Feb. 2, 2008

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Despite winning five of the 10 title bouts, the Navy wrestling team came up short of winning its fifth-consecutive 14th-Annual All-Academy Championship as Army edged Navy, 111-106, Saturday at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y. Nine Midshipmen place third or higher, including bout winners at 133, 149, 157, 174 and heavyweight. Additionally, Navy senior captain Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler as he became the first wrestler in Navy history to win a title in all four years.

"We were down 12 points going into the finals and made a good run at it," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "We had seven guys in the finals and we won five of those which was the most individual titles by any team.

"We've got a lot of work to do between now and Feb. 22 when we wrestle Army again. Though I'm disappointed in part, we had some really strong performances. Baker, Saddoris and Stolpinski looked good and Spencer (Manley) did a very good job and earned a big win. I was really proud of his effort."

While Army turned in a five-point advantage over Navy, the Mids nearly doubled third-place Air Force's score, as the Falcons finished a distant third with 54.5 points. The Citadel followed in fourth with 49.5 points, while the Merchant Marine Academy was fifth with 43.0 points, VMI was sixth with 34.0 points, Coast Guard was seventh with 5.0 points and Norwich closed out the scoring with 1.0 point. The Mids sent seven wrestlers to the finals, while Army appeared in every championship bout except 165. Air Force had two wrestlers in title matches, while The Citadel had one individual in the championship.

Navy has now won 50 individual crowns in All-Academy Championship history, including 24 of the 50 titles over the last five years. The Mids won the team title in 1995, '97, '99, '04, '05, '06 and '07, while they have claimed five or more individual titles in 1997, '99, '04, '05, '07 and now in '08.

Navy opened the championship round with the return of rookie 125-pounder Joey Boone (Poway, Calif.) back in the lineup. It was Boone's first appearance on the mat since the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Nov. 30. Boone received a first-round bye before pinning Air Force's Andrew Zwirlein in 51 seconds to earn a championship appearance in his first All-Academy Championship. Boone, seeded second, was unable to win the crown, however, as 20th-ranked Fernando Martinez of Army won his second-consecutive 125-pound title.

Though Army bested the Mids in the opener, Navy went on to win three of the next four bouts, including the 133-pound match by junior Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.). Baker, who won the individual title is rookie year, missed last year's event due to an injury. Baker punched his ticket to the title match by pinning Coast Guard's Andrew Armstrong in the opening match and posted a 6-1 decision over Norwich's Brian Zane. He went on to earn a 10-2 major decision thanks to four takedowns over Army's Whitt Dunning.

Rookie Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) easily defeated his first two opponents, posting major decisions over John Held of VMI (14-4) and Derek Royster of The Citadel (15-7) at 149 pounds. In the championship bout, he jumped out to a 5-1 lead before eventually winning his first collegiate tournament title by posting a 6-3 victory over Army's Casey Thome.

Second-seeded Spencer Manley (Chattanooga, Tenn.), who has been utilized as of late at 157 pounds, upset top-seeded Christian Snook of Army in the title match. Manley, who was awarded a first-round bye and defeated Tony Dorward of Air Force (4-1) in the semis, scored a three-point near fall 20 seconds into the second period. Snook escaped with 40 seconds remaining in the periods. Manley chose to start the final stanza in the neutral position and after a scoreless third period, Manley tacked on an extra point for his 1:18 riding time.

Stolpinski, who a week ago became the program's all-time winningest wrestler, was a man on a mission. He entered the tournament as one of only four wrestlers in school history to win three individual titles at the All-Academy tournament, joining Greg Gingeleskie (1997-98-99), Mark Conley (2000-01-02) and Tanner Garrett (2004-05-06). He became the first to win four when he pinned Army's Ryan Mergen at 2:22 in the match and would be named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the postmatch banquet.

Navy suffered a disappointing loss at 197 pounds when with the match tied at 3-3, senior Matt Parsons (Dunkirk, Md.) found himself on his back and Army's Richard Starks pinned him at 6:06. Ironically, Parsons owned a 3-1 advantage in the match, however, Starks was awarded a point after Parsons was warned for a second time for stalling. Down 3-2 in the final period, Starks started down and tied the match with an escape. He then grabbed Parsons and wrestled him to the mat for the pin. That win clinched the team title for the Black Knights.

Senior Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.) pushed his winning streak to 18 in a row after sweeping the competition at heavyweight. Prendergast pinned Both Troy Robison of Coast Guard and The Citadel's Aaron Brown in 38 seconds to earn his way into the title bout. Ranked third in the country, Prendergast wouldn't find his finals match quite as easy as Army's Nathan Thobaben forced the match into extra minutes. Trailing by two in the match (3-1), Thobaben began the third period down where he would receive a point after Prendergast was called for an illegal hold just four seconds into the period. Thobaben went on to knot the match at three apiece when he escaped Prendergast's hold with 1:30 remaining. Prendergast, though, claimed his second straight All-Academy title by recording a takedown 45 seconds in overtime.

In addition to the finals matches, two Navy wrestlers placed third in their respective weight classes. Junior Jason Coyne (Trafford, Pa.) defeated The Citadel's Brendan Prince, 5-4, at 165 pounds, while junior 184-pounder Casey Caldwell (Liberty, Ind.), who narrowly lost his semifinals match to The Citadel's Darius Caldwell, 3-2, came back to post a 6-3 decision over Jacob Devlin of Air Force.

The only match Navy did not score points in was at 141 pounds where the Mids were without starter Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.) who was sidelined with an injury.

"I'm sure had Glenn (Shober) been able to wrestle, he would have given us something today," added Burnett.

The championship gave both Army and Navy a preview of one another as the two programs meet in the annual Star Meet in three weeks, as the Midshipmen will play host to the Black Knights on Feb. 22 at 7:00 pm. CSTV will televise the match tape-delayed on Feb. 25 at 8:00 pm.

The Midshipmen will use the next 12 days to prepare for its next competition, a Feb. 15 dual against Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J.

14th-Annual All-Academy Wrestling Championship
Team Scores
1. 111.0 - Army
2. 106.0 - Navy
3. 54.5 - Air Force
4. 49.5 - The Citadel
5. 43.0 - Merchant Marine
6. 34.0 - VMI
7. 5.0 - Coast Guard
8. 1.0 - Norwich
Championship Matches
125 - #1 Fernando Martinez (Army) maj. #2 Joey Boone (Navy), 12-3
133 - #1 Joe Baker (Navy) maj. #3 Whitt Dunning (Army), 10-2
141 - #1 Matthew Kyler (Army) dec. #3 Jake Kriegbaum (Air Force), 10-3
149 - #1 Bryce Saddoris (Navy) dec. #2 Casey Thome (Army), 6-3
157 - #2 Spencer Manley (Navy) dec. #1 Christian Snook (Army), 4-1
165 - #2 Stephen Crozier (Air Force) pin. #1 Vincent Renaut (Merchant Marine) 4:14
174 - #1 Matt Stolpinski (Navy) pin. #3 Ryan Mergen (Army) 2:22
184 - #1 Scott Ferguson (Army) dec. #2 Darius Caldwell (The Citadel), 8-2
197 - #2 Richard Starks (Army) pin. #1 Matt Parsons (Navy) 6:06
285 - #1 Ed Prendergast (Navy) dec. #2 Nathan Thobaben (Army), 5-3 (SV)

(# before each name is wrestler's seed for the event)