• Inside the Match: Bragging rights will be on the line Friday evening when Navy (5-5, 2-4 EIWA) plays host to service academy rival Army (2-6, 2-1 EIWA) in the annual Star Match. The dual will be held at Alumni Hall and is slated to begin at 7:30 pm. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with Pete Medhurst on the call.

• Parking / Yard Access:
• A reminder that vehicular access to the Naval Academy is limited to those drivers with a Department of Defense identification card.
• It is suggested that fans park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium ($5 per vehicle) and ride the FREE shuttle bus to and from the match. Shuttle service will begin at 5:00 pm with the final bus returning to the stadium at 10:45 pm.
• Note that all visitors must carry and present a government-issued ID upon arrival to the Academy grounds.
• Fans may also park outside of the Naval Academy and walk on with proper identification.
• Admission to Friday night's match is $10 for adults and $5 for youth (18 years & younger). Gates will open at 6:30 pm.

• Spectator Policy: As per Department of Defense regulations, those who have not been vaccinated must wear a mask at all times when on the Naval Academy grounds. Those who have been vaccinated have the option to wear a mask while outdoors, but must wear a mask while indoors.

• Army-Navy Star Series Presented by USAA: Navy owns an 1134-853-44 (56.9) all-time record against Army in all sports. Over the last 26 years, the Mids lead the overall series against the Cadets 486-308-11 (61.1), as well as in Star Games 362-194-11 (64.8). Heading into the weekend, Navy leads the annual Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA 14-2 (87.5) and has already clinched the Star Series for the year. There are 8 remaining Star events - wrestling (2/18), men's (4/23) and women's (4/2) tennis, men's (4/2) and women's (4/2) outdoor track & field, men's (4/23) and women's (4/23) lacrosse and baseball (4/23-24). This year's Star winners for Navy include men's golf, sprint football, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's swimming & diving, football, rifle, men's and women's indoor track & field, gymnastics and men's basketball.

• Scouting Army: Led by eighth-year head coach Kevin Ward, Army heads into Friday night's dual against the Midshipmen with a 2-6 record that includes a 2-1 mark in EIWA action.
• Don't let the record fool you, however, as Army has wrestled a challenging schedule this season. Army has wrestled Penn State (L, 32-7), Iowa State (L, 25-9), Iowa (L, 36-7), Rutgers (26-9), Pitt (L, 29-10), Cornell (L, 28-10) and Lehigh (W, 24-13) who all were among the top 25 at the time of competition. Pitt and Lehigh have since dropped out of the rankings, although they are the top-two programs receiving votes as of this week. The Black Knights' only dual against a team that was not ranked at the time of the match was against Bucknell (W, 21-12).
• Army has five wrestlers who currently reside among InterMat's top-33 rankings - co-captain PJ Ogunsanya (Sr / 149 / #20), Markus Hartman (Sr / 157 / #23), Dalton Harkins (Fr / 165 / #27), Ben Pasiuk (So / 174 / #23) and co-captain JT Brown (Sr / 197 / #25). Ogunsanya has not wrestled since his injury default midway through his match against top-ranked Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell on Jan. 15. Both Dalton Harkins and Matt Williams have reached the 20-win milestone this season. Harkins leads the Black Knights with a 23-8 record, while Williams owns a 22-4 mark.

Projected Army Lineup
• 125 – Ryan Chauvin (Jr, Orlando, Fla. / 3-13, 0-7 dual)
• 133 – Dominic Carone (Jr, Streetsboro, Ohio. / 7-7, 0-5)
• 141 – Thomas Deck (So, Richmond, Ky. / 18-5, 2-1)
• 149 – Matt Williams (So, Hudson, Ohio. / 22-4, 2-0)
• 157 – #23 Markus Hartman (Sr, Barrington, Ill. / 12-5, 5-3)
• 165 – #27 Dalton Harkins (Fr, West Chester, Pa. / 23-8, 2-4)
• 174 – #23 Ben Pasiuk (So, Carrollton, Ohio / 13-4, 3-1)
• 184 – Sahm Abdulrazzaq (Jr, Woodbridge, Va. / 12-9, 1-2)
• 197 – #25 JT Brown (Sr, Elyria, Ohio / 10-7, 3-5)
• 285 – Brandon Phillips (Sr, Toledo, Ohio / 2-8, 0-4)

• The Army-Navy Wrestling Series: Friday's dual marks the 66th meeting between Army and Navy in a rivalry that dates back to a 17-8 win by the Mids on March 2, 1957 in Annapolis. Navy has been the dominant team in the series, boasting a 50-10-5 (80.8) advantage, including a 29-4-2 (85.7) record in matches staged in Annapolis. The Midshipmen have suffered just 6 setbacks (1997, 19-12 /  2015, 21-10 / 2017, 19-14 / 2018, 18-15 / 2019, 22-10 / 2020, 16-15 tie-breaker) to Army in the last 59 matches, as Navy owns a remarkable 48-6-5 (85.6) record during that span. Navy won the Star for the first time since 2016 behind a 20-13 victory at West Point a year ago. Meanwhile, Navy's last Star victory at home was a 19-17 win on Feb. 20, 2016.

