with 10 points, just a half point behind Bucknell. Meanwhile, with five wrestlers remaining including three in championship bouts tomorrow night, Penn State leads the pack with 92.5 points. Just a point separates second and third-place Cornell and Iowa with 75.0 and 74.0 points, respectively. Oklahoma State sits in fourth with 65.5 points, while American rounds out the top five with 56.0 points.

Saturdays consolation semifinals and medal rounds begin at 11:00 am Saturday, while the championship finals are scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.


NAVY WRESTLERS AT THE 81st NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP
First-Round Matches
125 - (7) Ryan Mango, Stanford dec Aaron Kalil, Navy, 13-7
157 - (7) Bryce Saddoris, Navy major Jackson Morse, Illinois, 13-4
174 - (10) Nick Hefflin, Ohio State dec Matt DeMichiel, Navy, 6-0
184 - Luke Rebertus, Navy dec Jonathan Velazquez, Gardner Webb, 3-1

Second-Round Matches
157 - (7) Bryce Saddoris, Navy dec (10) Daryl Cocozzo, Rutgers, 3-2
184 - (1) Chris Honeycutt, Edinboro dec Luke Rebertus, Navy 9-2

Quarterfinal Matches
157 - (2) Steve Fittery, American fall (7) Bryce Saddoris, Navy, 4:11

Consolations
125 - (10 Alan Waters, Missouri dec Aaron Kalil, Navy, 5-4
174 - Rob Morrison, Rider dec Matt DeMichiel, Navy, 4-2 SV
184 - Luke Rebertus, Navy dec Ben Clymer, Hofstra, 2-1 TB
184 - (8) Kevin Steinhaus, Minnesota dec Luke Rebertus, Navy, 4-1
157 - (7) Bryce Saddoris, Navy dec Robert Erisman, Oklahoma State, 5-2
157 - (6) Derek St. John dec (7) Bryce Saddoris, Navy, 9-4

Updated Records
125 - Aaron Kalil; 29-11 Season, 68-41 Career
157 - Bryce Saddoris; 36-8 Season, 146-40 Career
174 - Matt DeMichiel; 24-9 Season, 84-47 Career
184 - Luke Rebertus; 31-11 Season, 73-24 Career


### Go Navy ###