Navy senior captain Jacob Allen couldn’t have planned his final home wrestling match any better.
Allen’s win at 125 pounds clinched a convincing victory over Army on Friday night in front of the largest crowd in his four years at Alumni Hall. While the final score, 22-9, might seem like a blowout, the contest was much closer as six of 10 bouts weren’t decided until the final seconds.
Navy has won two in a row against Army after losing four straight.
Things started well for Army, which came into the match with a deceiving 2-6 record since four of its losses came at the hands of wrestling powerhouses — Penn State, Iowa State, Iowa and Rutgers.
The Black Knights sent senior Corey Shie (6-5) against Midshipmen sophomore Tyler Hunt (7-11), who scored a takedown for a 2-0 lead. However, Shie took down Hunt to start the second period, then scored a near fall on the way to a 7-3 win.
At 149 pounds, Army’s Matt Williams (22-4) faced Navy senior Jonathan Miranda (6-11). Miranda fought off a late takedown attempt losing by a 10-3 decision, saving valuable team points and impressing Navy coach Cary Kolat. “Even the ones that we lost, the fight was there,” he said.
There were three bouts featuring ranked wrestlers and the first came at 157 pounds, where Navy’s No. 25 Andrew Cerniglia squared of against Army’s No. 23 Marcus Hartman. Cerniglia led 4-2 after one period and collected riding time in the second. Cerniglia scored another reversal and added more riding time to win rather easily, 10-6.
Navy junior Val Park (19-12) scored a major upset at 165 pounds, stunning 27th-ranked Dalton Harkins. It was a defensive battle that was still scoreless going into the third period. Park got on the board first with an escape then sealed the deal with a takedown in the final seconds to send the large crowd into a frenzy and tie the match at 6.
“I knew I needed to get a takedown now or in overtime, so I chose not to waste everyone’s time,” Park said.
Kolat praised Park for winning a “swing match” by relying on his fundamentals.
After studying the various matchups closely, Kolat sent senior Shane Sosinsky (5-8) out to wrestle No. 23 Ben Pasiuk (13-4) at 174 pounds. It marked just the second dual meet appearance for Sosinsky, who worked hard to hold onto Pasiuk’s legs in the final 12 seconds to stave off a major decision, falling 9-2.
Navy took control of the match with three straight thrilling last-second decisions.
Navy’s David Key (14-8) fell behind 3-0 to Brad Laughlin in the 184-pound bout before rallying. Key closed out the second period with an escape then reversed Laughlin to tie the score and had a point in the bank courtesy of over a minute of riding time. Laughlin made things exciting with an escape near the end of the third period to effectively tie the score and seemingly send the contest into overtime.
However, Key came through in the clutch by getting a takedown with two seconds left to escape with a decision and tie the match at 9.
That thrilling bout was followed by another nail-biter at 197, which pitted No. 26 Jacob Koser of Navy against No. 25 JT Brown. The bout was even throughout the first two periods and both wrestlers were hit with stalling warnings.
However, Koser went on the offensive in the last 15 seconds of the third period and attempted three different takedown moves, prompting the referee to call Brown for stalling for a second time. Koser earned a point and 2-1 decision, while a visibly upset Brown stayed on the mat well after the bout while staring down the jubilant Navy team.
With Navy leading 12-9, Kolat needed one more win to feel confident in the outcome and looked to heavyweight Ryan Catka (21-6) to deliver against a more experienced opponent in Brandon Phillips (2-8).
“We had a plebe out their wrestling against a senior in his first star match. Kids can implode but [Catka] handled it like a veteran,” Kolat said.
After a scoreless first period, Catka escaped quickly and managed to turn a Phillips bearhug into a takedown of his own to go up 3-0. Phillips escaped at the end of the second period to pull within 3-1, setting the stage for another exciting finish. Catka was on the cusp of earning an extra point for riding time when Phillips escaped to close the gap to 3-2. However, Catka was able to bully Phillips around the mat for the final 45 seconds to thwart any takedown attempts.
“Once we got through heavyweight that’s the only part I started to breath,” Kolat said.
That set the stage for Allen (15-12) to close out his career in Annapolis on a high note against Army junior Ryan Chauvin (3-13). After a scoreless period in which Allen was the more aggressive wrestler, the senior captain escaped, then took down Chauvin late in the second period for a 3-0 lead.
After a Chauvin escape, the Army team was imploring their wrestler to try anything to get the match into overtime. However, Allen capitalized on Chauvin’s aggressiveness and took him down again with eight seconds left to seal the victory for Navy.
“That was by far the best ending I could have imagined. I have been wrestling since I was 6 years old and that was the most memorable match of my life,” Allen said. “This is the most electric Alumni Hall has been in my four years here. The crowd was awesome and just made the night better.”
With the win assured, Navy’s best wrestler, No. 24 Josh Koderhandt (21-6), had little trouble dominating Army junior Dominic Carone (7-7). Koderhandt built a 10-point lead and never looked back on the way to a 13-2 major decision to cap off a night to remember for Navy wrestling.
Navy closed out dual meet portion of the schedule with a 6-5 record and now prepares for the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships.
