ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy wrestling team (5-4, 4-1 EIWA) was unable to overcome an early deficit and fell to 24th-ranked Army (7-3, 4-2 EIWA) 22-10 in the annual Army-Navy Star Match presented by USAA on Sunday afternoon at Christl Arena at West Point, N.Y. The Mids lost three matches by two points or less in the tightly contested dual.
The loss snapped a four-match winning streak for the Mids and it was Navy's first conference loss of the season.
"We made some critical decisions under pressure in key moments that didn't work out," said Navy head coach Care Kolat. "I thought we spent too much time feeling out our opponents instead of getting immediately into the bout."
The Black Knights jumped out to a 7-0 lead by winning the first two bouts at 125 and 133 pounds. The meet opened with 25th-ranked Charles Framer giving Army its only bonus points victory with a 14-2 major decision over freshman Nick Treaster. Army's Ethan Berginc, ranked 25th in the country, added three more points for the Black Knights with a 5-0 decision over Brendan Ferretti.
Navy's first victory came at 141 pounds when team captain and seventh-ranked Josh Koderhandt battled Richard Treanor.
After a scoreless opening stanza, Koderhandt controlled Treanor the entire second period and accumulated two minutes of riding time despite neither wrestler scoring a point.
Koderhandt scored the first point of the match with an early escape in the third period and followed with an aggressive attack to rack up four takedowns. The Belleville, Ill., native was awarded a point for the Army wrestler stalling and had 2:22 of riding time for a 16-4 major decision to make the dual score, 7-4.
Koderhandt is now 9-0 in dual competition this season with five matches resulting in bonus points for the team. The win was the 99th of his career and he is one win away from being the 17th Midshipmen in program history to eclipse the 100-win mark.
The two squads would split the next four matches with the Mids earning victories at 157 and 174 pounds, while the Black Knights got the upper hand at 149 and 165 pounds.
At 149 pounds, Navy's Kaemen Smith was held scoreless for two periods before a third period reversal gave him a 2-1 lead over Traw McDaniel. McDaniel tied the match at two before he took down Smith and earned two back points in the final 25 seconds to walk away with a 7-2 decision.
At 157 pounds, Navy's Jonathan Ley entered Sunday's match winning his last five dual meets. Facing Dakota Morris, Ley executed a takedown in the first and third periods while only allowing two points from escapes to keep his hot-streak going with a 7-2 victory to make the dual score 10-7.
Freshman Dylan Elmore faced 17th-ranked Gunner Flipowicz at 165 pounds in what would be a low scoring match as neither wrestler scored in the first two periods. Flipowicz broke the scoreless tie with an escape to begin the third period. Elmore lifted Flipowicz to one leg in the final seconds of the match but couldn't complete the takedown attempt for the win. Flipowicz secured the riding time point to escape with a 2-0 victory.
Navy's final victory came at 174 pounds when 14th-ranked Danny Wask knocked off Dalton Harkins 7-4. Wask took an early 3-0 lead in the first period but a Harkins escape and a takedown left Wask trailing 4-3 with two minutes remaining. Wask tied the bout 4-4 with an escape in the third period and he then picked up his second takedown of the match with 23 seconds remaining. The win brought the Midshipmen within three points to make the dual score, 13-10.
Army would end the day winning the final three bouts at 184, 197 and 285 pounds and win its second-consecutive Star match.
The Mids will have a short week as they welcome Bloomsburg to Alumni Hall on Thursday to close out the regular season. The dual is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
Army-Navy Star Match Results
125: #25 Charles Framer major Nick Treaster (NAVY), 14-2 // Army 4, Navy 0
133: #25 Ethan Berginc dec Brendan Ferretti (NAVY), 5-0 // Army 7, Navy 0
141: #7 Josh Koderhandt (NAVY) major #32 Richard Treanor, 16-4 // Army 7, Navy 4
149: Traw McDaniel dec Kaemen Smith (NAVY), 7-2 // Army 10, Navy 4
157: Jonathan Ley (NAVY) dec Dakota Morris, 7-2 // Army 10, Navy 7
165: #17 Gunner Flipowicz dec. Dylan Elmore (NAVY), 2-0 // Army 13, Navy 7
174: #14 Danny Wask (NAVY) dec #33 Dalton Harkins, 7-4 // Army 13, Navy 10
184: Jakob Gilfoli dec. Daniel Williams (NAVY), 2-0 // Army 16, Navy 10
197: #28 Wolfgang Frable dec. #33 Payton Thomas (NAVY), 7-2 // Army 19, Navy 10
285: #17 Lucas Stoddard dec. Jacob Lucas (NAVY), 1-0 // Army 22, Navy 10
