Naval Academy Athletics

2017 NCAA Qualifier

• Cervantes in 2016-17 (Jr.):  Laid claim as the Mids’ starter at 197 pounds where he finished the year with a 24-13 record, including a 7-2 mark in dual action, and received and at-large bid to the NCAA Championship ... produced a 3-5 mark against ranked foes ... placed in three of the five regular-season tournaments in which he placed ... put together a 4-0 record at the Navy Classic, including a 7-3 victory over Bucknell’s Drew Phipps in the championship bout to win the title ... upset 13th-ranked Tom Sleigh of Bucknell in the semis, 3-1, to earn his spot in the finals ... went 3-0 at the All-Academy Championship that was capped off by a pin over Air Force’s Anthony McLaughlin to claim the crown ... seeded fourth, he placed eighth at the EIWA Championship ... turned in a 2-2 record in his first appearance at the NCAA Championship, knocking off a pair of nationally-ranked and seeded wrestlers ... defeated 16th-seeded Austin Severn of Central Michigan in sudden victory (6-4) in his opening-round match of the tournament ... pinned 15th-seeded Ricky Robertson of Wisconsin in sudden victory (7:38) ... he bowed out of the tournament with a 6-5 (TB) loss to North Carolina’s Daniel Chaid.

• 2015-16 (So.):  Produced a 9-3 record in the month of November before sitting out the rest of the season with a shoulder injury ... turned in dual victories against York College and Delaware Valley to trigger a five-match winning streak to open the season ... qualified for the fifth/sixth-place match at the Bearcat Open and placed fifth at the Navy Classic behind a 4-2 record ... his three losses on the year were by a combined seven points, including a three-point loss (7-4) to 18th-ranked Brett Harner of Princeton.

• 2014-15 (Fr.):  Shared time with returning NCAA qualifier Paul Rands over the first half of the season before taking over the spot when Rands suffered a season-ending injury ... amassed a 13-16 record overall and a 1-3 mark in dual action ... earned his first collegiate victory by way of a 15-4 major decision over Brandon Joest of Indiana at the Michigan State Open (Fr./So. Div) where he placed fifth ... placed fourth at the All-Academy Championship, dropping a pair of matches in sudden victory ... finished eighth at the EIWA Championship in his first appearance.

• High School: A 2013 graduate of Poway High School in Poway, Calif., Cervantes attended the Naval Academy Prep School during the 2013-14 academic year ... a two-year wrestling letterwinner, he garnered All-America, All-State (Calif.), All-CIF and all-league honors his senior year ... turned in a 38-18 record as a junior and placed seventh at the California State Championship ... as a senior he posted a 45-5 record and placed third at the state championship ... served as team captain his senior season.

• Personal: Son of Anselmo and Elizabeth Cervantes ... brother, Sammy Cervantes, began his wrestling career at the Naval Academy (2009-10) before transferring to Cal State Bakersfield where he was a member of the wrestling team ... majoring in Operations Research ... named to the Commandant’s List the spring semester of his junior year ... stands 406th in Military Order of Merit among his 1,088 classmates.