ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Fifth-year head coach Cary Kolat announced the 2024-25 Navy wrestling schedule.

The 2024-25 campaign features 10 duals and nine tournaments during the regular season. The Mids will wrestle four duals at Alumni Hall along with the Navy Tri Meet.

Navy Opens its 117th season with a dual against Pittsburgh. The Mids will battle the Panthers on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. in Pittsburgh, Pa. The dual will serve as the 42nd all-time meeting between the two programs. Navy claimed last year's meeting, 21-12 in Annapolis.

It will be a quick turnaround for the Midshipmen when they travel to Clarion, Pa. to compete in the Clarion Open on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 9 a.m. to close out the opening weekend.

The Mids return to Annapolis to host the Navy Tri Meet on Saturday, Nov. 9. Navy will wrestle Drexel and North Carolina at Alumni Hall with the first dual beginning at noon. The Midshipmen will look to extend their winning streak to six straight against Drexel when the programs meet for the 19th time and first time since 2020.

Navy will take on North Carolina for the 60th time in a rivalry that dates back to 1930. The two teams met in Chapel Hill, N.C. last season where the Tar Heels bested the Mids, 20-17. Navy leads the all-time series 38-20-1 and has won 11 of the last 15 meetings.

Following a short home stint, the team will hit the road again in a Friday night dual at Iowa State on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. CT (8:00 p.m. ET). The last time the two programs met was 51 years ago on Jan. 20, 1973 in Annapolis where the Cyclones left with a 35-5 victory. Iowa State leads the all-time series, 3-0.

Navy will close out the first month of the season when it hosts the 46th annual Navy Classic on Saturday, Nov. 23. The event will be held at Wesley A. Brown Field House with at least 12 expected participating teams. The Mids finished second of 14 teams in their home tournament in 2023.

The Midshipmen will have a pair trips to Lock Haven, Pa. this season when it competes at the Mat Town I tournament on Sunday, Dec. 1 and Mat Town II on Jan. 26.  

Coach Kolat will send 10 wrestlers to Las Vegas, Nev., to compete in the 42nd annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the nation's biggest regular-season collegiate wrestling tournament. The event takes place Dec. 6-7 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. A pair of Mids, Danny Wask (174) and Grady Griess (285) placed fourth and fifth in their respective weight classes to help Navy place 16th of 35 teams.

Navy will compete in its fourth of six-straight tournaments at the Patriot Open in Fairfax, Va. on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 10 a.m.

Conference action gets underway in Annapolis on Saturday, Dec. 21 as the Mids will face-off against American University to open the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association competition. Navy has dominated the all-time series, 15-2. In last year's meeting in Washington, D.C., the Mids blanked the Eagles, 38-0.

The fall semester concludes with the Midshipmen competing at the Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa. On Sunday, Dec. 29 through Monday, Dec. 30. The tournament features two perennial Big 10 teams in the Minnesota and Iowa. Along with North Carolina, Wyoming, Bellarmine, Missouri, Iowa State, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa and Nebraska will all be represented as well.

Navy welcomes the new year at the Franklin & Marshall Open on Friday, Jan. 10 in Lancaster, Pa. Andrew Cerniglia won the 165-pound title in last season's tournament while – Wask (174), Griess (285) and Jamier Ferere (285) – posted podium finishes with 3rd, 4th and 6th in their weight classes.

The Mids then return home for a weekend slate when they welcome EIWA runner-up, Lehigh on Friday, Jan. 17, first whistle is set for 7:30 p.m. It will be the 105th all-time meeting as the Mountain Hawks lead the series, 56-48. The Mids fell in last season's meeting, 23-15.

Harvard comes to town on Saturday, Jan. 18th for a 5 p.m. start time. This will mark the 11th all-time meeting between the two programs and the first since 1973. The Midshipmen hold the all-time advantage, 9-0-1.

Navy will take its sixth trip to the state of Pennsylvania during the regular season when it travels to Lewisburg to take on Bucknell on Friday, Jan. 31. The Mids have dominated the series with a 26-1 all-time record including 22-straight victories over the Bison.

The Midshipmen will cap off the conference season with the annual Army-Navy Star Match presented by USAA on Saturday, Feb. 15, in West Point, N.Y. Army claimed its first star in four years lase season as it defeated Navy in a close 18-17 battle.

The regular season comes to an end at the National Collegiate Open in Smyrna, Del.

The postseason starts with the EIWA Championship hosted by Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa., March 7-8. Navy returns seven athletes who wrestled at last seasons EIWA Championship, including Josh Koderhandt who won the 141 title.

Athletes who qualify based on their EIWA Championship placement will then compete at the NCAA Championship. The national meet will take place March 20-22 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Koderhandt and Wask are the only returners who competed in the NCAA Championship last season.