Mids drop the season opener, as Pitt plays spoiler in coaching debut for Navy’s Kolat
After two-and-a-half months of practice without any competitions, a new era of Navy wrestling under the guidance of first-year coach Cary Kolat officially began Sunday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.
In the world of coronavirus, it was never a certainty a wrestling season would even commence. Getting a chance to compete against an opponent not wearing navy blue and gold was an opportunity Kolat said the entire team needed at this point in a grueling season. Donning a white mask in a largely empty arena that had a second mat used for extra competition, Kolat lost his Navy coaching debut, as visiting Pittsburgh wonthe final five bouts to pull away with a 22-14 victory in both team’s season openers.
“It was good. It was finally good to be in the arena, see the guys with the singlets on and not just in the practice room and finally get a chance to compete in such a crazy season,” said Kolat, whowas hired in March after six years as head coach at Campbell University. “So, that experience was good; I would’ve liked to have the win over Pitt. We needed some guys to step up.”
Navy did not trail in the dual meet until the second-to-last match at 197 pounds. Trailing 17-14 entering the final bout, Navy needed a win from junior Riley Smith to at least decide the dual on criteria. But Pitt heavyweight Jake Slinger cruised to victory with a commanding 15-0 technical fall.
Navy won four of the first five matches to build a 14-3 lead, but the match turned at 165 pounds when No. 10-ranked Jake Wentzel, a returning ACC Champion and NCAA qualifier, won his ranked matchup against Navy senior Tanner Skidgel, a two-time EIWA Champion and 2020 All-American ranked seventh in the country. They took a scoreless bout into the third period when Skidgel caught Wentzel with a quick tilt for a pair of near-fall points. Wentzel, however, quickly responded with a reversal that caught Skidgel on his back. After a referee review, Wentzel was awarded two near-fall points, and he secured the match by locking up riding time in an eventual 5-2 win.
The Panthers closed the deficit to five points after redshirt freshman Jared McGill held on for a 3-2 win over Navy senior Dean Caravela at 174 pounds, and the lead dwindled to 14-12 after the 184-pound match, as Pitt redshirt senior Gregg Harvey, a returning NCAA qualifier, tallied four takedowns to beat junior Shane Finney, 12-7.
“We moved Finney up to 184 and I think he may have lacked a little mental confidence. He could’ve competed at 184 today, and I think he knows that,” Kolat said. “A lot of these guys, you walk off and when you feel a guy you know I could’ve performed better than I did. So, I think that was a critical match, and 174 was a critical match. We knew 165 was going to be a battle.”
No. 5 Nino Bonaccorsi had Pitt’s first bonus-point victory on the night, and it came at a good time at 197 pounds. He scored double-digit takedowns and with a riding-time point beat Navy sophomore Malcolm Wiley, 24-9, giving the Panthers their first lead of the dual meet at 17-14. Slinger sealed the win soon after.
Navy senior Logan Treaster had a commanding win in the dual’s opening bout against Pitt freshman Colton Camacho at 125 pounds. Treaster scored a takedown with five seconds left in the opening period, racked up two minutes of riding time in the second and secured another takedown in the third to win a 4-1 decision.
At 133 pounds, Navy junior Jacob Allen battled Pitt redshirt junior Micky Phillippi tough for the first five minutes but was worn down in the third period by the two-time ACC champion and NCAA All-American from Derry, Pennsylvania.
Allen kept the bout close and trailed 3-0 after two periods before Phillippi turned it up a notch in the third looking for the major decision. Phillippi couldn’t get enough, however, but won the match 8-3 to tie the dual. The match of the night came at 141 pounds in a matchup of two nationally ranked wrestlers and NCAA qualifiers. Elkton native Cody Trybus, a Mount Saint Joseph graduate and team captain, methodically wore down Pitt redshirt sophomore Cole Matthews. Trybus, a senior, took a 4-3 lead by getting his first takedown of the match with 45 seconds left, but overtime would be needed as Matthews escaped with about 20 seconds on the clock.
Trybus, who listened to the advice of his coach throughout the match and remained heavy on Matthews’ head, saw that guidance work out as the Pitt grappler tired and Trybus finished off the match with a takedown 17 seconds into extra time to win, 6-4.
“We knew the match was going be one where he was going to attempt to slow it down, keep it a square, boxy kind of style. We talked about it and said wewant to make this guy wrestle, make this guy move and getting him reacting to our fakes,” Kolat said. “… He wrestled a smart match and the overtime goal was a smart match.”
After senior Casey Cobb utilized a front headlock well in a 5-3 win over Pitt’s Luke Kemerer at 149 pounds, freshman Andrew Cerniglia impressed in his debut at 157 pounds. The plebe who was Navy’s top get in the Class of 2020 as the nation’s 50th best recruit, according to FloWrestling, scored early and often against Pitt freshman Tyler Badgett. Cerniglia quickly scored a takedown, got another and then went to work on top. The Nazareth, Pennsylvania, native got two four-point near-falls and then another two-pointer at the buzzer to take a 14-1 lead into the second period. His technical fall increased Navy’s lead to 14-3 at the halfway point.
“The guy looked awesome,” Kolat said of Cerniglia. “He looked tough. He’s a hammer on top, and he’s tough on his feet, too.”