PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Navy's Josh Koderhandt and Danny Wask secured All-America honors with their respective efforts Friday at the NCAA Championship at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.  Koderhandt will compete Saturday in the consolation semifinals and then either the third or fifth-place match, while Wask will compete in the seventh-place match.

It is the first time Navy has had two All-Americans in the same year through competition since 2009 when Bryce Saddoris (sixth place) and Joe Baker (eighth place) earned the accolades.  Navy also had Tanner Skidgel and Spencer Carey be voted as All-Americans for the 2020 NCAA Championship that was canceled before it began due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Koderhandt and Wask didn't come here to just be All-Americans; both aimed to be national champions but fell short," said Navy head coach Cary Kolat, who also had David Key garner an All-America honor (eighth place) last year. "I said last season that our team was in a position to start putting guys on the stand for years to come.  The Navy wrestling alumni and parents are extremely excited to watch Navy compete round after round.  This is what they want to see every year, and so do we."

Navy as a team enters the final day of the three-day event tied for 18th place with 21 points.  The last time the Mids finished among the top-20 teams was when they placed 18th in 2008 and last had a top-15 showing in 1990 (13th).

"It is not over yet," said Kolat.  "We still have the team race and possibly three more bouts to go.  Those points could push us into the top 15."

Saturday's session will start at 11 a.m.

141 / Championship Quarterfinals / 5) Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) def. 4) Josh Koderhandt, 2-1 Tiebreakers-1
Happel reached the quarters by way of a fall over 28th-seeded Danny Pucion of Illinois and a 5-4 decision over 21st-seeded Dylan Chappell from Bucknell. The redshirt senior is competing at the NCAA Championship for the third year in a row after he was an alternate for the 2022 championship.

Neither combatant scored a point in the opening three minutes.  Happel posted the first point of the bout with an escape nine seconds into the second period.  That would remain the score until Koderhandt evened the proceedings with an escape eight seconds into the third period.  The score remained tied after the first two-minute overtime, then Happel scored a point on an escape in the ensuing 30-second overtime.  Koderhandt had accrued five seconds of riding time in the second overtime period before Happel's escape, which sent the bout into a third overtime.  It was Koderhandt's choice as to where to start in the stanza.  He chose "neutral" stance, which meant the period would last a full 30 seconds (had he chose "bottom," he would have had to record an escape in four or fewer seconds).  Koderhandt was unable to score a point in the allotted time to end the match.

141 / Consolation Round Four / 4) Josh Koderhandt def. 7) Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State), 4-1 Sudden Victory
Jamison won a 5-1 decision in a first-round match against 26th-seeded Eligh Rivera of Princeton before losing a 6-4 decision to 10th-seeded CJ Composto of Penn in the second round.  He defeated 24th-seeded Jason Miranda of Stanford (fall) and 18th-seeded Julian Tagg of South Dakota State (technical fall, 17-2) in his two consolation round matches.

Jamison won a 4-2 decision over Koderhandt when the two met on Dec. 1, 2023, in Las Vegas.

The first point of Friday's match wasn't placed on the board until Jamison scored on an escape 15 seconds into the second period.  Koderhandt evened the score exactly two minutes later with an escape of his own.  The remainder of regulation was scoreless, then Koderhandt ended the match with a takedown 24 seconds into the overtime period.

141 / Consolation Round Five / 4) Josh Koderhandt def. 9) Jacob Frost (Iowa State), 3-0 Fall (0:59)
Frost's 2025 NCAA Championship began with a technical fall (16-1 lead) against 24th-seeded Jason Miranda from Stanford.  He then won a 6-1 decision in the second round over eighth-seeded Andrew Alirez from Northern Colorado.  Frost would lose on a fall to top-seeded Brock Hardy of Nebraska in the quarterfinals, then scored a 9-8 decision over Michigan's Sergio Lemley, the 14th-seeded wrestler, in Friday night's consolation round.

The first bout of the year between the two saw Koderhandt win an 8-7 decision at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.  After that lengthy bout in December, Koderhandt needed only 2:01 of the first period tonight before he pinned Frost to quickly end the match.

