A few weeks ago, I made a plan to attend and cover all 4 of the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling program wrestle off/simulations. I am a casual NCAA Wrestling observer but definitely take interest in these programs that are within a 50 mile radius of each other, Maryland, Navy, George Mason and American U, each where I have some sort of tie/relationship to or athletes who attend.
SCHEDULE
Oct 27, 630pm- Maryland Red & Black (have a few athletes on the team, Joe Fisk, Garrett Kappes, Jaron Smith)
Oct 28, 700pm- Navy Blue & Gold (my former coach Cary Kolat leads the way with a few athletes on the team, Chris Barnabae, Paul Warner, Christian Bryant)
Oct 29, 100pm- George Mason (friends with Frank Beasley and have an athlete on team, Loranzo Rajaonarivelo)
Oct 29, 330pm- American U simulation bouts (not wrestle off but will cover-friends with Jason Borrelli and have an athlete on team, Isaac Righter)
Please find below a chronological history of the coverage that will be updated all weekend.
(last updated Oct 29, 525pm)
MARYLAND RED & BLACK- Thursday October 27, 630pm
RECAP: Would loved to have seen the seats packed here as it's an amazing venue, however I understand why many are simply unable to or reluctant to attend. It took me almost 2 hours to get there and the Beltway traffic was so bad, Google Maps rerouted me to drive thru Downtown DC instead! It was "normal attendence" in support of the Terps and to officially kick off the season.
I knew it would be difficult to perform ordinary journalism, social media functions as I ran into so many people I knew and ended up talking instead of snapping videos, including team members Dom Solis and Garrett Kappes, both whom I worked with while at McDonogh and Junior League. I did however grab Ethen Miller afterward for video and his interview can be found below.
Miller, Jaxon and Jaron Smith both looked in top form. One of my original wrestlers from 12 years ago, Joe Fisk lost a close one to Miller's brother Kal who just arrived this year. It will be exciting to see if they can piece it together with the #8 recruiting class of 2021 all theoretically starting.
RESULTS
Bout 1- 141lbs-Joe Fisk Tech Fall Alex Adler 22-8
(will wrestle Kal Miller bout 6)
Bout 2- 157lbs- Michael North Dec Kevin Schork 9-4
Bout 3- 125lbs-Braxton Brown Win by Fall Zach Spence
Bout 4- 285lbs- Jordan Gabriel Win by Fall Sam O'Brian
(will wrestle Jaron Smith later)
Bout 5- 133lbs- Jackson Cockrell Dec Connor Quinn 13-9
Bout 6- 141lbs- Kal Miller Dec Joe Fisk 4-3
Kal Miller holds off Maryland's Joe Fisk
Bout 7- 149lbs- Ethen Miller Tech Fall Luke Jacobs 17-2
Brutal snap by Kal's brother Ethen Miller
Bout 8- 197lbs- Larry Vola Dec Anthony Bradley 14-12
Bout 9- 197lbs- Jaxon Smith Maj. Dec Chase Mielnik
Bout 10- 149lbs- John Martin Best Dec Gavin Bell
Bout 11- 285lbs- Jaron Smith Win By Fall Jordan Gabriel
INTERVIEW WITH ETHEN MILLER
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NAVY BLUE & GOLD- Friday October 28, 7pm
RECAP: Best venue in the country, hands down with a life size Wright Brother model airplane and 1870 model Battleship hanging above the mat in Dahlgren Hall, it creates that Patriotic and historical feel you would expect from a service academy.
Excellent seeing so many old friends and athletes, including Head Coach Cary Kolat who was my coach over 10 years ago and Olympian Johnny Stefanowicz, who was ironically one of my athletes over 10 years ago. Socializing limited my ability to actually cover the event like it could be covered, but did my best.
Some exciting early season bouts with 8 NCAA Qualifiers back displaying their skill.
RESULTS
Bout 1- 125lbs- Zach Espalin Win by Fall Dayton DelViscio
Bout 2- 184lbs- David Key Dec Hunter St John
Bout 3- Brendan Ferretti Dec David Kreidler
Bout 4- 197lbs- Jacob Koser Dec Jake Lucas 1-0
Bout 5- 165lbs-Sammy Star Dec Val Park 4-2
NCAA Qualifier Val Park ready to take the mat
Bout 6- 157lbs- Andrew Cerniglia Tech Fall Devon Deem
NCAA Qualifier Andrew Cerniglia gets hand raised
Bout 7- 125lbs Venumadhava Mirel Dec Matt Ricci 6-2
Bout 8- 149lbs- PJ Crane Dec Kaemen Smith
Bout 10- 285lbs- Grady Griess Maj Dec Ryan Catka 12-4
Bout 11- 141lbs- Josh Koderhandt Dec Luke Lucerne OT 10-8
NCAA Qualifier Josh Koderhandt wins in Overtime!
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GEORGE MASON WRESTLE OFFS-October 29, 1pm
RECAP: The Fieldhouse had a great crowd with John Wood of course catering with barbecue! Loranzo wrestled well after getting to work with him one on one the other night. Will see him tomorrow to develop out his leg attack that fails, into Greco threats and scores.
MATCH SLATE -- Grey vs Black
125 – Markel Baker Dec JB Dragovich
141 – Colton Stoneking vs Dominic Hargrove
149 – DJ McGee vs Evan Maag
157 – Loranzo Rajaonarivelo Dec Nick Foster
Hometown favorite Loranzo gets the Dub
165 – Paul Pierce Dec Drew Dickson
Veteran Paul Pierce wins
174 – Logan Messer Dec Jeremy Seymour
184 – Tyler Kocak vs Kyle Davis
125 – Winner of match 1 vs Ben Monn
141 – Winer of match 2 vs Mikey Rapuano
149 – Winner of match 3 vs Nate Higley
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AMERICAN UNIVERSITY SIMULATION BOUTS-October 29, 330pm
(not wrestle offs, everyone wrestled out of weight class)
RECAP: Loved to see the new AU program flourishing under the direction of Jason Borrelli.
Jason explained that today's event was not a wrestle off, but simulation bouts to prepare for the start of competition season next week. Got to meet a few of the veterans on the team and included their interviews below.
Patrick Ryan Tech Falls Ryan Washington and talks about program and season
Colin Shannon talks Leadership on young squad
Head Coach Jason Borrelli discusses the new facility, upcoming season and parallels between DC and Palo Alto
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