Five of Navy's nine qualifiers made it through Thursday's opening day of competition at the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championship held at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Jacob Allen (133 / Jr / Poway, Calif.),
Cody Trybus (141 / Sr / Elkton, Md.),
Andrew Cerniglia (157 / Fr / Nazareth, Pa.),
Tanner Skidgel (165 / Sr / Tulsa, Okla.) and
David Key (184 / Fr / Norcross, Ga) will continue their quest to become All-Americans when action resumes Friday at 11:00 am ET.
Navy stands 25th among the field of 63 teams with 7 points and is just 1.5 points out of the top 20. Iowa, meanwhile, is atop the leader board with 33.5 points and all 10 of its wrestlers still in action. The Hawkeyes hold a 5.5-point advantage over Penn State (28.0), who has nine wrestlers still in the tournament. Missouri is in third with 23.5 points, followed by NC State (21.0) and Oklahoma State (20.0) who round out the top 5.
Lehigh leads the EIWA field in 17th with 9 points, followed by Navy in 25th, Hofstra (5.5) in 31st, Army (3.0) in T44th, Binghamton (3.0) in T44th, Bucknell (2.0) in 48th and Drexel (1.0) in 52nd. American and Sacred Heart were represented by two wrestlers each, but neither scored on opening day.
Trybus, Skidgel and Key all earned victories in their first-round bouts, but fell short in the second round of the championship bracket.
Trybus, the No. 11 seed, looked strong in his opener against 22nd-seeded Anthony Brito of Appalachian State. The two-time NCAA qualifier jumped out to a 3-0 advantage after the first two frames, but poured it on in the third to earn a 10-1 major decision. Trybus, however, came up short in the nightcap against sixth-seeded Allan Hart of Missouri, who scored a 4-1 victory that ended Trybus' 22-match winning streak that dated back to the final nine matches of 2020. Trybus will face 12th-seeded Grant Willits of Oregon State in Friday's first match.
Seeded 13th, Skidgel narrowly escaped 20th-seeded Cole Moody of Wyoming in the first round 3-2. Skidgel was quick to the punch, scoring a takedown just five seconds into the bout, but heading into the final stanza the match was locked up at two apiece. Skidgel was able to break free from the clutches of Moody for the match-winning escape to advance. Skidgel, however, would be on the opposite side of a 3-2 decision in the second round. Matched up against defending National Champion (2019) Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech, Lewis scored first in the bout with a takedown midway through the opening period. He fought off an injured shoulder and Skidgel's opportunities to capture the 3-2 victory, sending Skidgel to the backside of the bracket. Skidgel will wrestle 19th-seeded Gerrit Nijenhuis of Purdue in his first bout on Friday.
Key, making his NCAA debut, wrestled in one of the most exciting matches of the tournament yet. Trailing 8-4 in the third period, 20th-seeded Key not only won a scramble against 13th-seeded Chris Weiler of Wisconsin, he powered Weiler to his back and pinned the former Lehigh standout at 5:38. Unfortunately Key's momentum would be stopped by redshirt freshman Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa who remains unbeaten this year. The No. 2 seed dealt Key a 16-5 loss in the second round. Key will meet 19th-seeded Zach Braunagel of Illinois Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Allen and Cerniglia advance to day two after rallying from opening-round losses. Allen dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to sixth-seeded Matt Schmitt of Missouri in the first round, but stood tall in his second-round bout against 11th-seeded Anthony Madrigal of Oklahoma. Both wrestlers scored their only point of regulation by way of escape, forcing sudden victory. It was Allen, who earned the automatic bid after placing second at the EIWA Championship as the No. 7 seed, who would strike with a takedown and four-point nearfall to follow to score the 7-1 upset in extra minutes. Twenty-seventh seeded Allen will take on 12th-seeded Jarrett Trombley of NC State on Friday.
