Seven of the Mids' 10 entrants placed among the top eight in their respective weight classes, including 2020 EIWA Champions Tanner Skidgel (165 / Jr / Tulsa, Okla.) and Cody Trybus (141 / Jr / Elkton, Md.), to lead the Navy wrestling team to a fourth-place finish at the 116th EIWA Championship held Friday and Saturday at Lehigh's Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.  In addition to Skidgel and Trybus, Jared Prince (149 / Sr / Safety Harbor, Fla.) and team captain Spencer Carey (Sr / Ringwood, N.J.) earned automatic bids to the 2020 NCAA Championship (March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium / Minneapolis).

"The Naval Academy wrestling program showed up prepared with the grit and determination that is a hallmark of the program," said sixth-year Navy head coach Joel Sharratt. "The EIWA Tournament provides our guys with a great preview of what is to come at the NCAA Championship. Competing among several top-20 programs, we pushed our pace and forced our opponents into our positions. We competed with a great deal of passion, grit and heart today."

Lehigh, who claimed its third consecutive team title and 37th overall, led the way with three individual champions (157, 174, 285), while Cornell (133, 197), Navy (141, 165) and Princeton (125, 149) and Binghamton (184) accounted for the remaining winners. The Mountain Hawks paced the field with 154 points, while Cornell followed in second with 120. Army fell in at third with 112 points, followed by Navy in fourth with 104.5 points and Princeton in fifth with 100.5 points. It was Navy's best EIWA showing since Bruce Burnett led the Mids to a second-place finish in his final season in 2013.

Navy placed four wrestlers in the semifinals, while three competed in the finals of their respective weight classes. Trybus and Carey wrestled in the championship bout for the first time in their careers, while both earned their highest finish at the Championship. Trybus is Navy's first 141-pound champion since Mark Conley claimed the title in back-to-back years (2001 and 2002), while Skidgel is the Mids' first two-time EIWA Champion since Joe Baker won the 133-pound crown in 2008 and '09. It's the second time under Sharratt's watch Navy has had multiple EIWA champs in the same year (2015 / 165 Peyton Walsh, 174 Jadaen Bernstein).

In addition to Trybus and Skidgel winning individual titles, Carey placed second at 174, Prince took third at 149, Casey Cobb (133 / Jr / Kuna, Idaho) finished fourth, Jack Stanton-Taddeo (157 / Jr / Wading River, N.Y.) placed seventh and Jacob Koser (197 / Fr / Dillsburg, Pa.) was eighth.

Prince is just the eighth wrestler in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championship all four years and the first since Jadaen Bernstein (2015-16-17-18). Carey and Skidgel will make their second trip to the championship, while Trybus is a first-time qualifier.

While the EIWA received 44 automatic bids to the NCAA Championship, wrestlers who failed to qualify over the weekend will be eligible for one of 47 at-large berths which will be announced on Tuesday.  

More From Coach Sharratt
• Cody Trybus set the tone with his semifinal victory and the team just kept rolling on that emotion. Cody had reached a new level of performance about midseason and this weekend he dialed it way up from there. He is confident, aggressive and is a hammer with controlled aggression.

• Tanner Skidgel has continued to show his championship capabilities. He controlled the field and has the ability to score in all positons. Any time your crowning multiple EIWA Champions, it's a good thing and these two (Trybus and Skidgel) really wrestled solid.

• Spencer Carey has been the bedrock of the team, setting a high standard of performance for everyone. Tonight he was not able to get his positions and dropped a tough match to one of the top ranked athletes in the conference. He knows he has more in the tank and will be ready to leave it all in Minneapolis in two weeks.

• Perhaps no tougher road with more on the line was Jared Prince. His lack of matches this season dropped him into the toughest draw of the tournament and he would not be eligible to earn an at-large selection should he not have a good performance this weekend. He wrestled very well considering he wrestled more matches in the last two days than he has all season. Defeating the #1 and #2 seeds in his last two bouts will add validity to his NCAA ranking and seeding.

• Casey Cobb will be competitive for an at-large selection, but I don't like leaving things up to other people to make those decisions. He is right there and he is capable of scoring team points at the NCAAs.

• Jacob Koser and Jack Stanton-Taddeo had strong efforts throughout the weekend. They will return next year having had a tremendous experience at the EIWA Championship from which to build and a strong hunger to get their opportunity to compete at the NCAAs.

