"The good guys won and top to bottom, we performed well in a lot of weight classes," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "Our depth was very good today and we had some upsets, which was also good to see. We are still making some technical mistakes, but the younger guys are getting better and that is the encouraging thing."
Navy's first title came from senior Mike Kohler (Annapolis, Md.) at 125 pounds. Kohler went 4-0 on the day in his first competition of the year, defeating Rutgers' Ryan Jablonski in the finals, 5-3. Kohler won two matches by decision, one by major decision and one by fall. Also at 125 pounds, freshman Caleb Levee (Mandeville, La.) finished third, recording a 3-1 record including a 8-6 overtime victory over teammate Alex Usztics (Dauphin, Pa.) in the consolation finals.
At 133 pounds, junior Brad Canterbury (Blue Bell, Pa.) won his first Navy Classic title with a pin over Davidson's Jim Avola in 5:23 in the finals. Canterbury won his quarterfinal-round match over Davidson's Patrick Coman, 13-0, then slipped by George Mason's Will Powars, 4-3, in the semifinals.
Junior John Cox (Grand Haven, Mich.) dominated the 149-pound weight class for his second straight title, pinning West Virginia's Larry Hall in the finals in 2:28. Cox won one match by major decision and one by decision, before earning his third pin of the year. Cox improved to 12-2 on the season.
At 174 pounds, Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) went 4-0 to run his record to 12-2 on the season, defeating West Virginia's Kurt Brenner in the finals, 5-3, after cruising in his first three matches. He defeated Duquesne's Mark Himes, an NCAA qualifier a year ago, 9-1, in the second round and McDaniel's Andrew Winfield, who is ranked eighth in NCAA Division III, 11-5, to advance to the finals.
At 197 pounds, Navy's Antonio Miranda (Eugene, Ore.) was an upset winner. Miranda upset second-seeded Jared Villers of West Virginia in the quarterfinals, 7-6, routed Rutgers' Karim Mahmoud, 15-7, in the semifinals, and defeated Navy freshman Tyler Moyer (Bremerton, Wash.) in the finals, 6-4.
Lastly, at heavyweight, ninth-ranked Tanner Garrett (Tulsa, Okla.) pushed his record to 12-0 with four wins on the day and his second straight Navy Classic title. Garrett won his first three matches by major decisions, before defeating teammate Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.) in the finals, 8-4. Garrett's career record now stands at 83-28, moving him into 17th place on the school's all-time wins list.
"Cox, Stolpinski and Garrett looked very strong today, and Kohler and Miranda scoring upset wins was very encouraging," said Burnett. "We are just really pleased with the outcome. We recognize the mistakes we made today and are going to do what it takes to get better. It was a very good day for this program."
Navy's second-place finishes included John Jarred (Kansas City, Mo.) at 157 pounds, who lost to top ten-ranked Matt Lebe of West Virginia, 6-3, in the finals. The loss was Jarred's first of the year after opening the 2005-06 campaign winning his first 12 matches. Chris Pogue (Chesapeake, Va.) finished second at 184 pounds, losing to Rutgers' ninth-ranked 184-pounder Rudy Medini, 3-2, in the finals. Also finishing second were Moyer and Prendergast.
Navy will be off for two weeks, before heading to Piscataway, N.J., on Dec. 3, for its first EIWA Conference dual meet, against Rutgers. The following day, Navy will compete in the Penn State Open.
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