<p>Navy travels to Army for Star Match</p>
<p>For Immediate Release
Friday, Feb. 16, 2007
Wrestling Contact: Stacie Michaud (410) 293-8773</p>
<h1>17 Navy Travels to Army for Annual Wrestling Dual</h1>
<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The 17th-ranked Navy wrestling team will look to stretch its winning streak to seven in a row against Army when the two programs battle for the “Star” Sunday afternoon in West Point, N.Y. Action is set to get underway at 4:00 p.m. and will be shown tape-delayed that evening (8:00 pm) on ESPNU.</p>
<p>“This is always a big match and has a storied history,” said seventh-year Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. “Truth be told, we want to win all of our matches and the Army-Navy match happens to fall in at the time that we are preparing for the EIWA Championship. It’s important that we hit our stride at this time of the year because we want to perform well at the EIWA Championship and qualify as many guys as we can for the NCAA Championship.</p>
<p>“We had the opportunity to wrestle some of the Army guys at the All-Academy Championship just a few weeks ago and I think any time you have the chance to wrestle someone earlier in the year, you are better off. We are ready to go.”</p>
<p>Army and Navy are on tap to meet one another in four sports this weekend — Rifle (Sat., 8:00 am, West Point), Men’s Basketball (Sat., 1:00 pm, Annapolis), Women’s Basketball (Sun., 1:00 pm, Annapolis), Wrestling (Sun., 4:00 pm, West Point) — with each factoring into the annual Star Series. Navy holds a 12-5 record against the Black Knights this year, including a 10-3 advantage in Star competitions. The Mids need just two more wins to clinch their 11-straight Star Series win.</p>
<p>Navy owns a 40-5-5 series advantage on the mat against the Black Knights, winning six in a row by a combined 67 points (131-64). Dating back to the 1963 campaign, the Midshipmen have produced a 38-1-5 record over 44 matches with their lone setback a 19-12 loss at West Point in 1997. Navy owns a 17-4-2 advantage in matches held at West Point, winning four in a row.</p>
<p>Only four wrestlers on Navy’s list of probables competed in last year’s dual match, including 16th-ranked Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) who defeated Frankie Baughan (now at 141 pounds) by technical fall at 133 pounds to give the Midshipmen an early 5-0 lead. Baker, who owns a 15-4 record this year, has never lost to an Army foe. In fact, Baker swept Baughan a year ago with matches at the All-Academy Championship, the annual dual and the EIWA Championship. Because of injury, Baker did not compete in the All-Academy Championship two weeks ago, but will likely face sophomore William Simpson (22-12 / 7-6 dual), who won the All-Academy title.</p>
<p>Team captain John Jarred (Kansas City, Mo.) faced Army’s Brian Rowan four times a year ago, splitting those four matches and featuring a 7-2 win in Navy’s dual victory. Jarred, who is 28-9 in his senior campaign, has won five in a row, including his three matches at the All-Academy Championship where he claimed the 157-pound title. Jarred is on tap to face junior Christian Snook (22-13 / 8-3 dual) who did not place at the All-Academy Championship.</p>
<p>Junior Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) is 2-1 against the Black Knights, splitting his dual competition. As a sophomore, he dropped a heartbreaker to Gabriel Lucero, 14-11, however last February Stolpinski outlasted Chad Marzec, 5-3, in sudden victory. Two weeks later, he defeated Marzec again, 6-4, at the EIWA Championship. Stolpinski, who is ranked12th in the country, did not face an Army wrestler en route to winning his third-consecutive All-Academy crown, but will likely face senior Brent Smith (27-11 / 7-1 dual) who placed fourth.</p>
<p>Stolpinski owns the second-longest winning streak on the team with nine straight with six of those being bonus-point victories. A win on Sunday would put him in a three-way tie for 15th on Navy’s single-season wins list with 34, while pushing his career win total to 89 and a tie with Mike Bigrigg (1998-02) for 15th on the the Mids’ career wins list.</p>
