2015 Southern Scuffle

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Two-time NCAA qualifier and 2014-15 team captain Peyton Walsh (Glen Allen, Va.) placed third at 165 pounds to guide the Navy wrestling team to a 24th-place finish at the 2015 Defense Soap and Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle Friday evening at McKenzie Arena in Chattagnooga, Tenn. Walsh was the only wrestler among the Mids' 13 competitors to place in a tournament that featured 14 of the top 25 teams in the country.

Fourth-ranked Penn State came into the final day of competition with just a four-point advantage over No. 12 Nebraska, but easily cruised to its fifth Southern Scuffle title, including its fourth in a row, behind a 15-point cushion over No. 6 Missouri (165.0 - 150.0). Seventh-ranked Oklahoma State took third with 135.5 points, followed by Nebraska in fourth (116.0) and No. 16 Michigan in fifth (88.5).

Navy (26.5), meanwhile, finished two points behind 23rd-place Boise State and 2.5 points short of 22nd-place Drexel, while holding a six-point advantage over Gardner Webb.

"The Scuffle gave the team a better idea as to where we are and where we need to be as we push through to the next phase of training and development," said first-year Navy head coach Joel Sharratt. "Technically, we will get better in each of our areas of excellence. As a team we witnessed what can happen if you remain focused on our respective positions and force a pace that installs fatigue in our opponents. Peyton Walsh did this in his medal match tonight and Jadaen Bernstein did it on New Year's Day when he pinned his opponent in overtime."

Billed as the top regular-season tournament in the country, the Southern Scuffle provided Navy's team captain a glimpse of the competition he will see in a few short months at the NCAA Championship. Walsh was unbeaten on day one, putting together a 3-0 record that set him up for a quarterfinals clash with 13th-ranked and fourth-seeded Jim Wilson of Stanford on Friday morning. Walsh gutted out a 5-4 victory against Wilson and punched his ticket into the semifinals where he would meet No. 1 ranked Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State. Dieringer showed why he was deserving of that ranking as he dealt Walsh, ranked 15th nationally and seeded fifth in the tournament, an 18-1 tech fall.

Walsh, though, bounced back to beat long-time Army rival Coleman Gracey, 4-3, in the consolation semifinals and scored an 8-3 victory over Chandler Marstellar of Oklahoma State who was wrestling unattached to take third place. Marstellar, a freshman, amassed a flawless 166-0 record at Kennard-Dale High School in Fawn Grove, Pa. and was a four-time Pennsylvania AAA state champion.

"Peyton has continued to improve his technical skills each week and he wrestled his best matches of the season here at the Southern Scuffle, the biggest event in the regular season."

Walsh, who has placed among the top five in every tournament he has competed in this season, now stands 27-7 on the year and 95-44 over his career.

Freshman Jadaen Bernstein (Glen Gardner, N.J.) and junior Michael Woulfe (Oak Park, Ill.) also advanced to the second day of competition at the Southern Scuffle, however, both dropped their opening match on Friday morning to bow out of the tournament. Bernstein fell short at 174 pounds to Central Michigan's Jordan Ellingwood, 3-2, while Stanford's Zach Nevills dealt Woulfe a 4-0 loss at 184 pounds.

"Both (Bernstein and Woulfe) showed they can compete at a very high level, but both of them need to limit mistakes while forcing the match in their positions more often."

Navy will send a handful of wrestler to compete at the Franklin & Marshall Open on Saturday before playing host to its first home dual of the season a week from Saturday against Lehigh (7:30 at Alumni Hall).

"We kick off the second half of our schedule next week beginning with one of our long-time rivals, Lehigh. It will be a test for all 10 weights to put their best effort into the seven minutes.

"We are going to be looking for the leadership at each weight to step forward and establish who will wear the Navy blue and gold uniform this March. Everyone in our room knows they have a role to play in getting 10 guys ready to put their foot on the line and represent this team each week."

### Go Navy ###