Photo Gallery | Photo Gallery

• 2014 Navy Classic Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Senior team captain Peyton Walsh (Glen Allen, Va.) was among five Mids who were placewinners and led the Navy wrestling team to an eighth-place showing at the 37th annual Navy Classic held Saturday at the Wesley Brown Field House in Annapolis.

Despite not having an individual champion, 23rd-ranked Chattanooga claimed the team title with 108.4. The Mocs are the 12th different team to win the Navy Classic title and the fourth different winner in the last four seasons. Chattanooga narrowly won the tournament by just a 2.5-point advantage over Princeton (106.0), who was one of seven teams to crown an individual champion. Ohio was just a half point behind Princeton (105.5) in third, while Wisconsin (105.0) was only a half point behind Ohio fourth. Rounding out the top five was West Virginia who amassed 84.5 points.

Nineteenth-ranked Wisconsin led the way with three tournament winners, while Ohio had two and Brown, Bucknell, Kent State, Princeton and West Virginia each had one individual winner.

Not only did this year's 13-team Navy Classic feature one of the largest fields in tournament history, it also boasted three teams ranked (#19 Wisconsin, #23 Chattanooga, #24 Ohio) in the latest USA Today/NWCA/Amateur Wrestling News Coaches Poll. The competitive field, which included better than 20 ranked wrestlers, prevented a young Navy team from crowning an individual champion in the tournament for just the fourth time in Classic history.

"We had a good spread of talent and depth as you look at the guys we have put in the championship and place-winning matches the last few weeks," said first-year Navy head coach Joel Sharratt. "We have room to improve in several areas, but our staff is proud of the men who competed today and the effort they gave. The five wrestlers who placed for us today are a solid representation of so many great young men in the program."

Walsh was the Mids' top placewinner, taking third at 165 pounds. Winning his first two bouts by a combined 37-10 mark, Walsh punched his ticket into the semis against a familiar foe, Ohio's Harrison Hightower. The pair met multiple times a year ago and had previously in the third-place match at the Michigan State Open with Hightower besting Walsh. Hightower, ranked 18th nationally, edged out Walsh by a 3-1 decision Saturday, sending Walsh to the consolation bracket.

Walsh took his frustrations out on Cleveland State's Matt Donohoe, beating the redshirt senior by way of a tech fall (20-4). Walsh went on to take third place in a hard-fought battle against Princeton's Jonathan Schleifer, 11-10.

Walsh wasn't the only Navy wrestler at 165 pounds to have a strong performance on the day. Rookie Michael Coleman (Hudson, Ohio) put together a fifth-place effort in this third tournament of the season. After dropping his opening match to Brown's Galloway Thurston, 6-0, Coleman was forced to win work his way through the wrestlebacks. He beat West Virginia's Timothy Wheeling, 5-3, before earning a 17-2 tech fall over Kent State's Jerald Spohn. He continued to advance with an 8-0 major decision over teammate Max Smith (Arlington, Va.), but fell short of meeting his teammate for third when Princeton's Jonathan Schleifer dealt Coleman a 6-5 loss. Coleman rallied and pinned Cleveland State's Matt Donohoe in just 33 seconds to earn fifth.

"Michael (Coleman) has to earn the Heart Award as he battled his way to the podium today," added Sharratt. "Our youth continues to produce impressive results and the leaders of the team are doing a great job keeping them focused from week to week in our competition schedule."

Taking fourth place at 133 pounds was senior Colton Rasche (Plano, Ill.), who had appeared in just one match prior to the Classic. Rasche, a 2014 NCAA qualifier, opened with a 6-4 decision over Chattanooga's Jared Browning and followed with a 7-2 decision over Grim Gonzalez of Bucknell to earn a spot in the semis. Eighteenth-ranked Mack McGuire, a two-time Navy Classic winner, sent Rasche to the consolation bracket by way of a 6-2 victory.

Rasche came back to post a 6-1 victory over Cleveland State's Dan King, but suffered a 17-1 setback against Chattanooga's Nick Soto in the third-place bout.

Senior 141-pound Patrick Prada (Laurel, Md.) placed fifth after Bucknell's Tyler Smith was forced to forfeit due to an injury. Prada showed promise early on, winning three straight matches, including a 3-2 decision over North Carolina's Cody Ross that sent him to the semifinals. Prada, however, would lose an 11-2 decision to Mike Morales of West Virginia, the eventual winner, by major decision, 11-2. Unfortunately Prada was unable to rebound and his bid to earn a spot in the third-place match was foiled by Ohio's Noah Forrider who scored the 4-3 victory.

"It was great to have Rasche and Prada back in the line up for this event and to get them both into the medal round," said Sharratt, who continues to use his veteran wrestlers as mentors for the program.

The Mids' final placewinner of the day was freshman Jadaen Bernstein (Glen Gardner, N.J.), who is the only rookie and one of only two wrestlers on Navy's roster to place in all three tournaments. Bernstein began his day with an 11-5 win over Sam Button of Princeton and followed up with an 8-3 victory over West Virginia's Ross Renzi. Bernstein suffered his first loss of the day in the semifinals at 174 pounds when 12th-ranked Cody Walters of Ohio beat the newcomer, 4-0. Bernstein lost his first match in the consolation bracket to Chattanooga's McCoy Newberg, 6-3, and dropped a 6-5 decision to Ricky McDonald of Brown to finish sixth.

The Midshipmen will have a short break for the holidays, but will return to the mat the first weekend in December when they head West to take part in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

### Go Navy ###