Team Scores
1.  154.0 - Lehigh
2.  120.0 - Cornell
3.  112.0 - Army
4.  104.5 - Navy
5.  100.5 - Princeton
6.  67.5 - Binghamton
7.  57.5 - Bucknell
8.  56.0 - Penn
9.  55.0 - American
10. 49.5 - Hofstra
11. 48.5 - Columbia
12. 47.5 - Drexel
      47.5 - Harvard
14. 13.5 - Brown
15. 9.5 - LIU
16. 6.0 - Franklin & Marshall
17. 5.5 - Sacred Heart

Coaches' Trophy - Outstanding Wrestler of the EIWA Championship
Josh Humphreys, Lehigh

John Fletcher Memorial Award - Most cumulative teams points at the EIWA Championship (career)
Matthew Kolodzik, Princeton (75.5)

Billy Sheridan Memorial Award - Most falls in least time (championship bracket)
Ben Harvey, Army (2 falls / 5:09)

EIWA Coach of the Year
Pat Santoro, Lehigh

Good Sportsmanship Award
Franklin & Marshall

Navy Results at 2020 EIWA Championship
125 - (6) Logan Treaster (0-2 / Did Not Place)
• Round of 16: lost to (11) Dominic LaJoie, Cornell / Dec / 4-2
• Consolation of 8 #1: lost to (3) Michael Colaiocco, Penn / Dec 7-5 SV

133 - (4) Casey Cobb (3-2 / Placed 4th)
• Round of 16: def (13) Chase Shields, Drexel / Major / 12-3
• Quarterfinals: def (5) Darren Miller, Bucknell / Dec / 2-1 TB
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• Semifinals: lost to (1) Chas Tucker, Cornell / Dec / 8-2
• Consolation Semifinals: def (6) Andrew Wert, Army / Dec / 5-2
• 3rd/4th Place Match: lost to (2) Zack Trampe, Binghamton / Dec / 6-4

141 - (4) Cody Trybus (4-0 / Champion / NCAA Qualifier)
• Round of 16: def (13) Lukus Stricker, Harvard / Dec / 3-2
• Quarterfinals: def (5) Noah Baughman, Cornell / Major / 8-0
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• Semifinals: def (8) Anthony Sparacio, Binghamton / Dec / 8-4
• Championship: def (3) Matt Kazimir, Columbia / Dec / 3-1

149 - (5) Jared Prince (5-1 / Placed 3rd / NCAA Qualifier)
• Round of 16: def (12) Christiaan Dailey, Franklin & Marshall / Tech Fall / 16-1 (7:00)
• Quarterfinals: lost to (4) Matthew Kolodzik, Princeton / Dec / 6-4 SV
• Consolation of 8 #2: def (10) Nick Palumbo, Sacred Heart / Fall / 0:57
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• Consolation Quarters: def (9) Lucas Revano, Penn / Dec / 7-4
• Consolation Semifinals: def (2) Jimmy Hoffman, Lehigh / Tech Fall / 20-4 (7:00)
• 3rd/4th Place Match: def (1) Kizhan Clarke, American / Dec / 3-1

157 - (11) Jack Stanton-Taddeo (3-2 / Placed 7th)
• Round of 16: lost to (6) Hunter Ladnier, Harvard / Major / 11-2
• Consolation of 8 #1: def (14) Christopher Barker, Binghamton / Dec / 8-2
• Consolation of 8 #2: def (9) Jack Bokina, Brown / Major / 12-4
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• Consolation Quarters: lost to (12) Adam Santoro, Cornell / Dec / 6-1
• 7th/8th Place Match: def (7) Jaden Fisher, Bucknell / Dec / 10-4

165 - (1) Tanner Skidgel (4-0 / Champion / NCAA Qualifier)
• Round of 16: def (16) Ryan Ferro, LIU / Fall / 2:14
• Quarterfinals: def (9) Milik Dawkins, Cornell / Dec / 2-0
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• Semifinals: def (4) Cael McCormiack, Army / Dec / 1-0
• Championship: def (3) Zach Hartman, Bucknell / Dec / 4-2

174 - (2) Spencer Carey (3-1 / Placed 2nd / NCAA Qualifier)
• Round of 16: def (15) Cade Wilson, Brown / Tech Fall / 16-1 (3:00)
• Quarterfinals: def (10) Lennox Wolak, Columbia / Major / 14-4
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• Semifinals: def (3) Ben Harvey, Army / Dec / 5-2
• Championship: lost to (1) Jordan Kutler, Lehigh / Dec / 5-0

184 - (13) Andrew Buckley (1-2 / Did Not Place)
• Round of 16: lost to (4) Tanner Harvey, American / Dec / 9-2
• Consolation of 8 #1: def (12) Dan McClure, LIU / Dec 4-1
• Consolation of 8 #2: lost to (10) Charles Small, Hofstra / Dec 3-2 TB2

197 - (4) Jacob Koser (2-3 / Placed 8th)
• Round of 16: def (13) Ethan Seeley, Franklin & Marshall / Tech Fall / 16-0 (3:12)
• Quarterfinals: lost to (5) Drew Phipps, Bucknell / Dec / 9-3
• Consolation of 8 #2: def (15) Sam DePrez, Binghamton / Fall / 3:46
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• Consolation Quarters: lost to (8) Bryan McLaughlin, Drexel / Dec / 5-4
• 7th/8th Place Match: lost to (7) Cole Urbas, Penn / Dec / 6-1

285 - (15) Riley Smith (1-2 / Did Not Place)
• Round of 16: lost to (2) Ben Sullivan, Army / Major / 10-2
• Consolation of 16 #1: def (17) Thomas Mukai, Brown / Major / 13-4
• Consolation of 8 #1: lost to (10) Vincenzo Pelusi, Franklin & Marshall / Dec / 5-3

### Go Navy ###