Led by four individual title winners, fourth-ranked Minnesota claimed the team title with 182 points. Fourteenth-ranked Edinboro was a distant second with 130.5 points, followed by Hofstra, who jumped from 10th to third in the final standings with 121 points. Cornell, meanwhile, just edged out Maryland for fourth place, 94-93.5.
The Mids, who were tied for eighth heading into the final day of competition, finished the tournament with 79.5 points, five points behind eighth-place Boise State and five points in front of 10th-place Old Dominion, who plummeted from fourth after the opening day of action.
"I think we could have done better in the tournament, but the reality of it is that it's a tough tournament and though we had some good performances, we need to be able to win a few of those close matches," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "We had that little holiday break in there and some of the guys weren't quite in the condition they should have been in this weekend. Additionally, we didn't have our full complement of of wrestlers. Joel Ahern (157 pounds) and Tyler Moyer (197 pounds) both made the trip, but were unable to compete because of the flu. But in this sport, there are no excuses.
"We use these tournaments as practice for what we will face in March at the conference and national tournaments. I'm anxious to get back into the wrestling room and work out the kinks."
Navy sent six wrestlers into the championship bracket on Sunday and five of them came away place-winners. An additional three Mids, Casey Caldwell (Liberty, Ind.), Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.) and Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.), were just one match away from finishing among the top eight in their respective weight classes.
For the third time this season, the heavyweight title bout matched up Navy's Prendergast and junior Scott Steele (Baltimore, Md.). Steele took the titles at Eastern Michigan and the Navy Classic, but it was Prendergast who got the best of Steele at the Scuffle. Prendergast defeated eighth-seeded Justin Dobies of North Carolina in the quarters before pinning 17th-ranked Joey Fendone of Edinboro in the semis. Meanwhile, Steele edged 16th-ranked Mike Spaid of Bloomsburg, 3-2, and cruised to a 19-1 victory over No. 9 Zach Hammond of Cornell to set up the finals match. Prendergast earned his second tournament title of the year by pinning Steele at 8:19. For Steele, it was just his third loss of the year.
"Ed has really stepped it up as of late," said Burnett. "He and Scott (Steele) are really wrestling well for us right now and pushing one another to get better."
A pair of Midshipmen, 133-pounder Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) and 174-pounder Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.), earned fourth in their respective weight classes. Baker made his way to the semifinals after earning a one-point victory over Boise State's Andrew Hochstrasser in the opening match of the day. Baker, though, suffered a 6-2 setback against seventh-ranked Mack Reiter of Minnesota, cutting short his hopes of winning the title. While Reiter went on to win the championship bout, Baker regrouped and made another run in the consolation bracket. He defeated Kent State's Dan Mitcheff, seeded fourth, 8-5, but was tripped up by Hochstrasser in the rematch, 9-8.
Stolpinski, meanwhile, followed the same pattern as Baker. Navy's team captain earned a 4-2 win over 18th-ranked Eric Decker of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals, but was unable to get past 14th-ranked Alton Lucas of Hofstra in the semifinals. Lucas took the bout, 7-4, and went on to beat eighth-ranked Mike Letts from Maryland in the championship match. Stolpinski dropped to the consolation bracket where he earned a 7-5 win over Edinboro's Philip Moricone, ranked No. 12. However, 11th-ranked Steve Anceravage from Cornell kept Stolpinski out of the top three by defeating him, 5-3.
Rookie 149-pounder Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) was the final Navy wrestler to place on the afternoon, taking home seventh-place honors. Saddoris opened the tournament with a 3-0 record, but had much to think about when his head hit the pillow Saturday night. He knew he would have his hands full with his quarterfinals opponent, No. 1-ranked Dustin Schlatter from Minnesota. Schlatter took the match, 9-2, sending Saddoris to the consolation bracket, where he wrestled his way back into place-winner status. After defeating Ohio's Matt Reedy, 6-0, he dropped an 8-2 decision to Hofstra's Mitch Smith. Saddoris, though, went on to defeat Jeremy Doyle of Cal State Bakersfield, 10-5. Saddoris has now placed in four of the five tournaments in which he has competed, including three top-three finishes.
The Midshipmen will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to Texas to take part in the Lone Star Duals. Navy opens the competition against No. 19 Oklahoma at 12:00 pm Central, followed by Columbia at 2:00 pm and No. 13 Wisconsin at 8:00 pm
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