Navy Wrestling Closes Out Regular Season with Annual Star Match :: The Midshipmen will look to extend their winning streak to eight in a row over Army when the two teams clash Friday at 7:00 pm at Alumni Hall.

The Midshipmen will look to extend their winning streak to eight in a row over Army when the two teams clash Friday at 7:00 pm at Alumni Hall.

	Junior Joe Baker will look to extend his unbeaten streak against Army foes on Friday night in the annual Star Match.

Feb. 20, 2008

Army-Navy Game Notes

Navy Closes Out Regular Season with Annual Star Match
• For the eighth straight year, Navy will close out its regular season ledger with the annual Star Match against arch rival Army ... the Mids and Black Knights will meet Friday at 7:00 pm at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.
• Friday's match will be televised tape-delayed by CSTV and aired next Monday, Feb. 25 at 8:00 pm.
• A live feed of the Army-Navy match will be available via NavySports.com as a part of Navy All-Access ... the feed, however, is not CSTV's broadcast and commentary will be limited to that of only the public address announcer.
• Navy enters the match with a 5-4 dual meet record and is alongside Lehigh for third in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) rankings with a 4-1 mark.
• Army owns a 12-5 record, including a 7-1 mark in EIWA action ... the Black Knights are coming off an 18-15 victory over Lehigh last Sunday, the program's first over the Mountain Hawks since 1991 ... Army is ranked fifth in the EIWA.
• Both Army and Navy have six wrestlers ranked among the top six of the EIWA rankings ... both have a No. 1-ranked wrestler - 141-pounder Matt Kyler from Army and heavyweight Ed Prendergast from Navy ... additionally, both wrestlers are ranked in the last NWCA rankings (2/13), while senior 174-pound Matt Stolpinski from Navy is also among the national rankings.

A Closer Look at the Army-Navy Series • The Mids own a 41-5-5 all-time record against Army, having won seven matches in a row by a combined 90 points (160-70) ... Navy owns a 39-1-5 record in the last 45 matches (dating back to 1963), with the lone setback, 19-12, coming in 1997 at West Point.
• This match has closed out the regular season for the Mids in each of the last eight years, providing a springboard into the EIWA and NCAA Championships.
• Navy holds a 23-1-3 advantage in matches held at Navy, winning three in in a row ... the Mids' only loss at home was a 15-14 loss on Feb. 25, 1961 ... the last tie in Annapolis was on Feb. 19, 2000 (16-16).
• Navy owns a 12-6 record against the Black Knights in all varsity sports competitions this year, including an 11-3 advantage in Star competitions ... heading into this weekend, Navy needs just one win to clinch the year-long Star Game series ... Navy has won the Star Game series 11-consecutive years.
• There are eight remaining Star competitions, with three taking place this weekend, two at each institution ...

    Friday       7:00 pm    Wrestling             Annapolis
    Saturday    11:00 am    Women's Basketball    West Point
    Saturday     2:00 pm    Men's Basketball      West Point

• Last year, Navy's 29-6 victory over the Black Knights on the mat clinched the Star Competition for the Midshipmen ... the Navy wrestlers will once again have the opportunity to clinch the series on Friday night.
• Navy's tentative lineup for Friday owns a combined 20-8 record against the Black Knights ... nine of the 10 wrestlers have had at least one bout against their counterparts ... junior Joe Baker (5-3) and freshman Bryce Saddoris (1-0) are both undefeated against the Black Knights.

The Army-Navy Series
All-Time Record vs. Army 879-663-38 (.568)
2007-08 Record vs. Army 12-6 (.667)
2007-08 N-Star Record vs. Army 11-3 (.786)
Last 11 Years vs. Army 216-111-5 (.658)
Last 11 Years N-Star vs. Army 162-67-5 (.703)
2007-08 N-Star Victories (in order of competition):
Golf • Men's Cross Country • Women's Cross Country • Sprint Football • Women's Soccer • Women's Swimming • Men's Swimming • Football • Men's Indoor Track & Field • Women's Indoor Track & Field • Gymnastics.
Star Competitions Remaining (in order of competition):
Wrestling (2/22) • Women's Basketball (2/23) • Men's Basketball (2/23) • Men's Lacrosse (4/12) • Men's Outdoor Track & Field (4/12) • Women's Outdoor Track & Field (4/12) • Baseball (4/12-13) • Tennis (4/19).

Streaks
• Heavyweight Ed Prendergast owns Navy's longest winning streak with 19-consecutive wins dating back to Dec. 18 ... 10 of the 19 wins in the streak have come by fall ... Prendergast's last loss was against Missouri's Mark Ellis at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 1.
• Senior team captain Matt Stolpinski has put together a solid string of wins, as well ... he has won 11 in a row dating back to his 3-2 decision over Oklahoma's Jeff James at the Lone Star Duals on Jan. 5 ... his last loss was in the third-place match at the Southern Scuffle in which Cornell's Steve Anceravage defeated Stolpinski, 5-3.
• Joe Baker, Spencer Manley and Bryce Saddoris are riding four-match winning streaks heading into Friday.

Quick Hits
• Navy owns a 36-8 EIWA dual meet record under head coach Bruce Burnett ... the Mids are 35-1 against teams in the league other than Lehigh.
• The Midshipmen have won 33-straight matches against league competition excluding Lehigh.
• Prendergast's 14 pins this year are tied as the sixth most in program history ... it's the second consecutive year he has recorded double-digit falls.
• His 37 career falls are the most since record-setter John Reich turned in 63 pins between 1979 and '83.
• Joe Baker (133), Bryce Saddoris (149) and Matt Stolpinski (174) are among the top five in their respective weight classes for wins in a season ... Baker stands fourth with 21 wins, Saddoris is tied for third with 29 wins and Stolpinski is 11 wins shy of tying the record he set a year ago.
• A win by Matt Stolpinski would give him 34 and push him into a tie for 17th on Navy's single-season wins list.

