Navy, who placed nine of its 10 competitors, finished the tournament with a 15-point advantage over second-place Army, who a year ago snapped the Mids' four-year All-Academy winning streak. Army, who led all teams with five individual champions, earned 90 points, better than 20 points more than The Citadel, who finished third with 69.5 points.
Navy has won 53 individual crowns in All-Academy Championship history, including 27 of the 60 titles over the last five years. The Mids won the team title in 1995, `97, `99, `04, `05, `06, `07 and `09, while they have claimed five or more individual titles in 1997, `99, `04, `05, `07 and in `08.
"Overall I thought it was a balanced effort by our wrestlers," said ninth-year Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "We struggled a little bit against Army head-to-head, so we've got our work cut out for us in preparing for that dual in a few weeks. But it was a great opportunity for us to get back out there on the mat and find some success as we close in on the conference and national tournaments."
Baker, who is ranked 10th in the nation at 133 pounds, dominated the competition from start to finish, as he became only the fifth Navy wrestler to win three or more individual titles at the All-Academy championship, joining the likes of Greg Gingeleskie (1997-98-99), Mark Conley (2000-01-02), Tanner Garrett (2004-05-06) and Matt Stolpinski (2005-06-07-08). The 2008 All-American turned in back-to-back technical falls against Air Force's Derek Gillespie and The Citadel's Phil Greene before pinning third-seeded Phil Greene of the Merchant Marine Academy at 3:43 in the title bout. Baker also won tournament titles in 2006 and `08.
"Joe looked really good today," said Burnett, who has seen Baker's career ravaged by injuries. "He was clearly the better wrestler in each of his bouts and continues to battle his way back."
Rebertus, meanwhile, became one of only a handful of Navy wrestlers to win an All-Academy title in his freshman season. As the tournament's top seed at 174 pounds, Rebertus pinned the Coast Guard's Kevin Robinson in the opening round and followed up by posting a 16-2 major decision over fourth-seeded Erik Schott of the Merchant Marine Academy. Not only did the Navy rookie pick up a 10-2 major decision over No. 2 seed J.C. Oddo of The Citadel in the championship match, he joined an elite group of Navy freshmen who have reached 30 wins. He is now one of only four Navy freshman to achieve 30 wins, joining John Reich (30 in 1979-80), Tyrone Neal (37 in 1998-99) and teammate Bryce Saddoris who picked up 35 wins a year ago. Rebertus, who is 20th in the country in his weight class, also extended Navy's stronghold at the 174-pound weight class, as Stolpinski won four consecutive titles from 2005-08.
"I was happy for Luke to win as a freshman," said Burnett. "I think he's finally getting back into competition shape after tweaking his knee a few weeks ago."
Earning his first All-Academy title was Caldwell at 184 pounds, who has produced a 27-11 record in his final season at the Academy. The top-seeded wrestler in the weight class, Caldwell earned back-to-back bonus point wins to reach the finals. He opened with a 21-6 win over Norwich's Jordan Ferguson and continued on by defeating Brian Hurley of The Citadel, 12-4. After Air Force's unseeded Brett Boyce knocked off second-seeded Jon Drew of Army in the semis, Caldwell dismissed Boyce in the finals, 7-3, to claim his first collegiate title.
"It was a workman's effort by Casey today," added Burnett. "Casey isn't a flashy wrestler, he just continues to come back at you. He looked solid in all of his matches."
An additional four wrestlers earned appearances in championship bouts, but came up just short of winning the title. Rookie Prescott Garner (West Linn, Ore.) squeezed past VMI's Johnathan Pope in the opening round, 9-8, before flattening Air Force's Andrew Zwirlein's shoulders to the mat and picking up his 13th pin of the season. With the pin, Garner moves into sole possession of ninth on the Mids' single-season falls list, the most by a lightweight wrestler in school history. Garner, who was the top-seeded wrestler heading into the competition, was edged in the finals by third-seeded Tyler Sim of The Citadel by a 7-5 count.
Junior 141-pounder Matt Pagan (Carteret, N.J.) also lost a heartbreaker, falling to Army's Casey Thome, 3-1, in the championship. Pagan, who has gained the confidence of Burnett in recent weeks, earned an 11-3 major decision over VMI's David Yost in the opener and moved into the finals after handing third-seeded James Beshada a 6-1 loss in the semis.
In perhaps the most exciting match of the evening, Army's Matt Kyler managed to upset Navy sophomore Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) at 149 pounds. Saddoris, ranked sixth in the country, easily made his way to the finals after posting a 19-1 technical fall over Air Force's Alec Williams followed by a pin against No. 4 seed Pierre Frazile of The Citadel. Kyler, meanwhile, found his way to the finals by way of back-to-back falls. The aggressor throughout the match, Saddoris was turned on a counter-offense move, giving Kyler, ranked 11th nationally, the extra points needed to win his second straight All-Academy title. With his pair of wins at the tournament, Saddoris has matched his win total from a year ago, and with 35 victories, he stands tied for 12th on the Mids' single-season wins list.
Senior Philip Neese (Lexington, S.C.) fought his way to a second-place finish at 197 pounds and put up a solid performance in the championship bout. Neese turned back VMI's Ronnie Ellsworth in the opening round, 8-2, and followed up with a semifinal victory over Air Force's James Ciccone, who had upset the third seed in the preliminaries. Neese, though, could not get ahead in the finals, as 20th-ranked Richard Starks of Army picked up his second consecutive All-Academy crown.
Earning a third-place finish at 165 pounds was second-year standout Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.), who finished the day with a 3-1 record. DeMichiel opened the day on a positive note with an 11-3 victory over VMI's Matthew Brock. However, top-seeded Steve Crozier of Air Force was able to slip past his Navy foe, 8-6, sending DeMichiel to the consolation bracket. DeMichiel pinned Army's Mike Gorman to earn an opportunity to face The Citadel's Derek Sickel in the third-place bout. It was a rematch of the Dec. 18 match at the Reno Tournament of Champions where Sickel absolutely man-handled DeMichiel en route to a 14-3 major decision. This time around, it was DeMichiel who owned Sickel, winning the match, 5-1.
"I was really proud of Matt and how he battled back after losing what was a good match against a quality wrestler," said Burnett. "He lost to Sickel pretty badly earlier this year and he could have easily packed it in. He responded exactly how you'd hope a wrestler would and challenged himself to go right after the win."
Finally, Navy senior heavyweight Tyler Moyer (Bremerton, Wash.) placed fourth after dropping a heartbreaker to The Citadel's Aaron Brown in sudden victory (3-1).
The only weight class the Mids did not place in was at 157 pounds, where senior Joel Ahern (Herkimer, N.Y.) was forced to withdraw after suffering a concussion in his semifinal match against fourth-seeded Connor Keating of Norwich.
Navy's seniors will wrestle for the final time in their careers at Halsey Field House when the Midshipmen play host to EIWA foe Rutgers on Friday evening. Action is set for 7:00 pm at Halsey Field House
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