Blaize Cabell is in his fifth season as an assistant coach at Navy after spending the 2019-20 season as the volunteer assistant coach at Campbell.
Cabell works primarily with the wrestlers at 184, 197 and 285 pounds.
Cabell guided David Key (184) to an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championship to become the first mid to garner All-America honors during head coach Cary Kolat’s tenure at Navy. He claimed the 65th All-America nod in team history and became the first Navy wrestler to reach the podium since Mathew Miller (184) in 2016. Key was seeded 25th in his respective weight class for the championship and posted the second-largest seed to place difference (17) amongst the field of 330 wrestlers. Additionally, he was one of only four wrestlers seeded 20th or higher to place in the top eight in their respective weight class. Key compiled a 3-3 record at the championship, defeating Air Force's No. 7 Sam Wolf (4-1), Wisconsin's No. 20 Shane Liegel (4-2) and Missouri's No. 9 Colton Hawks (2-1).
Key recorded career highs in wins (21), dual victories (seven), wins by fall (five) and victories against ranked wrestlers (eight) during his senior season. He posted two vital pins over ranked opponents in Navy’s upset victories over No. 23 Illinois (23-18) and No. 16 Pitt (21-12). Key also had tremendous success at the EIWA Championship, placing third with a 5-1 record to earn his third trip to the NCAA Championship.
Heavyweights Grady Griess and Jamier Ferere were also key pieces in 2023-24.
Griess led the team in total victories (26) and wins by fall (nine). He also totaled a career-high nine wins over ranked wrestlers during his senior campaign. Griess won eight dual matches over the course of the season, which included a 4-2 decision over Pitt’s No. 9 Dayton Pitzer. He also had great success in tournaments, placing first at the Navy Classic, fourth at the Franklin & Marshall Open and fifth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Griess represented the Mids at 285 pounds at the EIWA Championship and placed seventh. He clinched his second trip to the NCAA Championship for his placement at the EIWA tournament. Griess ended with a 2-2 record at nationals with victories against Binghamton’s No. 20 Cory Day (4-1) and Rider’s No. 24 David Szuba (Fall / 4:09).
Ferere doubled his win total from his freshman season, posting a record of 20-7. He won 10 of his final 11 matches of the season and finished in a tie for the second-most wins by fall on the team with eight. Ferere placed in four tournaments (Mat Town College Open II - 1st; Patriots Open - 2nd; Navy Classic - 4th; Franklin & Marshall Open - 5th/6th) and won both of his dual matches during the season. His sophomore campaign was highlighted by defeating Bucknell’s No. 27 Dorian Crosby by a 6-4 decision in Navy’s, 34-7, victory over the Bison.
Three of Navy’s five NCAA qualifiers during the 2022-23 season worked directly with Cabell.
Grady Griess had the top season for the Mids. The junior recorded a team-leading 32 victories and eight dual wins. He became the 50th wrestler in Navy history to reach 30 victories in a season and the first Mid to achieve the mark since Michael Coleman (34) and Nicholas Gil (32) did so in the 2017-18 season.
Griess won his first 10 matches of the season, taking first place at the Clarion Open and Bearcat Open and second at the Navy Classic. After posting a 3-2 record at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Griess won 19 of his next 21 contests. He posted a 6-0 record to place first at the Franklin & Marshall Open where he surrendered just five points at the tournament.
Griess also dominated his foes at the EIWA Championship. He finished with a 4-0 record and outscored his opponents, 36-7, to win the 109th individual EIWA title in program history. Griess also earned an automatic qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship. He recorded a 1-2 record at nationals with a victory against 20th-ranked Josh Heindselman of Oklahoma by a 3-0 decision. Navy’s heavyweight led the team with eight wins against nationally ranked opponents during the season.
Jacob Koser (197) finished his career at Navy with his third-consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championship. Koser posted a 1-2 record at nationals with a 6-4 decision win against 23rd-ranked Andy Smith of Virginia Tech. He earned his third trip to the NCAA Championship after recording a 3-2 record to finish in fourth place at the EIWA Championship.
Koser earned tournament titles at the Bearcat Open and Franklin & Marshall Open and placed second at the Navy Classic during the regular season. He was also one of only two Mids to place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, earning seventh place with a record of 3-2. Koser matched his career high with 26 victories during his senior campaign. He also recorded a career-high six fall victories during his final season to end his career with 17.
David Key qualified for the NCAA Championship for the second time in his career. He finished with a 1-2 record at nationals and upset 22nd-ranked Dylan Connell of Illinois by an 8-4 decision. Key had a huge turnaround to place third at the EIWA Championship. After dropping his second match of the league tournament to 24th-ranked Brian Bonino of Drexel, Key won his next three matches to set up a rematch with Bonino in the third-place bout. He jumped on Bonino immediately and won by an 8-3 decision.
