ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy wrestling team (0-0) opens its 116th season with a dual against No. 23 Illinois (1-0) on Saturday at Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill. 

The Mids and Fighting Illini will take the mat at 2 p.m. ET. 

Steaming Info
Fans can stream Saturday's dual with a Big Ten Plus subscription with Ethan Oskroba on the call. 

Projected Navy Lineup (2022-23 Dual Record / Career Dual Record)
• 125: Evan Tallmadge (0-0 / 0-0)
• 133: No. 22 Brendan Ferretti (7-3 / 7-3)
• 141: No. 28 Josh Koderhandt (7-4 / 16-6) 
• 149: James Latona (0-3 / 0-3)
• 157: No. 33 Jonathan Ley (0-0 / 0-0)
• 165: No. 27 Andrew Cerniglia (2-1 / 15-3)
• 174: No. 32 Danny Wask (0-0 / 0-0)
• 184: No. 17 David Key (5-2 / 15-5) 
• 197: Cael Crebs (1-3, 5-6)
• 285: No. 13 Grady Griess (8-2 / 9-3)

Mids In The Rankings (InterMat / FloWrestling)
• 133: Brendan Ferretti - 22 / 19
• 141: Josh Koderhandt - 28 / 22
• 157: Jonathan Ley - 33 / NR
• 165: Andrew Cerniglia - 27 / 25
• 174: Danny Wask - 32 / 32 
• 184: David Key - 17 / 20
• 197: Jacob Lucas - 33 / NR 
• 285: Grady Griess - 13 / 14

Navy Notes
• Navy enters its fourth season under head coach Cary Kolat. The Mids have posted a 16-12 record under his guidance. 
• Kolat also begins his 10th season as a collegiate head coach. He owns a 55-52 career record.
• Navy opens its season with a dual for the first time since 2020. The Mids haven't won their opening dual since 2019 when they beat Fresno State, 25-9. 
• Navy compiled a 5-6 record and went 4-1 against Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) opponents in 2022-23. The Mids earned victories against Kent State (27-21), Hofstra (21-12), Binghamton (19-18), Bucknell (25-9) and Army (18-13). Navy also wrestled in five tournaments during the regular season.
• The Mids finished in a tie for fourth place out of 17 teams at the 2023 EIWA Championship. Six of Navy's 10 wrestlers placed in the event, led by heavyweight champion Grady Griess.
• Five Mids qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championship based on their placements at the EIWA Championship. Brendan Ferretti (133), Josh Koderhandt (141), David Key (184), Jacob Koser (197) and Griess (285) ended with a combined record of 3-10 at nationals. 
• Navy returns eight of its 10 wrestlers who competed in last year's EIWA Championship and four of its five NCAA qualifiers. 
• Eight Mids enter the season nationally ranked by InterMat. Griess is Navy's highest-ranked wrestler at No. 13 in his respective weight class. He's looking to become the first Mid to climb into the top 10 since Cody Trybus (141) earned ninth in the nation prior to the 2021 NCAA Championship.
• After three years of competing at 157 pounds, Andrew Cerniglia bumped up to 165 pounds for his senior season. The Nazareth, Pa., native battled injuries during his junior campaign and saw action in only 15 matches. He finished the season with an 8-7 record and won two of his three dual contests. 
• Koderhandt leads Navy in career wins (54) and dual victories (16) entering his junior season. He totaled a career-high 28 wins and came out on top in seven dual matches last season. His seven dual wins were tied for the second-most on the team with Ferretti. Additionally, Koderhandt was one of only two wrestlers to start every dual. 
• Koderhandt is the only Mid from Illinois. While at Belleville Township High School West, he qualified for the IHSA State Championship three times. He finished as the runner-up his sophomore year (39-3) and placed first during his junior campaign (49-0).
• Ferretti led Navy's freshmen class with 22 victories last year despite missing over a month of the season due to injury. The Macomb, Mich., native was one of only 17 true freshmen to qualify for nationals.   
• Key is the lone projected starter with experience against Illinois. He has met a Fighting Illini wrestler in both appearances at the NCAA Championship. The Norcross, Ga., native defeated Zach Braunagel in 2020 by a 10-3 decision and Dylan Connell in 2023 by an 8-4 decision. 
• The Mids lost a valuable piece of their lineup with the departure of Koser. He was a three-time NCAA qualifier and compiled 80 wins in his career. He became the first Navy wrestler to reach 80 victories since Nicholas Gil (141) won his 80th match in 2018. Koser matched his season-high with 26 victories during his senior campaign while serving as the team captain. 

Griess Named Team Captain
Griess was selected as the captain of the 2023-24 Navy wrestling team.

He won the 109th individual EIWA title in program history this past season. His placement earned him a spot to wrestle at the NCAA Championship for the first time in his career. He also placed first at the Clarion Open, Bearcat Open and Franklin & Marshall Open in his respective weight class. 

The Grand Island, Neb., native led the Mids with 32 victories to become the 50th wrestler in program history to post 30 or more wins in a season. Additionally, he led the team in dual victories (eight) and wins against nationally-ranked opponents (eight). 

Griess was also one of 105 athletes who earned EIWA All-Academic honors in 2022-23. The quantitative economics major owns a 3.88 cumulative GPA and posted the top GPA in his weight class. Additionally, he was one of only 13 athletes on the honors list with a GPA of at least 3.8.

A Look at the Newcomers
Coach Kolat welcomed 18 freshmen to the team this season. Navy's freshmen class makes up over one-third of its roster. 

Three first-year Mids are in the projected lineup against Illinois. 

