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Navy Wrestling Places Third at All-Academy Wrestling Championship
Links associated with this release: CHARLESTON, S.C. –– The Navy wrestling team received a pair of individual victories on its way to a third-place finish at the All-Academy Wrestling Championship, hosted by The Citadel, Saturday afternoon. The Mids (73.5 points) finished behind Air Force (89 points) and VMI (80 points). Senior captain Mark Conley (Exton, Pa.), ranked second nationally, brought home first-place points for Navy in the 141-pound weight class. In a possible preview of an upcoming showdown at the Feb. 22 match against Army, Conley defeated Black Knights freshman phenom Phillip Simpson, 7-4, in a back-and-forth match in the weight class' championship round. Conley defeated Norwich's Brian Pitaniello (fall, 6:04) and VMI's Mark DiSalvo (6-0) before facing Simpson in the final round. In the 197-pound weight class, Mike Bigrigg (Sr./Santa Ana, Calif.) defeated Army's Jon Pexton, 11-6, in the championship round to bring home a victory. Bigrigg advanced to the championship round after scoring a fall over Coast Guard's Ben O'Loughlin in his first match, and a 21-8 major decision over VMI's Brian Toney. Steve Kovach (Jr./Parkesburg, Pa.) defeated Kings Point's Steve Serobe (fall, 4:52) and Army's Tom Anderson (4-1) to advance to the finals of the heavyweight class. Kovach's day ended when Air Force's Kevin Hoy won the championship match by a narrow 2-1 margin. Luke Lazzo (Jr./Rochester Hills, Mich.), defeated VMI's Jason Kontopedes, 9-8, in the 165-pound consolation final to take home a third-place showing for the Mids, while Mike Simon (Jr./North Canton, Ohio) was the third-place finisher in the 133-pound weight class. Fourth-place finishers in their respective weight classes for Navy included Sam Gray (Fr./Essex, Vt.) (125), Mike Carbonaro (So./Blairstown, N.J) (157), Andrew Hemminger (So./Annapolis, Md.) (174) and Travis Manion (So./Doylestown, Pa.) (184). "The Midshipmen competed hard and did a good job of representing the Naval Academy," Navy head coach Bruce Burnett said. "We lost several close matches that we could have won. Mark Conley and Mike Bigrigg came away champions. Andrew Hemminger stepped up and wrestled well, and Steve Kovach lost a tough match to a nationally-ranked wrestler. We still have some work to do, but we will be ready for the conference tournament in March." Navy will put its 7-5 dual-meet record on the line on Tobacco Road Feb. 9, as the Mids will compete at North Carolina (12 Noon) and North Carolina State (7:30 p.m.). Final Team Standings Air Force - 89 VMI - 80 Navy - 73.5 Army - 66 The Citadel - 64.5 Kings Point - 15 Coast Guard - 6 Norwich - .5
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