Key finished with 20 wins during his junior season and won five dual matches. He recorded an important victory in Navy’s, 18-13, win in the Star Meet against Army. He defeated Sahm Abdulrazzaq by a 3-2 decision to give Navy its first bout win of the dual.
Another contributor under Cabell in 2022-23 was Jacob Lucas (197). He won 18 matches during his freshman campaign and defeated Oklahoma’s Seth Seago by a 3-1 decision in sudden victory to earn his first collegiate dual victory. Lucas placed in five tournaments over the course of the season, which included a first-place finish at the Mat Town College Open I. He also had an impressive fourth-place showing at the Navy Classic.
Cabell worked alongside 197-pound NCAA qualifier Jacob Koser during the 2021-22 season. Koser recorded the second-most wins on the team with 26 and had the second-most dual wins with eight. Koser captured individual titles at two tournaments over the course of the season (Clarion Open / Navy Classic). He defeated 17th-ranked Cameron Caffey of Michigan State by an 8-0 major decision in the title match of the Navy Classic. Koser went on to place third at the EIWA Championship with a 4-1 record and defeated 30th-ranked Ben Smith of Cleveland State by a 12-0 major decision for his lone win at the NCAA Championship.
Hunter Johns and David Key competed at 184 pounds for the Mids. Johns placed second at the Bearcat Open and third at the East Stroudsburg Open. Key was crowned the 184-pound Navy Classic champion, defeating 26th-ranked Layne Malczewski of Michigan State by a 10-4 decision in the title match.
Cabell worked with a trio of 285 pounders that finished the year with a number of accolades. Ryan Catka (23), Grady Griess (19) and Riley Smith (15) finished the season with a combined 57 wins. Catka’s 23 wins were the most by a Navy heavyweight since Ed Prendergast recorded a 39-5 record en route to winning the 2008 EIWA title and earning All-America honors with a third-place finish at the NCAA Championship. He finished the dual season with a 6-1 record. In tournament competition, Smith won the Navy Classic, while Griess finished two spots behind in third.
Cabell and the Navy staff arrived in Annapolis at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, maneuvering their way through what would be a shortened season that featured only dual competition outside of the postseason conference and national tournaments.
After dropping its season-opener to Pitt 22-14, Navy won its final five duals of 2020-21, including a 41-3 victory at Clarion on Jan. 9 to give Cary Kolat and his staff their first win at the Academy. The Midshipmen also claimed a 21-9 victory over Lehigh, their first against the reigning EIWA champions since defeating the Mountain Hawks 19-15 in Annapolis on Jan. 15, 2011.
From there, Navy put together back-to-back shutouts against Cleveland State (37-0) and George Mason (44-0), marking the first time the Midshipmen put together two-straight shutout victories since the 1962-63 season when they blanked Hofstra 24-0 and followed up with a 30-0 win over Virginia Tech. Navy closed out the dual season by scoring a 20-13 victory over Army in the annual Star Match which was held at Christl Arena in West Point.
Navy placed second at the EIWA Championship, the program’s best finish since 2013 (2nd). Seven Mids wrestled in the semifinals, while five competed in the finals, as seven of the Mids’ nine wrestlers placed among the top three.
Nine wrestlers represented Navy at the NCAA Championship, marking just the third time in program history that Navy has sent nine or more wrestlers to the national tournament and the first since 1969. Logan Treaster (125), Jacob Allen (133), Cody Trybus (141), Andrew Cerniglia (157), Tanner Skidgel (165), David Key (184) and Jacob Koser (197) earned automatic berths by way of their finish at the EIWA Championship, while Casey Cobb (149) and John Birchmeier (285) earned at-large bids. Five of the nine wrestlers won at least one match, as the Mids went on to finish 37th out of 63 teams.
A three-time NCAA qualifier (2014-16) at heavyweight during his collegiate career at Northern Iowa, Cabell’s responsibilities at Campbell included helping develop the 197-pound and heavyweight athletes. Among his prized pupils, heavyweight Jere Heino clinched his third NCAA Tournament berth following his runner-up finish at the 2020 SoCon Championship, while 197-pound Chris Kober placed third at the conference tournament.
The Camels wrapped up the 2019-20 season by posting an 11-2 record that featured wins in each of their last nine duals. Among that nine-match winning streak, CU put together an undefeated mark (7-0) in conference action. Campbell secured its second straight and third overall SoCon Tournament Championship in four years thanks to crowning five individual champions.
Campbell, who ranked as high as No. 12 in the country (InterMat), completed a sweep of its regular-season conference schedule with a 35-13 win at Davidson on February 23, claiming its second straight league dual championship. The dual title is the first outright regular-season championship for the Camels in program history, while its undefeated conference record was also a first.
The 2016 Mid-American Conference Champion competed for the Panther Wrestling Club and the Valley Regional Training Center following graduation. He placed fourth at the Senior Men’s Freestyle World Team Trials (97 KG) in 2018.
He and his wife, Kate, reside in Annapolis with their son.
