Wrestling: WVU Places Second at Navy Classic
November 23, 2003 02:36 AM | General
November 22, 2003
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – West Virginia University wrestled to a second-place team finish while sending five wrestlers to championship matches on Saturday at the Navy Classic in Halsey Field House.
"It was disappointing not to wrestle our entire startling lineup," says head coach Craig Turnbull. "Fortunately, the guys who filled in performed at a high level. We had some newcomers show some promise today which is very encouraging.”
Senior Joe Clarke (141), junior Matt Daddino (197) and sophomore Matt Lebe (157) each took home tournament titles in their respective weight classes.
Clarke, a transfer from Princeton, won four matches at 141 for WVU. He took an early 2-0 lead in the finals against Nathan Gulosh of Navy. Clarke would not trail in the match in taking a 14-9 decision for title.
Lebe, a runner-up at last year’s Navy Classic, swept through the 157-pound weight class. Aggressive on the mat all day, Lebe quickly set the pace in the finals against Mike Carbonaro of Navy. Lebe raced out to an 8-3 lead in notching a 12-4 major decision for the championship.
“Lebe has won two tournaments in a row now,” adds Turnbull. “He is starting to show he can wrestle at another level. He was very focused today and it showed on the mat.”
Daddino, a transfer from Hofstra, won his first career title as a Mountaineer. In the championship finals, Daddino led 6-3 after two periods against Thayer Paxton of Navy. The junior then scored on a swim move to open the third period to take an 8-2 lead before winning the match 13-5.
“I was happy with how well the new guys wrestled,” says Turnbull. “Daddino, (Mike) Torriero, (Zach) Fryling and Clarke all wrestled hard and can take something away from this tournament.”
Senior Mike Torriero (149) and freshman Zac Fryling (165) both earned runner-up finishes for the Mountaineers. Torriero dropped a 15-9 decision to Jake Giamoni at 149, a match much closer than score indicated.
Perhaps the best match of the day belonged to true freshman Fryling. Fryling fell in the 165 finals to Dustin Kawa of North Carolina State. The match was tied 7-7 mid-way through the third period. Kawa would score a takedown with three seconds remaining to edge Fryling, 9-7.
West Virginia had eight grapplers finish in the top-four on Saturday. Also giving strong performances were Casey Brewster (125), Nathan Kendjorsky (125) and Eric Mullen (165). Brewster tangled with Kendjorsky at 125 to take the third place prize. Mullen finished 5-1 on the day, including scoring an impressive fall at 2:48 against Aaron Miller of Kent State, in taking third place at 165.
The Mountaineers amassed 103 points to earn a second-place team finish behind The Citadel who won the overall team championship with 110. WVU wrestled without Troy Forte (125), Greg Jones (184), Seth Lisa (133) and Brent Miller (HWT).
Clarke and Lebe have both notched back-to-back tournament titles to open the 2003-04 season. The duo has combined to go 17-0 after both the WVU Open and Navy Classic this year.
“We’ve gotten a head start on our competition with our conditioning,” says Clarke. “It has really carried us through these first two tournaments. We need to continue working hard on the mat these next few weeks. There will be a lot of good wrestlers out in Las Vegas and it will be a good test for this team.”
WVU next competes at the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5-6.
Navy Classic: Final Team Scores Points
1. The Citadel 110
2. West Virginia 103
3. Navy 95
4. Rutgers 94
5. N.C. State 88
6. Kent State 60
7. McDaniel College 17.5
Navy Classic: Final Championship Matches
125- Ryan McClester (The Citadel) dec. Drew Opfer (Kent State), 4-3
133- Sean Markey (The Citadel) pinned Jarad Opfer (Kent State), 4:17
141- Joe Clarke (WVU) dec. Nate Gulosh (Navy), 14-9
149- Jake Giamoni (N.C. State) dec. Mike Torriero (WVU), 15-9
157- Matt Lebe (WVU) major dec. Mike Carbonaro (Navy), 12-4
165- Dustin Kawa (N.C. State) dec. Zac Fryling (WVU), 9-7
174- Andy Roy (Rutgers) dec. Keith Clifton (The Citadel), 4-3
184- Rudy Medini (Rutgers) dec. Alex Camargo (Kent State), 2-0
197- Matt Daddino (WVU) major dec. Thayer Paxton (Navy), 13-5
HWT- Billy Linane (The Citadel) and Jordan Everett (The Citadel) named co-champions
