Navy Notes
• Inside the Match: After opening the 2020-21 season a week ago in Annapolis against Pitt (L, 22-14), the Navy wrestling team (0-1) will make its first road trip of the season, traveling to Pennsylvania to battle the Clarion Golden Eagles (0-0) on Saturday afternoon. Action is set to begin at 3:00 pm at Tippin Gym.
• Follow the Action: The Navy-Clarion match will be streamed online via Golden Eagle Vision. The app is available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku systems or on desktop/mobile.
• Format: Navy and Clarion are scheduled to wrestle a traditional 10-bout, team-scored dual while the two programs will also wrestle extra matches that will count towards an individual's season record. Simultaneous to the dual, the Navy and Clarion "2's" will wrestle on a second mat. At the conclusion of the dual, two mats will again be utilized with matches featuring Navy "1's" vs. Clarion "2's" and Clarion "1's" vs. "Navy "2's."  
• Kolat Era Begins: Cary Kolat (0-1 Navy / 39-41 Career) was introduced as Navy's eighth head wrestling coach on March 20, 2020. This is Kolat's seventh year as a DI head coach after previously building Campbell into a Southern Conference power and a national name. The three-time SoCon Coach of the Year led Campbell to three SoConTournament titles (2017, '19, '20) and a pair of SoCon regular-season crowns (2019, '20). He coached 19 NCAA Championship qualifiers, along with 12 individual SoCon Champions and 28 medalists at the SoCon Tournament.
• Who Returns: Navy has six returning starters in its lineup this winter, including three of its five NCAA qualifiers from a year ago. Headlining the list are reigning EIWA Champions Cody Trybus (141) and Tanner Skidgel (165), along with NCAA at-large selection Casey Cobb, who will push up from 133 to 149 this year. Also returning to the lineup is senior Logan Treaster (125), along with sophomores Jacob Koser (197) and John Birchmeier (285).
• The New Kids on the Block: Kolat will have two freshmen in the lineup this weekend, including Andrew Cerniglia (157) who was impressive in his collegiate debut last weekend against Pitt. Not only did he go 2-0 against the Panthers, he outscored his foes 33-2 behind a pair of tech falls (16-1 in 3:08 and 17-1 in 2:38). Hailing from Nazareth, Pa., Cerniglia won back-to-back PIAA Class 2A titles in 2019 and '20 and was ranked as high as #3 nationally by Intermat. He produced a 47-1 record his senior, including victories in each of his final 40 matches. Cerniglia's classmate David Key will get the not at 184 pounds after being unavailable last weekend. Key was a two-time (2017, '19) Georgia Class 7A State Champion, who was the runner-up in 2018. He produced a 60-1 record as a senior at Brookwood High School that featured six individual tournament titles.
• Skidgel Looks to Three-Peat: Senior Tanner Skidgel is looking to become just the seventh wrestler in program history to win three EIWA individual titles. After wrestling in just eight matches his rookie year, he has reached 20 wins in each of the last two seasons and won the 165-pound EIWA title in 2019 and '20. He is one of 32 Navy wrestlers to win multiple EIWA titles and the first since Joe Baker won back-to-back 133-pound crowns in 2008 and '09. Navy's three-time EIWA Champions include Malcolm MacDonald (1943-44-45), Gerald Franzen (1963-64-65), Lloyd Keaser (1970-71-72), Tom Schuler (1970-71-72), John Reich (1980-82-83) and Dan Hicks (1992-94-95).
• 900 Wins and Counting: Established in 1909, the Navy wrestling program is in its 113th season as a varsity sport. Head coach John Schutz directed the Mids to a 24-9 victory over Penn on March 13, 1909 in their inaugural dual. Having amassed a 905-313-26 overall record, Navy captured the program's 900th victory behind a 21-12 victory over Maryland last December. With 71 NCAA Championship appearances in tow, there are just eight programs who have competed in more - 88 Oklahoma State, 80 Oklahoma, 79 Iowa State, 78 Michigan, 76 Michigan State, 76 Penn State, 74 Lehigh and 73 Illinois. Both Iowa and Minnesota have made 71 appearances. Navy, meanwhile, has the 25th-longest active NCAA Championship appearance streak, having competed in each of the last 23 tournaments. Oklahoma leads the country with 70 straight appearances.