Cerniglia was aggressive in his opener against 12th-seeded Brady Berge of Penn State, but the two-time NCAA qualifier bested the Navy rookie 12-4. Cerniglia bounced back in the evening session by scoring the match-winning reversal to start the third period and earn a 5-3 victory over 28th-seeded Caleb Licking of Nebraska. Friday's opener will pit 21st-seeded Cerniglia against 11th-seeded Jacori Teemer of Arizona State.
Four of Navy's five wrestlers who advanced were making their first-career appearance at the NCAA Championship and earned their first win. Meanwhile, Skidgel, a three-time qualifier, made his second appearance and earned his second win at the championship.
Bowing out of the tournament for the Mids were seniors
Logan Treaster (125 / Newton, Kan.) and
Casey Cobb (149 / Kuna, Idaho), along with sophomores
Jacob Koser (197 / Dillsburg, Pa.) and
John Birchmeier (285 / Ashburn, Va.). All four wrestlers were making their first appearance at the NCAA Championship.
Navy Results at 2021 NCAA Championship
125 - (25) Logan Treaster (0-2)
• 11-4 this season | 55-24 career | 0-2 NCAA Championship career
• Championship Rd 1: lost to (8) RayVon Foley, Michigan State / Major Dec / 14-0
• Consolation Rd 1: lost to (24) Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga / Dec / 8-3
133 - (27) Jacob Allen (1-1 / Advances to Day 2)
• 9-6 this season | 34-27 career | 1-1 NCAA Championship career
• Championship Rd 1: lost to (6) Matt Schmitt, Missouri / Dec / 4-1
• Consolation Rd 1: defeated (11) Anthony Madrigal, Oklahoma / Dec / 7-1 SV
141 - (11) Cody Trybus (1-1 / Advances to Day 2)
• 13-1 this season | 66-28 career | 1-1 NCAA Championship career | Entered the tournament having won 21-straight matches dating back to 2020
• Championship Rd 1: defeated (22) Anthony Brito, Appalachian State / Major Dec / 10-1
• Championship Rd 2: lost to (6) Allan Hart, Missouri / Dec / 4-1
149 - (19) Casey Cobb (0-2)
• 8-3 this season | 50-27 career | 0-2 NCAA Championship career
• Championship Rd 1: lost to (14) Michael Blockhus, Minnesota / Major Dec / 10-0
• Consolation Rd 1: lost to (32) Greg Gaxiola, Hofstra / Dec / 3-2
157 - (21) Andrew Cerniglia (1-1 / Advances to Day 2)
• 9-2 this season | 9-2 career | 1-1 NCAA Championship career
• Championship Rd 1: lost to (12) Brady Berge, Penn State / Major Dec / 12-4
• Consolation Rd 1: defeated (28) Caleb Licking, Nebraska / Dec / 5-3
165 - (13) Tanner Skidgel (1-1 / Advances to Day 2)
• 12-3 this season | 58-20 career | 2-3 NCAA Championship career
• Championship Rd 1: defeated (20) Cole Moody, Wyoming / Dec / 3-2
• Championship Rd 2: lost to (4) Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech / Dec / 3-2
184 - (20) David Key (1-1 / Advances to Day 2)
• 10-2 this season | 10-2 career | 1-1 NCAA Championship career
• Championship Rd 1: defeated (13) Chris Weiler, Wisconsin / Fall / 5:38
• Championship Rd 2: lost to (4) Parker Keckeisen, Northwestern / Major Dec / 16-5
197 - (18) Jacob Koser (0-2)
• 7-5 this season | 28-14 career | 0-2 NCAA Championship career
• Championship Rd 1: lost to (15) Michael Beard, Penn State / Major Dec / 14-4
• Consolation Rd 1: lost to (2) Eric Schultz, Nebraska / Dec / 4-2
285 - (24) John Birchmeier (0-2)
• 7-4 this season | 23-13 career | 0-2 NCAA Championship career
• Championship Rd 1: lost to (9) Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State / Tech Fall / 18-0 (2:18)
• Consolation Rd 1: lost to (25) Nathan Traxler, Stanford / Tech Fall / 15-0 (5:30)
### Go Navy ###
