Correction appended
After a strong start to begin the duel, the AU wrestling team lost their final seven bouts Feb. 8 at Bender Arena, losing to visiting Navy 33-8.
The duel started with a matchup of 197 pounders, pitting AU’s freshman Brett Dempsey against Navy’s Paul Rands. Rands defeated Dempsey 10-2 in a major decision to give Navy the early 4-0 lead. The next bout involved heavyweights with AU’s senior Blake Herrin defeating Navy’s Colynn Cook 13-5 in a major decision, tying the dual at four.
The next duel involved a pair of 125 pounders with AU’s sophomore David Terao, ranked 11th in the nation facing Navy’s Brendan Campbell. Terao dominated the bout, defeating Campbell 14-5 in a major decision, giving AU an 8-4 lead.
“I’m happy for Blake and David, they both did well,” head coach Teague Moore said.
The win by Terao would be the last match AU would win on the night. Navy’s 133 pounder Colton Rasche would defeat AU’s sophomore Esteban Gomez-Rivera, giving Navy a 10-8 lead. The next bout was at 141 pounds with Navy’s Quentin Leadbeter narrowly defeating AU’s freshman Spencer Slishman 9-6, increasing Navy’s lead to 13-8.
“At 130, I think we’re doing an excellent job and we’re going to win that match, but we ended up getting pinned, which seemed to be the theme of the night and its going to be tough to win matches when we’re putting ourselves on our back,” Moore said.
The sixth bout was another narrow defeat for AU as Navy’s 149 pounder Alex Johnson defeated AU’s freshman Cole Mosely 6-3, with Navy leading 16-8. The seventh bout was the third close defeat in a row as Navy’s 157 pounder Robert Burg defeated AU’s sophomore John Boyle 4-3, boosting Navy’s advantage to 19-8.
The last three bouts were all one-sided affairs in favor of Navy with both the eighth and ninth bouts ending in falls. The eighth bout was at 165 pounds with Navy’s Peyton Walsh, ranked 17th in the nation defeating AU’s freshman Brad Mutchnik 16-1, winning via technical fall and giving Navy a 24-8 lead.
The ninth bout was at 174 pounds with Navy’s Matthew Miller, ranked 16th in the nation defeating AU’s senior Keithen Cast very quickly, defeating him via fall in the first round, making the score 30-8 in favor of Navy.
The final bout was at 184 pounds with Navy’s James Mannier defeating AU‘s freshman Jason Grimes 8-0, ending the dual with Navy winning by a final score of 34-8.
“Granted, Navy wrestled very well but I think we could have done better in a number of positions. We’ve got some things to work on this week in preparation for North Carolina State,” Moore said.
AU will host its final home matchup of the year Feb. 16 when they host North Carolina State for Senior Day and Alumni Day before heading to College Park, MD to take on the Terrapins later in the afternoon.
sports@theeagleonline.com
Correction: A former version of this story incorrectly said this game happened in January instead of February.
