The Navy wrestling program will open its 109th season of competition this Sunday when it plays host to Delaware Valley and Johns Hopkins at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. Utilizing a pair of mats, the Mids will divide into two squads (Blue and Gold) and will face both foes at 1:00 pm and 2:45 pm. Navy will wrap up the day of action by conducting its annual Blue-Gold Challenge Matches beginning at 4:30 pm. Admission is free for Sunday's matches.

The Opponents
Delaware Valley and Johns Hopkins will account for four of the Mids' 10 dual matches this season and four of the five Navy will compete in prior to the turn of the calendar. This is the second straight year Navy head coach Joel Sharratt has put together an afternoon of action leading up to the annual Blue-Gold Challenge Matches and the second year in a row Delaware Valley has taken part in the competition.

Delaware Valley, coached by 1991 Naval Academy graduate Steve Cantrell, turned in an 5-6 record a year ago, placing fourth at the NCAA East Regional Championship and 16th at the NCAA Division III Championship. All eyes will be on the Aggies' Zach Roseberry who is the defending D-III National Champion at 285 pounds after putting together a 29-1 record. He stands 93-12 over his career and is a three-time D-III All-American. He enters his senior campaign ranked #1 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association D-III preseason rankings. Also returning for the Aggies are 2016 D-III national qualifiers Ben Schweiger (174/184) and Brenden Velez (125).

Johns Hopkins finished its 2016 campaign with a 3-6 record, including a 3-5 mark in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays will be led this season by returning Centennial Conference 174-pound champion Jared Forman who was also named the Outstanding Wrestler of the conference championship. He enters the weekend needing just one victory to reach the 50-win milestone for his career. Head coach Keith Norris will also look to senior 165-pound Alex McLaughlin, sophomore 184-pound Isaac Morales and junior 157-pound Tommy Grifa to springboard their Centennial Conference performances into the 2017 season.

The Rankings
Navy has four different wrestlers who appear in the preseason rankings, however, three of them are vying for the starting role at the same weight class.

Two-time NCAA qualifier Jadaen Bernstein (Glen Gardner, N.J.) returns for his junior season and will continue his quest to not only become an All-American, but also win a National Championship at the 174-pound weight class. Bernstein is ranked by all five major wrestling media outlets - #10 by Intermat, #10 by The Open Mat, #11 by WIN Magazine, #12 by Amateur Wrestling News and #13 by FloWrestling.

Bernstein produced a 34-12 record last season that featuring a 7-1 mark in dual competition. He placed in five of the six regular-season tournaments, while placing third at the EIWA Championship to secure a spot in the NCAA Championship. Bernstein's lone loss in the EIWA Championship was to eventual champion and second-ranked Brian Realbuto of Cornell. Bernstein's season came with a sour end at the NCAA Championship where, after winning his first two bouts, he sustained a head injury against Indiana's Nathan Jackson and was forced to bow out of the tournament.

Meanwhile, a year removed from qualifying for the NCAA Championship at 133 pounds, Zack Davis (Jr., Granger, Ind.) is pushing up to 141 pounds. Davis turned in a 28-16 record a year ago and enters the season with a 56-31 career record. He placed third at the EIWA Championship to earn his first trip to the NCAA Championship where he went 1-2. While Davis does not have any intentions of wrestling at 133 pounds, he is ranked in the preseason polls by Internat (#16), WIN Magazine (#18) and FloWrestling (#19).

Also competing at 141 pounds is returning NCAA qualifier Nicholas Gil (So., Crystal Lake, Ill.), who posted a 25-16 mark at 141 pounds as a freshman. Gil, ranked 20th by WIN Magazine in the preseason polls, placed sixth at the EIWA Championship to qualify for the NCAA Championship.

Freshman Jared Prince (Safety Harbor, Fla.) is also preparing to wrestle at 141 pounds and after a decorated high school and prep school career, he already appears in the preseason rankings of three polls - #13 by FloWrestling, #13 by The Open Mat and #16 by Intermat.

Who Is Back
After fielding one of the youngest teams in recent memory, Navy returns a bulk of its lineup with a few new faces in the mix. Brant Leadbeter (Jr., Owings, Md.), who amassed a 15-21 record a year ago, returns at 125 pounds, while Corey Wilding (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.), who posted a 22-15 mark last year, will once again wrestle at 149 pounds. Drew Daniels (Jr., Overland Park, Kan.) will push up from 157 pounds to 165, while Michael Coleman (Jr., Hudson, Ohio) will make the leap from 165 to 184 pounds this winter.

Annual Blue-Gold Challenge Matches
The Blue-Gold Challenge Matches have been a long-standing tradition of Navy wrestling. This year's matches will feature six freshmen, four sophomores, eight juniors and three seniors (one of the teams has an either/or at 184 pounds). The Navy Blue squad is young, yet talented, while the Gold team is comprised of nearly all upperclassmen.

This year's lineup is as follows: 125 Brant Leadbeter vs. Noah Sirianni; 133 Ricky Bryant vs. Cody Lambert; 141 Nicholas Gil vs. Jared Prince; 149 Conner Prince vs. Corey Wilding; 157 Zach Elvin vs. Corey Cowan; 165 Jonathan Carrera vs. Drew Daniels or AJ Alford; 174 Jadaen Bernstein vs. Robert Winning; 184 Alex Benoit or Ryan Harman vs. Michael Coleman; 197 Steban Cervantes vs. Austin Faunce; 285 Thomas Ott vs. Ethan Stanley.

What's Ahead
Navy will send wrestlers to compete in a pair of tournaments next Sunday - the Iowa State Open is slated to begin at 10:00 (ET) in Ames, Iowa, while the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open will be held in Binghamton, N.Y. beginning at 9:00 am.

### Go Navy ###