“Tonight was a great team win that was wrestled the Navy way,†said second-year Navy head coach Joel Sharratt. “We made our opponents earn every point scored. We set our pace high and made fatigue a factor in the final outcome.â€
The two teams split the first eight matches with Princeton taking the 3-0 lead on a 6-0 victory at 125 pounds by Pat D'Arcy.
Navy, though, battled back and an 11-5 victory by sophomore Zack Davis (Granger, Ind.) at 133 pounds triggered four straight wins by the Midshipmen. Freshman Nicholas Gil (Crystal Lake, Ill.) dropped a tough 6-5 decision to Princeton's Jordan Laster in the championship bout of the Navy Classic two weeks ago, however, Gil turned the tables on the 2015 EIWA runnerup and instead had his hand raised with a 3-2 victory at 141 pounds.
Sophomore Corey Wilding (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was expecting to face 20th-ranked Chris Perez, who he lost to by a point at the Navy Classic, but instead faced Mike D'Angelo. Wilding bested his foe with a quick takedown in sudden victory to earn the 3-1 victory. Then, sophomore 157-pound Drew Daniels (Overland Park, Kan.) gave the Mids a 12-3 advantage in the mat thanks to a 7-4 win over Francesco Fabozzi.
Princeton snapped the Mids' momentum when senior Judd Ziegler used a long third-period ride to win 2-1 over Navy team captain John Keck (Wading River, N.Y.) at 165 pounds. Ziegler's win was the first of three in a row for the Tigers that included victories by nationally-ranked wrestlers #14 Jonathan Schleifer at 174 pounds and #16 Abram Ayala at 184 pounds. Navy's Jadaen Bernstein (Glen Gardner, N.J.) and Mathew Miller (Edgewood, Md.), who are both ranked #15 in their respective weights, were held out of Friday night's dual due to injuries.
Ayala's win gave Princeton the go-ahead points as the Tigers held a 13-12 advantage with two bouts to go.
Onto the mat marched Woulfe and Harner, Woulfe with a 14-6 record, while Harner was undefeated. Harner held the lead in the final period, but Woulfe caught him in a spladle and despite Harner's best effort, Woulfe dealt his foe his first loss of the year via pin with 1:10 left in the period.
That left Princeton's Ray O'Donnell needing a fall at heavyweight to pull off the comeback for the Tigers. He controlled Navy sophomore Nick Mabry (New Braunfels, Texas) throughout the match and momentarily got Mabry on his back, but Mabry was able to scramble and fight his way out to help seal the win for the Mids.
Navy will step away from competition for the next few weeks to focus on final exams before returning to the mat and ringing in the new year Jan. 1-2 at the annual Southern Scuffle.
Results:
125 - Pat D'Arcy (P) dec Brant Leadbeter (N) 6-0
133 - Zack Davis (N) dec Trey Aslanian (P) 11-5
141 - Nicholas Gil (N) dec Jordan Laster (P) 3-2
149 - Corey Wilding (N) dec Mike D'Angelo (P) 3-1 (sv)
157 - Drew Daniels (N) dec Francesco Fabozzi (P) 7-4
165 - Judd Ziegler (P) dec John Keck (N) 2-1
174 - #14 Jonathan Schleifer (P) major Michael Coleman (N) 15-4
184 - #16 Abram Ayala (P) dec Robert Mannier (N) 8-2
197 - Michael Woulfe (N) fall #12 Brett Harner (P) 5:50
285 - Ray O'Donnell (P) dec Nick Mabry (N) 10-3
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