April 18, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy's Joel Ahern (Herkimer, N.Y.) finished as the freestyle runner-up at 70 kg (154.5 pounds) at the ASICS University Nationals last weekend in Akron, Ohio. Additionally, Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) finished fourth at 66 kg (145.5 pounds) and Scott Steele (Baltimore, Md.) placed seventh at 120 kg (264.5 pounds), with Joey Breen (Pasadena, Md.), Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.), Robby Neill (Brick, N.J.), Matt Reck (Stafford, Va.) and Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.) also participating at the event. All eight grapplers wrestled freestyle for the Naval Academy Wrestling Club in the two-day tournament.

Ahern, who battled injuries throughout the regular season and finished his junior competition year with a 12-6 record, won five matches en route to earning a spot in the title bout. He opened the tournament with a 2-0, 3-1 victory over Jared Rickert (Minnesota) before taking a 2-1 decision (4-0, 0-5, 3-0) over Binghamton's Ryan McGarity. He followed up by shutting out Chip Powell from Appalachian State, 4-0, 6-0, defeated UNC Greensboro's Andrew Saunders, 1-1, 1-0 and beat PJ Gillespie. Ahern's title hopes were cut short, however, by Minnesota's Tyler Safratowich (28-10 at 165 pounds), 3-0, 1-0.

Saddoris, a rookie who was one of five Navy wrestlers to qualify for the NCAA Tournament this spring, turned in a 7-2 record to finish fourth. He won his first four matches of the tournament, including three sweeps against Justin Tortora (7-0, 2-0), Ryan Cubberly (3-0, 6-0) and Kelly Felix (1-0, 3-0). Saddoris, however, was stopped in the quarterfinals by Maryland's Alex Krom who earned a 1-1, 2-1 decision. Saddoris regrouped and came back to win three in a row in the consolation bracket which featured a pin against Virginia's Shawn Harris to work his way back into the third-place match. It was there that he would once again face Krom and unfortunately dropped a 1-0, 2-0 decision to place fourth.

Like Saddoris, Steele also was tripped up in the quarterfinals, dropping a 1-0, 1-0 decision to Iowa State's David Zabriskie. Steele came back to defeat Oregon's Charlie Alexander, 7-0, 3-0 in the consolation bracket before Konrad Duziak (NYAC) denied him, 3-3, 1-0. Steele, who produced a 20-4 record this year at heavyweight, faced Penn State's John Laboranti in the seventh-place match where he claimed a 1-0, 1-0 win.

While the remaining Navy participants (4 freshmen, 1 sophomore) did not place, they gained valuable experience against some of the premier collegiate wrestlers. In fact, Shober, a two-year standout for the Mids, turned in a 3-2 record, losing to Bryan Ousna (Do Work) and Mike Kessler (Blue Ridge WC) who placed first and third in the tournament.

By virtue of their placement at the University Nationals, Ahern, Saddoris and Steele have qualified for the University World Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo. slated for May 23-24 at the Olympic Training Center.