"I thought it was a great day of practice for us," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "Our JV team wrestled NAPS and Nassau Community College today and then our varsity wrestled two matches against two good foes. Again, our conditioning really paid off. There is no question that we are getting better as the year is going on and that we will continue to get better as we push forward to the postseason."
In the first dual of the day, Navy scored extra-margin victories in four weight classes, including falls from Jonny Kane (Portland, Maine) at 184 pounds and from Chris Pogue (Chesapeake, Va.) at 197 pounds. Spencer Manley (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and No. 20-ranked John Cox (Grand Haven, Mich.) also scored major decisions at 141 and 149 pounds, respectively.
The match started at 174 pounds, where Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) won a hard-fought 13-8 decision over Rick Brownlee to give Navy a lead it would never relinquish. After Kane and Pogue recorded falls in the next two weight classes, senior heavweight Tanner Garrett (Tulsa, Okla.), ranked seventh in the country, scored two takedowns in the third period to defeat Jainor Palma, 5-2, for his 33rd victory of the season.
125-pounder Alex Usztics (Dauphin, Pa.) then recorded an impressive win with a 12-5 victory over Jeremy Hartrum. Usztics unleashed a move he named "The Zeppelin" twice on Hartrum to gain valuable back points to earn him the victory.
At 133 pounds, the home crowd anticipated the return of freshman Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.), who looked strong in the first two periods, then held on for an 11-7 victory over a strong Garrett Cummings. Baker was wrestling for the first time in his career at home, after missing more than a year to a shoulder injury.
"We just need to get him some matches," said Burnett. "He is still not where he needs to be, but Cummings is a very good wrestler, and really made him work. We were disappointed that North Carolina had to forfeit at 133, because he just needs to get some matches in."
After Manley and Cox won the next two weight classes by major decision, John Jarred (Kansas City, Mo.) and Craig Dziewiatkowski (Aurora, Ill.) followed with decisions over Kody Hamrah and Obie Simpson at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively, to close out the 38-0 shutout of North Carolina State.
In the second dual of the day, Navy won four matches by forfeit, and Garrett and Dziewiatkowski scored big overtime victories to lead Navy past North Carolina, 41-4.
Stolpinski and Kane opened the match with a pair of decisions to give Navy a 6-0 lead. Kane rallied for a victory over Justin Dobies, who entered the match with a 22-11 record, scoring two takedowns in the final 1:20 of the match.
After Pogue won by forfeit at 197 pounds, Garrett defeated No. 12-ranked Spencer Nadolsky, 3-1, in overtime to push his record to 34-2. Garrett scored a takedown with 20 seconds left in overtime after Nadolsky had a shot in on Garrett's legs that the Navy senior snapped away and then spun behind Nadolsky for the takedown.
Navy received forfeits at 125 and 133 pounds to push the lead to 27-0. UNC received its lone win of the day at 141 pounds when Vincent Ramirez scored a major decision over Manley, but Cox responded at 149 pounds with his sixth tech fall of the season, 18-2, over Isaiah Britton.
John Jarred won by forfeit at 157 pounds, and Dziewiatkowski concluded the night with a 7-5 overtime decision over Deon Barrett. Dziewiatkowski scored a takedown with just three seconds left in regulation to send the match into the extra session, before scoring the game-winner 21 seconds into the extra session over Barrett, who was a Naval Academy wrestler for three years before transferring to North Carolina.
"Craig had a tough situation today wrestling a guy that he wrestled for three years every day in the practice room," said Burnett. "He is getting stronger and still recovering from his injury, and will get stronger as the year goes. I thought John Cox also wrestled really well. He scored points from all four positions and is getting better as the year goes along."
Navy will now look to defend its All-Academy Championship as the Mids search for their third straight team title next weekend at Kings Point, N.Y. Navy has won five of the 11 titles in All-Academy Championship history. Action will get underway on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 9:00 a.m., and will be hosted by the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
#19 Navy 38, North Carolina State 0
174 -- Matt Stolpinski (N) dec. Rick Brownlee, 13-8
184 -- Jonny Kane (N) pinned Jeremy Colbert, 4:00
197 -- Chris Pogue (N) pinned Mark Jahad, 4:11
HWT -- #7 Tanner Garrett (N) dec. Jainor Palma, 5-2
125 -- Alex Usztics (N) dec. Jeremy Hartrum, 12-5
133 -- Joe Baker (N) dec. Garrett Cummings, 11-7
141 -- Spencer Manley (N) major dec. Jalil Dozier, 12-3
149 -- #20 John Cox (N) major dec. Joe Caramanica, 9-1
157 -- John Jarred (N) dec. Kody Hamrah, 12-9
165 -- Craig Dziewiatkowski (N) dec. Obie Simpson, 4-0
#19 Navy 41, North Carolina 4
174 -- Matt Stolpinski (N) dec. Jake Puckett, 11-5
184 -- Jonny Kane (N) dec. Justin Dobies, 8-4
197 -- Chris Pogue (N) won by forfeit
HWT -- #7 Tanner Garrett (N) dec. #12 Spencer Nadolsky, 3-1 (ot)
125 -- Alex Usztics (N) won by forfeit
133 -- Joe Baker (N) won by forfeit
141 -- Vincent Ramirez (UNC) major dec. Spencer Manley, 12-1
149 -- #20 John Cox (N) tech fall Isaiah Britton, 18-2 (6:31)
157 -- John Jarred (N) won by forfeit
165 -- Craig Dziewiatkowski (N) dec. Deon Barrett, 7-5 (ot)
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