<p>Like Stolpinski, senior 125-pounder Alex Usztics (Dauphin, Pa.) has split his dual matches against Army. As a sophomore, Usztics hammered Travis Featherstone, 11-4, but dropped a tough 5-4 decision to William Simpson last year. Usztics, who owns a 4-4 record against the Black Knights, dropped a 10-6 decision to Army junior Fernando Martinez (21-6 / 4-1 dual) at this year’s All-Academy Championship. Usztics has turned in a 26-12 record this year and has won five of his last six matches.</p>
<p>Senior 184-pounder Antonio Miranda (Eugene, Ore.) is one of six Navy probables who did not compete in last year’s dual, but like Baker, he also owns a flawless record against the Black Knights. Miranda, however, will be wrestling in the Army-Navy dual for the first time in his career. Miranda beat Army freshman Richard Starks, 13-8, in the championship bout of the All-Academy Championship to claim the title. Miranda, who is 28-9 this season, heads into Sunday’s match having won eight-straight matches.</p>
<p>Junior eighth-ranked heavyweight Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.) watched his predecessor Tanner Garret defeat Michael Sprigg at last year’s Army-Navy dual. Prendergast has taken over the reigns and hasn’t skipped a beat, producing a 31-5 record. The first-year starter has won 12-consecutive matches with eight ending in a fall. His 15 pins this season are tied as the third most in program history and the most since Scott Kelly won 15 matches by fall in 1987-88. Prendergast will face Army junior Nathan Thobaben (15-4 / 4-2 dual) for the second time in his career. The two battled at last year’s McDaniel Duals with Thobaben earning the 11-4 win.</p>
<p>Seniors Brad Canterbury (Blue Bell, Pa.) and John Cox (Grand Haven, Mich.) have competed in an Army-Navy dual and both enter Sunday’s match-up with a bitter taste in their mouth. Canterbury, who is 1-3 against Army foes, dropped an 8-2 decision to Bernard Gardner in the 2004 Star Match, while 149-pounder Cox owns a 1-1 mark in dual competition against Army, dropping the 2005 battle to third-ranked Phillip Simpson, 12-1. Canterbury lost a hard-fought 8-6 battle Army’s Matt Kyler in this year’s 141-pound championship match at the All-Academy Championship, while Cox has not faced an Army opponent this season.</p>
<p>Junior 165-pounder Justin Jacobs (LeRoy, Mich.) and sophomore 197-pounder Tyler Moyer (Bremerton, Wash.) will also compete in their first Army-Navy Star Match. Jacobs, who owns a 13-14 record, dropped a 3-0 decision to Army’s Brian Rowan in the championship bout of the All-Academy Tournament on Feb. 3, while Moyer’s lone action against an Army foe was at last year’s McDaniel Duals where he handed Josh Ewing an 11-6 defeat.</p>
<p>Army, who is ranked sixth in the EIWA, enters Sunday’s Star Match owning a 10-5 record, including a 6-2 mark in EIWA action. The Black Knights, who like Navy have beaten Bucknell, East Stroudsburg, Rutgers and Brown, are coming off a 28-6 loss at Lehigh last Saturday. Army’s biggest win of the season was a 21-13 decision over then 25th-ranked Columbia on Jan. 31 in West Point. Five Black Knights are among the top-6 EIWA rankings, including freshman 141-pounder Matt Kyler who stands No. 3. Kyler earned an 8-6 decision over Navy’s Brad Canterbury at the All-Academy Championship two weeks ago to win the individual title. </p>
<p>Sunday’s Probably Lineups
Wt. Navy Army
125 Alex Usztics, Sr. (26-12 / 8-5) Fernando Martinez, Jr. (21-6 / 4-1)
133 #16 Joe Baker, So. (15-4 / 7-2) William Simpson, So. (22-12 / 7-6)
141 Brad Canterbury, Sr. (26-15 / 6-8) Matt Kyler, Fr. (28-8 / 9-5)
149 John Cox, Sr. (23-6 / 8-1) Austin Milster, Sr. (9-12 / 2-6)
157 John Jarred, Sr. (28-9 / 11-3) Christian Snook, Jr. (22-13 / 8-3)
165 Justin Jacobs, Jr. (13-14 / 2-7) Brian Rowan, So. (14-10 / 6-4)
174 #12 Matt Stolpinski, Jr. (33-5 / 12-2) Brent Smith, Sr. (27-11 / 7-1)
184 Antonio Miranda, Sr. (28-9 / 10-3) Scott Ferguson, Jr. (18-8 / 9-4)
197 Tyler Moyer, So. (16-16 / 4-8) Connor Sanders, Sr. (19-13 / 7-6)
HWT #8 Ed Prendergast, Jr. (31-5 / 10-2) Nathan Thobaben, Jr. (15-4 / 4-2)</p>