• EIWA Championship Info Announced: The 2022 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championship is slated for March 5-6 and will be hosted by Cornell in Newman Arena at Bartels Hall. All 17 schools - American, Army, Binghamton, Brown, Bucknell, Columbia, Cornell, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, Harvard, Hofstra, Lehigh, LIU, Navy, Penn, Princeton and Sacred Heart - will compete in this year's championship which returns to its traditional two-day format. This year's championship is set to kick off at 11:00 am with the preliminary rounds on Saturday (3/5), while Sunday's (3/6) action begins at 9:50 am with the semifinals and quarterfinal consolations. The placement matches are estimated to start at 3:00 pm. Fans will be permitted to attend this year's tournament. Flowrestling (subscription required) will stream the tournament live with free live brackets also available.

• Trending
• Navy has used eight different starting lineups in its 10 duals this season. The Mids used the same lineup for the Columbia, Binghamton and Clarion duals.
• Four wrestlers - Josh Koderhandt (133), Jonathan Miranda (141/149), Andrew Cerniglia (157) and Jacob Koser (197) - have participated in all 10 duals for the Mids this season with Koderhandt and Cerniglia posting 8-2 marks, while Koser stands 7-3 and Miranda is 3-7.
• Navy has had at least two freshmen in its lineup in eight of its 10 duals this season and three freshmen in seven of the 10.
    Lehigh - 133 Koderhandt, 285 Catka
    Hofstra - 125 DelViscio, 133 Koderhandt, 174 Crebs
    Ohio - 133 Koderhandt, 165 Starr, 174 Crebs, 285 Catka
    Cleveland State - 133 Koderhandt, 165 Starr, 174 Crebs
    Columbia, Binghamton, Clarion - 133 Koderhandt, 174 Crebs, 285 Catka
• Friday night's dual marks just the third home dual and the fourth home appearance this season. Navy played host to its annual Navy Classic on Nov. 20 and did not wrestle at home again until Feb. 4 (Bucknell) and 6 (Clarion). The Mids competed in five road tournaments and eight road/neutral site duals between home appearances.
• Team captain Jacob Allen (Sr / 125 / Poway, Calif.) is just one win shy of reaching the 50-win milestone, as he stands 49-40 over four seasons (13-16 Fr / 12-5 So / 9-7 Jr / 15-12 Sr).
• Jacob Koser (Jr / 197 / Dillsburg, Pa.) is also approaching the 50-win club, as he heads into Friday's dual with a 48-20 mark.
• Andrew Cerniglia (157) is atop Navy's wins leader board with a 23-5 record. The first Navy wrestler to reach the 20-win mark this season, he did so with a 12-7 decision over Columbia's Andrew Garr last Friday.
• Joining Cerniglia in the 20-win club are Josh Koderhandt (133 / 21-6), Jacob Koser (197 / 20-6) and Ryan Catka (285 / 21-6).  Grady Griess (285 / 19-6) and Val Park (165 / 19-12) are just one win shy of adding their names to the list.
• Ryan Catka (285) is Navy's first heavyweight to reach 20 wins in a season since Dan Miller posted a 21-13 record during the 2012-13 season. Miller's 21 wins, meanwhile, were the most by a Navy heavyweight since Ed Prendergast garnered All-America honors and finished the 2007-08 campaign with a 39-5 record.

Projected Navy Lineup
• 125 – Jacob Allen (Sr, Poway, Calif. / 15-12, 3-6 dual) or Dayton DelViscio (Fr, Media, Pa. / 6-8, 1-0)
• 133 – #24 Josh Koderhandt (Fr, Belleville, Ill. / 21-6, 8-2) or Luke Lucerne (So, Newtown, Pa. / 7-9, 0-0)
• 141 – Tyler Hunt (So, Calhoun, Ga. / 7-11, 2-7) or Gage DeNatale (So, Locust Valley, N.Y. / 6-4, 0-0)
• 149 – Jonathan Miranda (Sr, Poway, Calif. / 6-11, 3-7) or PJ Crane (Jr, Horsham, Pa. / 4-10, 0-1)
• 157 – #25Andrew Cerniglia (So, Nazareth, Pa. / 23-5, 8-2) or George Ruiz (Fr, Clovis, Calif. / 4-6, 0-0)
• 165 – Val Park (Jr, Edmond, Okla. / 19-12, 3-5) or Sammy Starr (Fr, Leechburg, Pa. / 13-8, 1-1)
• 174 – Cael Crebs (Fr, Mountoursville, Pa. / 13-9, 4-3) or Shane Finney (Sr, Carlsbad, Calif. / 13-10, 0-2) or Shane Sosinsky (Sr, Upper Saddle River, N.J. / 5-8, 0-1)
• 184 – #32 David Key (So, Norcross, Ga. / 14-8, 4-3) or Hunter Johns (Jr, Dayton, Ohio / 10-9, 2-1)
• 197 – #26 Jacob Koser (Jr, Dillsburg, Pa. / 20-6, 7-3) or Trevor Swier (Fr, Joliet, Ill. / 2-7, 0-0)
• 285 – Ryan Catka (Fr, Brookhaven, Pa. / 21-6, 5-1) or Riley Smith (Sr, Mason, Mich. / 15-9, 0-2) or Grady Griess (So, Grand Island, Neb. / 19-6, 1-1)