• 2014 East Stroudsburg Open Results

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- Five Navy wrestlers placed among the top four at the 48th annual East Stroudsburg Open on Sunday at the Koehler Fieldhouse, including junior 174-pound John Keck (Wading River, N.Y.) who won his first collegiate individual title. Navy sent 20 wrestlers to compete in the open, including seven of the Mids' starters from last week's season-opening dual against George Mason.

"At this time of the season, we are still working to refine our skills against a wide variety of competition," said first-year Navy head coach Joel Sharratt. "Today's event gave us exactly what the team needed with various levels of competition and a wide variety of styles."

The Mids' Keck maneuvered his was through the bracket by winning close matches. After receiving an opening-round bye, he scored a 6-5 victory over Princeton's Troy Murtha followed by a 9-6 win over Army's Anthony Risaliti. He advanced to the semifinals after Mercyhurst's August Mizia bowed out of the tournament with an injury. Keck would punch his ticket to the championship bout with a 3-2 win over Judson Ziegler of Princeton and became the Mids' first individual champion of the season by way of a 5-1 decision over Penn's Daniel McDevitt. Keck came into the tournament with a 2-2 mark on the year and a 17-17 career record.

"I thought John did a nice job of pushing through to the gold medal match and continued to wrestle his pace and kept scoring points," said Sharratt. "That is what we are looking for from the guys - set the pace of the match and always work to keep scoring and building their lead."

Keck was joined on the podium by teammate Jadaen Bernstein (Glen Gardner, N.J.) who placed third at 174 pounds. Like Keck, Bernstein received a bye in the opening round before rattling off three straight wins including a 7-5 sudden victory over Seth Martin who wrestled for the Pennsylvania Wrestling Club. The Navy freshman would be denied a finals appearance against his teammate, however, as McDevitt dealt Bernstein a 10-4 loss. The rookie came back to win two in a row, including a 13-3 major decision over Ziegler to take third.

Making just his second career tournament appearance, freshman Zack Davis (Granger, Ind.) looked sharp in his third-place showing on Sunday at 133 pounds. Davis, who was 1-2 at the season-opening Michigan State Open (Fr/So), won his opener but was sent to the consolation bracket after dropping an 8-4 decision to Colby Ems of Edinboro. Davis was forced to win five straight matches to earn an opportunity to wrestle for third place and did so by pinning Lehigh's Jonathan Mele who lost in the semifinals, in 1:03. The Navy rookie would take third without having to wrestle after Penn's Caleb Richardson could not compete due to an injury.

Two-time NCAA qualifier Peyton Walsh (Glen Allen, Va.) won seven of his eight matches to place third at 165 pounds. Walsh, who is ranked 19th nationally, won three in a row, including a 10-9 victory over a familiar foe, Army's Coleman Gracey, before dropping a 9-5 decision to Ryan Preisch of Lehigh in the quarterfinals. Walsh absolutely dominated the consolation bracket, dealing Quinton Hiles of Penn a tech fall (15-0), pinning Brown's Galloway Thurston (3:37) and posting a 14-1 major decision over Laurent Remillard of Brown to set up a third-place meeting against Gracey. Walsh bested Gracey for a second time on the day with an 11-8 victory for his second top-four finish of the year.

Senior Paul Rands (Cary, Ill.), an NCAA qualifier at 197 pounds a year ago, opened the tournament by pinning (3:51) Ethan Barnes of Delaware Valley, but was tripped up by Penn's Francis Mattiace the following match by an 8-1 count. Rands fought his way through the wrestlebacks by winning five in a row to set up a third-place battle against Naval Academy Prep Schooler Daniel Hawkins. That match, however, did not take place as Rands suffered an injury in his match just prior in which he defeated Drexel's Josh Murphy, 4-2.

While they did not place, Navy saw strong performances out of freshman 165-pound Michael Coleman (Hudson, Ohio) who put together a 4-2 mark, while senior heavyweight Colynn Cook (Murrysville, Pa.) was 5-2 on the day and came up just a match short of competing for third place.

The Midshipmen will be back in action next Saturday when they play host to the 37th annual Navy Classic at the Wesley Brown Field House. Joining Navy will be Brown, Bucknell, Chattanooga, The Citadel, Cleveland State, George Mason, Kent State, North Carolina, Ohio, Princeton, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Preliminary rounds are set for 10:00 am with semifinal matches expected to begin at 2:30 pm and finals at 5:00 pm.

"We are looking forward to hosting several top teams on the Yard next week for the annual Navy Classic and continue to build on the base we have established in our early season competition."

### Go Navy ###