Evan Tallmadge (125) wrestled for Brick Memorial High School and the Shore Thing Wrestling Club. He compiled a career record of 118-31, including a 30-3 mark his senior year. Tallmadge won the 2019 Cadet Fargo National Championship at 106 pounds. He also claimed back-to-back NJSIAA state titles in his junior (113 pounds) and senior years (120 pounds) to become just the third two-time state champion in Brick Memorial history. 

Jonathan Ley (157) is a four-time National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) All-American (4th in 2018; 3rd in 2019; 5th in 2021; 2nd in 2022). He placed second at the 2022 National Prep Championship at 170 pounds to help Lake Highland Prep place fourth as a team. He also claimed the 160-pound title at the 2021 Beast of the East Championship. Additionally, Ley is a two-time Super 32 All-American at 152 pounds (3rd in 2021; 4th in 2022).

Danny Wask (174) helped Blair Academy win the 2019 Prep National Championship and place second in 2020 and 2022. The Wantage, N.J., native is a three-time National Prep Champion (106 - 2019; 145 - 2021; 170 - 2022) and two-time Beast of the East Champion (106 - 2019; 170 - 2022). He also placed second at the 2022 U20 U.S. Open Championship (174) and at the 2021 Fargo Junior Freestyle National Championship (145). While competing at the Naval Academy Preparatory School, Wask finished in third place at the U20 World Team Trials. Additionally, he upset two-time NCAA qualifier Troy Fisher of Northwestern by a 4-3 decision to take fourth place at the 2023 Midlands Championship. 

Navy vs. The Big Ten
Navy has a rich history against Big Ten teams. The Mids own a 124-95-10 record against active members of the Big Ten and possess a .500 or better record against five teams (Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Northwestern, Rutgers). A majority of Navy's victories have come against Maryland (57) and Penn State (30). The Mids haven't defeated a Big Ten opponent since their, 21-12, win over Maryland in 2019. 

Scoring Rule Changes
The NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee added two new rule changes to scoring this season. Points earned from scoring a takedown was increased from two to three points. Wrestlers can also now earn three points for a near fall after previously only being able to score two or four points. 

Other Mids Competing this Weekend
Coach Kolat will also send 13 wrestlers to compete at the Clarion Open on Sunday in Clarion, Pa. The tournament is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Fans can view free results from FloArena HERE.

Clarion Open Lineup (2022-23 Record / Career Record)
• 125: Hayden Benter (0-0 / 0-0)
• 133: Garrett Totten (0-0 / 0-0)
• 141: Frank Antonelli (5-5 / 5-5) / Chase Caprella (5-6 / 7-11)
• 149: Kaemen Smith (9-17 / 9-17) / Nicholas Vafiadis (0-0 / 0-0)
• 157: Charlie Evans (0-0 / 0-0) / Tyler Sagi (0-0 / 0-0)
• 165: Geno Quodala (6-7 / 6-7)
• 174: Sammy Starr (21-16 / 34-24)
• 184: Daniel Williams (0-0 / 0-0)
• 197: No. 33 Jacob Lucas (18-11 / 18-11)
• 285: Jamier Ferere (10-10 / 10-10)

Projected Illinois Lineup
• 125: No. 30 Justin Cardani or Caelan Riley
• 133: Kole Brower or Tony Madrigal
• 141: Danny Pucino or Will Baysingar
• 149: Jake Harrier or Kannon Webster
• 157: Joe Roberts
• 165: Caden Ernd or Luke Odom
• 174: No. 5 Edmond Ruth
• 184: No. 20 Dylan Connell
• 197: Isiah Pettigrew or Peter Marinopoulos
• 285: No. 10 Luke Luffman

Scouting Illinois
The Fighting Illini opened their season on Thursday with a 28-7 win against SIUE. Illinois won eight of the 10 bouts and scored bonus points in three. 

The Fighting Illini were ranked No. 23 in the nation in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) preseason poll. Illinois is one of 10 teams from the Big Ten ranked in the top 25. 

Third-year head coach Mike Poeta owns a 10-14 record with the Fighting Illini. After finishing 3-7 with one conference win in his first year at the helm, Illinois made a big leap forward with a 6-7 overall record and a 4-4 Big Ten record last season. Five Fighting Illini wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championship, but none reached the podium. It marked the first time in 30 years that Illinois didn't have a wrestler garner All-American honors, which was the fourth-longest streak in the nation. 

Coach Poeta relies heavily on in-state recruiting. Twenty-nine of the 33 athletes on the Fighting Illini roster are from Illinois. 

InterMat ranked seven Illinois wrestlers in the top 33 of their respective weight classes, four of which are rated in the top 10. Fifth-ranked Edmond Ruth (174) earned the Fighting Illini's best ranking. He finished in a tie with No. 6 Lucas Byrd (133) as the team leader in total (30) and dual wins (11) last season. Seven of Ruth's matches went to overtime and he came out on top in six. He opened his season with a 20-6 major decision over Dom Lopez. 

Illinois' projected lineup is missing Byrd, along with No. 16 Danny Braunagel (165) and No. 9 Zac Braunagel (197). The Braunagel twins were both big contributors during Coach Poeta's second season. The duo combined for 45 victories and a 16-9 dual record. 

History against the Fighting Illini
Saturday will be just the third dual between Navy and Illinois. The first matchup dates back to 1952, which was a 25-8 victory for the Mids in Annapolis. The Fighting Illini claimed the second meeting at the 1995 Virginia Duals, 20-13. 
 
Up Next
The Mids compete in Annapolis for the first time next Sunday in the Navy Quad Meet at Alumni Hall. Navy will face Morgan State (Noon), VMI (1:30 p.m.) and Pitt (3 p.m.).