Rewriting the Record Books
• Navy senior Matt Stolpinski's career has been nothing short of sensational.
• He is a two-time NCAA qualifier and is the reigning EIWA Champion at 174 pounds.
• Stolpinski set the school record for wins on Jan. 26 when the Wolfpack forfeited their match against the All-American, giving him his 128th victory and making him the school's all-time winningest wrestler.
• Though he dropped his third-place match against Cornell's Steve Anceravage on Dec. 30 at the Southern Scuffle, Stolpinski set another record - matches wrestled ... He has already wrestled 12 more matches than previous record holder Mark Conley who battled 161 foes over the span of four seasons (1998-02).
• He is also Navy's single-season wins record holder, sharing that distinction with Conley (2001-02) ... Stolpinski won 44 matches last season en route to his fourth-place finish at the National Championship.
• He is one of only four men in program history to reach 30 wins in three of his four seasons, joining John Reich ('83), Greg Gingeleskie ('99) and Mark Conley ('02).

National Scale
• With 33 wins in 2007-08, senior captain Matt Stolpinski (174) owns the ninth most (tied) wins in Div. I wrestling this season ... he is one of just 25 wrestlers nationwide to win 30 or more matches this year.
• Senior Ed Prendergast is tied for eighth in the nation in falls with 14.

30 Wins and Counting
• With his 17-0 tech fall over Coast Guard's Kevin Robinson in the opening round of the All-Academy Championship, senior Matt Stolpinski (174 pounds) claimed his 30th win of the season.
• Stolpinski has reached the 30-win plateau in three of his four seasons, posting 25 wins during his freshman year.
• Stolpinski owns four of the top five win totals in school history at the 174-pound weight class ... last year he tied the school record and set the weight record with 44 wins.
• Senior heavyweight Ed Prendergast and rookie 149-pounder Bryce Saddoris are just one win shy of joining the 30-win club.
• Prendergast, who is also just four wins shy of 100 for his career, turned in a personal-best 37 victories a year ago en route to qualifying for the NCAA Championship ... he heads into Friday's dual with a 29-4 record.
• Saddoris, meanwhile, owns a 29-9 record and with a win Friday night would become only the third freshman in Academy history to win 30 or more matches ... John Reich was the first to achieve the feat in 1979-80 and Tyrone Neal set the plebe wins record with 37 in 1998-99.

All-Academy Recap
• Navy won five individual titles en route to finishing second at the 2008 All-Academy Championship Feb. 2 at West Point ... the Mids finished just five points behind first-time winner Army ... the Mids have won the team title more than any other Academy, claiming crowns seven times in 14 years - 1995, '97, '99, '04, '05, '06 and '07.
• Nine of the 10 Navy wrestlers placed in the top three, including five title winners - 133, 149, 157, 174, HWT ... seven of the 10 competed in the championship match.
• Navy has won 50 individual crowns in All-Academy Championship history, including 24 of the 50 titles over the last five years.
• The Midshipmen have earned five or more individual crowns in 1997, '99, '04, '05, '07 and '08.
• Senior Matt Stolpinski became the first Navy wrestler to win individual crowns all four years when he pinned Army's Ryan Mergen at 2:22 ... he went on to be named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the postmatch banquet.
• First-time All-Academy winners included Bryce Saddoris and Spencer Manley ... Ed Prendergast won his second title, as did Joe Baker.
• Navy battled Army in seven of the championship bouts in this year's All-Academy Championship, setting up potential rematches in Friday's dual ... Navy won five of the seven title matches against the Black Knights.

Navy Among Top 35 in RPI
• InterMat Wrestling has devised a Ratings Point Index using the same formula the NCAA created for men's basketball, among other sports ... the RPI is based on a formula that's based 25% on winning percentage, 50% on opponents' winning percentage and 25% on the opponents' winning percentage ... this factors in only dual meets.
• Navy is ranked No. 33 (.5163) out of 87 Div. I varsity programs, the fourth highest among the 14 EIWA member schools ... Penn leads the pack in 20th (.5756), followed by Cornell in 25th (.5510) and Lehigh in 29 (.5332) ... Army is ranked 34th (.5162).

To Proudly Serve
• On Friday, Navy's 12 seniors and their families will be recognized as the Class of 2008 will make its final mat appearance in Annapolis.
• The Navy senior class owns a 41-13 record (.759) over its four years, while winning three All-Academy Championship titles (2005-06-07), three Navy Classic crowns (2004-05-06) and on Friday it will look to sweep Army ... should the Mids with, the Class of 2008 would be the 27th class in program history to post a 4-0 record against its arch rival.
• The following is a list of Navy's seniors and their service assignments: Darryl Abriam (Navy Pilot), Joe Butcher (Marine Corps Ground), Justin Jacobs (Marine Corps Pilot), Robert Johnston (Marine Corps Ground), Spencer Manley (Navy Pilot), Ben Nichols (Marine Corps Ground), Matt Parsons (Marine Corps Ground), Ed Prendergast (Surface Warfare), Josh Priebe (Surface Warfare), Matt Stolpinski (Special Warfare), Justin Taylor (Surface Warfare), Mike Wentz (Surface Warfare).