Navy has now won 45 individual crowns in All-Academy Championship history, including 19 of the 40 titles over the last four years. The Mids won the team title in 1995, '97, '99, '04, '05, '06 and '07, while they claimed five or more individual titles in 1997, '99, '04, '05 and '07.
Wrestling without the services of ninth-ranked Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) at 133 pounds and senior John Cox (Grand Haven, Mich.) at 149 pounds, the Mids finished the tournament with a 28-point advantage over second-place Army. VMI finished 24.5 points behind Army in third, followed by The Citadel in fourth and the host, Air Force, in fifth. Army and Navy will meet in the annual Star Meet in two weeks, as the Black Knights will play host to the Midshipmen on Feb. 18 in a match that will be televised by ESPNU beginning at 4:00 pm.
In addition to wrestling without two regulars in their lineup, the Mids struggled to make their way out to Colorado Springs. Scheduled to fly out of Baltimore on Thursday at 3:00 pm, Navy's flight was cancelled. Assured they would be able to get on a flight at 8:00 pm, the Mids were then bumped from that flight at 7:00 pm. The team was then bussed to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., expecting to make a flight, but instead was forced to spend the night. On Friday, Navy flew in to Denver where the bus that was supposed to meet the team was nowhere to be found. The Mids eventually arrived in Colorado Spring late afternoon on Friday.
"It was a tough weekend for our team," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "We dealt pretty well with the had we were dealt in terms of traveling out to Air Force. We didn't look real sharp today, but we won our fourth All-Academy Championship and that's something to be proud of."
Nine of Navy's 10 wrestlers punched their ticket to compete for the individual title in their respective weight classes, including team captain John Jarred (Kansas City, Mo.), who earned the Mids' first individual title of the day. Jarred, a first-time All-Academy Championship title winner, won his first-round match by major decision (16-2) over Dandridge Giltz of the Merchant Marine Academy. Jarred got a free pass into the championship match when The Citadel's Travis Piccard had to pull out of the semifinal with an injury. Jarred went on to clinch the 157-pound title with a 6-1 victory over VMI's Tommy Cunningham.
Junior Justin Jacobs (LeRoy, Mich.) was one of four Navy wrestlers to record pins on the afternoon, as he posted a fall 1:19 over Trevor Muhler from the Merchant Marine Academy in is first match of the day. Jacobs followed up with a 9-3 decision over VMI's John Burton in the semis before dropping a 3-0 decision to top-seeded Brian Rowan from Army.
Navy went on to win the final four matches of the evening, including a win by junior Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) at 174 pounds. Stolpinski, who is ranked 10th in the country, edged Darius Caldwell from The Citadel, 3-2, claiming his third-consecutive All-Academy Wrestling Championship. He is only the fourth wrestler in Naval Academy 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). Additionally, Stolpinski pushed his win total for the year to 32, becoming just the ninth wrestler in Navy history to etch his name into the 30-win club twice during his career.
Senior Antonio Miranda (Eugene, Ore.) scored a 5-3 decision over Army's Richard Starks to win the 184-pound title. Miranda received a bye in the opening round and advanced to the championship bout following a major decision over The Citadel's John Dickerson in the semis.
Junior Matt Parsons (Dunkirk, Md.) got the call for the Mids at 197 pounds where he stepped in and won his first-collegiate tournament title by pinning top-seeded Conner Sanders from Army at 4:24. Parsons received a first-round bye, before posting a 7-4 win over Eric Vincent from the Merchant Marine Academy in his semifinal match.
Ninth-ranked heavyweight Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.) extended his winning streak to 11 in a row after posting a 3-0 record and winning his first All-Academy Championship title. Prendergast pinned his first two opponents of the day, pushing his pin total for the year to 14. His 14 pins is tied as the fifth most by a Navy wrestler in a single season and the most since Frank Workman produced 14 pins during the 1996-97 campaign. Prendergast needed a little extra time in the championship bout, but eventually defeated VMI's Scott Buhman in overtime.
Navy opened the championship round with senior Alex Usztics (Dauphin, Pa.) who won the 125-pound weight class at last year's championship. Usztics came up short in defending his title, as Army's Fernando Martinez picked up a 10-6 decision over Usztics.
Newcomer Matt Pagan (Carteret, N.J.) replaced Baker in the lineup, pushing up a weight class from 125 to 133 pounds. After winning his opening bout by major decision over Air Force's Stephen Makuka, 18-10, Pagan was sent to the consolation bracket after dropping a 4-2 decision to VMI's Tyler Anthony. After earning a technical fall (18-2) over Dan Ippolito from Coast Guard, Pagan won the third-place match with a 7-5 victory over Matt Leach from The Citadel.
Senior Brad Canterbury (Blue Bell, Pa.) was stopped short of winning his first All-Academy title at 141 pounds, as top-seeded Matt Kyler of Army held off Canterbury, 8-6 in the championship bout. Canterbury recorded back-to-back pins in the quarterfinals and semifinals en route to making his finals appearance.
Navy made its third finals appearance in the first four matches when sophomore 149-pounder Joel Ahern (Herkimer, N.Y.) battled VMI's Sam Alvarenga. Ahern earned a pair of closed decisions in his opening two matches, but couldn't squeeze out a third, as Alvarenga dropped Ahern, 7-2.
The Mids will be back in action next Saturday night when they play host to EIWA foe Bucknell beginning at 7:00 pm in Halsey Field House. Navy will pay tribute to its senior class in a pre-meet ceremony. Upon the conclusion of the match, the Mids will host an autograph session.
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