Collegiate Wrestling

For Immediate Release

Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014

Wrestling Contact:  Stacie Michaud (410) 293-8773

For more information on Navy Athletics, log on to www.NavySports.com

Navy Wrestling Rolls Past American, 34-8

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  The Navy wrestling team won eight bouts in its EIWA dual against American, including five extra-point decisions to cruise to a 34-8 victory over the Eagles on Friday evening at Bender Arena.  The Midshipmen are now 4-1 in dual action this season and will have the next two weeks to prepare for their match against Army on Feb. 21.

The dual opened at what has been a solid weight for the Mids as of late, as junior 197-pound Paul Rands (Cary, Ill.) faced American rookie Brett Dempsey who was subbing in for nationally-ranked Daniel Mitchell who was out with an injury.  Rands wasted little time and built a 4-1 lead over the first three minutes and extended it to a 7-1 advantage through two.  Rands went on to capture the victory by way of major decision, 10-2.  It was his sixth straight win of the season and improved to 4-1 in dual competition this season.

“Paul got us going tonight and set the tone,” said Navy interim head coach Brian Antonelli.  “He’s wrestled extremely well over the last month and a half and he just continues to gain more confidence and wrestle aggressively.”

American, however, knotted the match at 4-4 after redshirt senior Blake Herrin picked up a 13-5 major decision over Navy’s Colynn Cook (Murrysville, Pa.).  

American then took its only lead of the match at 8-4 thanks to a 14-5 major decision by seventh-ranked 125-pound David Terao over Navy newcomer Brenden Campbell (New Castle, Ind.).  In an entertaining match, Terao used a strong second-period effort that featured a pair of reversals and a near fall to push his season record to 27-7 overall and 11-2 in dual matches.

Momentum, however, turned in the direction of the Mids when junior 133-pound Colton Rasche (Plano, Ill.) turned AU’s Esteban Gomez-Rivera just 27 seconds into the final period and recorded his fourth win by fall this season.  Rasche, not only gave Navy the lead for good, it was the springboard to seven straight victories by the Mids.

Junior 141-pound Quentin Leadbeter (Owings, Md.) made his first dual appearance since his freshman year and walked away the victor.  Leadbeter used an eight-point third period that included a takedown and near fall to secure his first collegiate dual victory, a 9-6 decision over Spencer Slishman.

Navy kept it rolling when senior 149-pound Alex Johnson (Memphis, Tenn.) stepped to the mat in what was his first dual appearance of the 2013-14 campaign.  A closely-contested match, Johnson broke a 3-3 tie with an escape to open the third period and tacked on a takedown to earn the 6-3 victory over Cole Moseley.

Sophomore Bobby Burg (Gasport, N.Y.), who has faced injuries over the course of the year, also made his first dual appearance of the season.  Battling fellow second-year 157-pound John Boyle, Burg’s escape with under a minute to go in the match was enough to take a 4-3 victory.

Moving to 24-10 on the year and 5-0 in dual action, junior Peyton Walsh (Glen Allen, Va.) dominated American redshirt freshman Brad Mutchnik at 165 pounds.  Walsh put together a pair of near falls in the opening period en route to a 10-1 advantage.  The match ended in the second period with a 16-1 tech fall for the Navy returning NCAA qualifier.

Winning his fifth consecutive match was Navy 174-pound Mathew Miller (Edgewood, Md.).  Miller and AU senior Keithen Cast engaged in a fierce scramble that looked as though Miller might be brought down to the mat for a takedown, but instead Miller outmuscled Cast and was able to score the pin in just under two minutes.  Miller, who owns a 16-4 record this winter, has won 19 matches over his career by way of pins, including nine this season.

“Mat is so athletic and his mat awareness is just incredible,” said Antonelli.  “He is confident in a scramble and most of the time he either gets his way out of a bind or he’s able to do what he did tonight.  He’s incredibly tough in those situations.”

Earning the final win of the night for the Mids was senior team captain James Mannier (Troy, Ohio) at 184 pounds.  Mannier, who was coming off a third-place finish at the All-Academy Championship a week ago, stymied AU’s Jason Grimes in an 8-0 major decision to earn his 16th win of the season.

“James looked tough tonight,” added Antonelli.  “His opponent’s style is a little unorthodox, but he didn’t let that be a distraction.  He wrestled the entire length of the match and ended on top.”

Navy 34, American 8

197:  Paul Rands (N) major dec Brett Dempsey (A) 10-2

285:  Blake Herrin (A) major dec Colynn Cook (N) 13-5

125:  #7 David Terao (A) major dec Brenden Campbell (N) 14-5

133:  Colton Rasche (N) fall Esteban Gomez-Rivera (A) 5:27

141:  Quentin Leadbeter (N) dec Spencer Slishman (A) 9-6

149:  Alex Johnson (N) dec Cole Moseley (A) 6-3

157:  Bobby Burg (N) dec John Boyle (A) 4-3

165:  Peyton Walsh (N) tech fall Brad Mutchnik (A) 16-1

174:   #11 Mathew Miller (N) fall Keithen Cast (A) 1:48

184:  James Mannier (N) major dec Jason Grimes (A) 8-0

### Go Navy ###

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Stacie Michaud
Navy Associate Sports Information Director
566 Brownson Rd. | Annapolis, MD  21402
410.293.8773 | 410.212.3761 cell
www.NavySports.com