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1/3/2002 - Wrestling
Midshipmen Travel to Dallas for Lonestar Duals

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy wrestling team will travel to the Lonestar Duals in Dallas, Texas, where the Mids will take on two nationally-ranked teams at the South Grand Prairie Warrior Coliseum. The Mids open the tournament Saturday against Northwestern at 11:15 a.m. (EST), and will take on third-ranked Oklahoma at 1:30 p.m. and 22nd-ranked Wisconsin at 6:15 p.m.

"I call this the start of our second season," Navy head coach Bruce Burnett said. "We start the push to the NCAA Tournament now, and this another opportunity for us to raise our level of competition. Two nationally ranked teams will help us get there in Oklahoma and Wisconsin, along with a formidable opponent in Northwestern. Each time you hit the mat, it is another opportunity to see where you are and how much you have improved."

Ranked fourth nationally in the 141-pound weight class, Navy team captain Mark Conley (Sr./Exton, Pa.) is coming off a second-place finish at the prestigious Midlands Tournament last weekend. Conley, 21-2 overall this season, dropped an 11-8 decision to top-ranked Eric Larkin from Arizona State.

Navy (4-1) has another weapon in heavyweight Steve Kovach (Jr./Parkerburg, Pa.). Kovach is ranked 18th-nationally in the heavyweight division and stands 17-3 overall.

Mike Simon (Jr./North Canton, Ohio) is coming off a strong performance at the Wilkes Tournament last weekend for the Mids. Simon won the 133-pound weight class with an 11-3 decision over Franklin & Marshall's Rich Gebauer, improving his record to 8-8 overall.

Jim Letchford (Jr./Marlton, N.J.) wrestled to a third-place finish in the 174-pound weight class at the Wilkes Tournament with a 9-5 decision over Boston University's Ali Abri. Letchford improved to 16-6 overall with the victory.

Oklahoma (2-1) boasts nine wrestlers ranked in the ten weight classes, five of which are ranked in the top four. Matt Ridings (125 pounds), Witt Durden (133), and Josh Lambrecht (184) are each ranked third in their respective weight classes.

Junior Kevin Black, ranked fourth in the 133-pound weight class, leads Wisconsin (1-3) into the Lonestar Duals, while juniors Tony Black (125 pounds) and Grant Hoerr (141) are 10th and 13th in the nation, respectively.

This marks Northwestern's first dual match of the season.

Navy is 0-5 all-time against Oklahoma, 1-1 against Wisconsin and 5-0 against Northwestern. Last season at the Lonestar Duals, the Mids defeated Northwestern (29-16) and Stanford (20-18), but fell to Wisconsin (25-9) and Wyoming (18-12).