Kent State University
Navy Classic
Three Seniors Win Titles at Navy Classic
11/21/2015 11:58:00 PM | Wrestling
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Seniors Mack McGuire, Mike DePalma and Ian Miller all won individual titles and remained undefeated Saturday at the 38th annual Navy Classic. The Golden Flashes finished second as a team at Wesley Brown Field House, just nine points behind Princeton.
Miller coasted to his second career Navy Classic championship at 157, going 4-0. In his finals bout, Miller's 13-4 victory over Brown's Justin Staudenmayer marked his second major decision of the day. In the quarterfinals, Miller notched his 35th career pin in the second period against Wisconsin's TJ Ruschell. Casey Sparkman also competed at 157, going 3-2.
DePalma (9-0) was nearly as dominant as Miller, winning his 149-pound final 6-1, over Brown's Steven Galiardo. DePalma had a first period pin and a 16-1 tech fall on his 4-0 day. His only close match came in the semifinals, a 10-9 decision over Princeton's Chris Perez.
McGuire's closest match came in the semifinals against teammate Anthony Tutolo, claiming a 2-1 decision after the first tiebreaker. McGuire (9-0) went 4-0 at 133 with a 6-3 victory over George Mason's Vince Rodriguez in the finals. Tutolo went on to place third, going 4-1 with a pair of pins.
Del Vinas and Stephen Suglio each placed fifth, giving themselves top six finishes in back-to-back seasons in Annapolis. Vinas made his way to the semifinals, going 3-2 with a pin. Suglio went 4-2 with a pin and a pair of tech falls.
Senior Cole Baxter suffered his first setback of the season in a third place finish. Baxter went 5-1 with a pin, a tech fall and a pair of sudden victory takedowns to seal wins.
Redshirt freshman Kyle Conel also had his winning streak snapped, settling for a sixth place at 197. Conel won his first two matches before dropping an overtime bout against Ohio's Phil Wellington.
Senior Tyler Buckwalter finished third in a 165-pound bracket that featured the No. 2 wrestler in the nation (Isaac Jordan). Buckwalter won his first three matches convincingly, to get to the semifinals. Like Baxter, he scored a takedown in sudden victory of his consolation final. Sophomore Chance Driscoll also advanced to the semifinals before heading home with a sixth place at 141.
The Flashes finished with 130 team points in its first team-scored tournament of the season. No. 12 Wisconsin was third with 101.5 point followed by Navy with 86.5 points. No. 21 Ohio finished sixth with 79.5.
Following three straight weekends of action, the Golden Flashes will take next week off from competition. Kent State will face its toughest challenge of the regular season Dec. 4-5, at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Players Mentioned