"Josh has worked for four years to reach this moment," said Kolat.  "After a tough quarterfinal loss, he bounced back and we as a coaching staff are all proud of him for gutting it out and reaching the stand."

Koderhandt will face second-seeded Beau Bartlett of Penn State in Saturday consolation semifinals.  Bartlett has posted a 24-2 record on the year with his second loss coming Friday evening in the semifinals to third-seeded Jesse Mendez of Ohio State, 2-1 in a tiebreaker round.  Bartlett placed third at the 2023 NCAA Championship and second at last year's national championship.  The winner of the bout will advance to the third-place match and the loser will compete in the fifth-place match.  Koderhandt or Bartlett will face either Happel or Composto in the placement match.

The last time a Mid competed in the fifth-place match was in 2015 when Matthew Miller placed fifth. The last Mid to compete in the third-place match was Ed Prendergast who placed third in 2008.

174 / Championship Quarterfinals / 2) Levi Haines (Penn State) def. 7) Danny Wask, 7-2 Decision
Haines arrived at the match following a victory by fall against 31st-seeded Branson Johns of Maryland and a 4-0 decision against 18th-seeded Gaven Sax of Oklahoma.  Those results improved his record on the year to 22-1.  He previously won the 2024 NCAA Championship at 157 pounds to finish last season with a 23-0 record.  That was one year after he advanced to the finals at the 2023 NCAA Championship and finished the campaign with a 25-2 record as a freshman.

Haines struck first in the inaugural bout between the two with a takedown 70 seconds into the first period.  Wask answered with an escape to draw to within 3-1.  That remained the score until early in the second period when Haines scored on an escape of his own to take a 4-1 advantage.  Wask recorded the next point on an escape with 1:24 remaining in the final period but Haines added a takedown with 12 seconds left in the match.

174 / Consolation Round Four / 7) Danny Wask def. 22) Nick Incontrera (Penn), 5-3 Decision
Incontrera lost his opening match at the championship to 11th-seeded Patrick Kennedy of Iowa in a 4-2 decision.  He then won consolation matches against 27th-seeded Jasiah Queen of Drexel (3-0 decision), 21st-seeded Joshua Ogunsanya of North Carolina (8-4 decision) and fourth-seeded Garrett Thompson of Ohio (8-0 decision).

The first meeting of the wrestlers began with Wask scoring on a takedown less than one minute into the bout.  Incontrera winnowed the margin down to 3-1 by the end of the first period when he scored on an escape.  He then scored one point when Wask was penalized twice for stalling in the second period and added a match-tying third point on an escape with 42 seconds remaining in the middle frame.  Wask broke the tie with an escape at the start of the third period and later received one point for riding time.

174 / Consolation Round Five / 11) Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) def. 7) Danny Wask, 7-3 Decision
Kennedy started the national championship with the aforementioned 4-2 decision over Incontrera.  He also won a decision in the second round, this time by a 3-0 score over sixth-seeded Brevin Cassella of Binghamton.  Third-seeded Dean Hamiti of Oklahoma State sent Kennedy into the consolation draw as he won an 8-6 decision in the quarterfinal round.  There, he rallied from a 5-2 deficit entering the third period to defeat 15th-seed Luca Augustine of Pittsburgh in a 7-5 decision.

Kennedy defeated Wask in a 6-2 decision when the two met earlier Dec. 30 at the Soldier Salute.

The first points of tonight's bout were not scored until Wask tallied two points on a reversal with 21 seconds left in the second period.  Kennedy proceeded to score six points in 64 seconds.  He closed the second period with an escape (16 seconds left) and a penalty point (2 seconds) for Wask's stalling to tie the match.  Kennedy next scored on an escape two seconds into the third period and added a takedown with 1:12 left in the match to build a 6-2 lead.  Wask cut the deficit to 6-3 with an escape with 13 seconds remaining, then Kennedy received one point for riding time at the end of the frame to account for the final score.

"Danny also faced a tough loss to the defending national champion in the quarterfinals," said Kolat.  "That loss showed him how close he is and I believe it was what he needed to win his next bout and earn All-America status."

Wask's last bout of the championship will be Saturday in the seventh-place match against 14th-seeded Matthew Singleton of North Carolina State.