Navy wrestling sending five competitors to NCAA Championships
Navy wrestler Josh Koderhandt’s confidence is at an all-time high leading up to the NCAA Championships, being held Thursday through Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
He’s one of five Midshipmen going to nationals along with seniors Andrew Cerniglia (165 pounds), David Key (184) and Grady Griess (285), all of whom earned automatic berths based on their placement at the EIWA Tournament. Freshman Danny Wask (174) earned an at-large berth based on results over the course of the season.
Koderhandt just captured the 141-pound championship at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Tournament in dominating fashion. He pinned two opponents before recording a 12-2 major decision over Bucknell’s Dylan Chappell in the final.
Koderhandt became the 110th EIWA champion in Navy wrestling history and qualified for nationals for the third straight season. The junior enters the NCAA Championships having won 11 of 12 matches and has beaten seven ranked opponents this season.
“I’m wrestling the best I’ve ever wrestled right now. I truly do think I’m the best and always know I can win every match I’m in,” Koderhandt said last week. “At this point, it’s all about making sure my body and mind are feeling good. Because when I’m feeling good I’m pretty dangerous.”
Winning the EIWA Tournament was a breakthrough performance for Koderhandt, who was runner-up as a freshman and placed third as a sophomore.
“To finally win the conference means a lot and feels good. Obviously the job is not done yet,” he said. “My goal is not to just win a conference championship; I want to win a national title. Being an EIWA champion just puts me one step closer to the ultimate goal.”
Koderhandt (22-6) is seeded 11th at 141 pounds for the NCAA Championships and will face CJ Composto of Pennsylvania in the opening round. He pinned Composto in the third period in an EIWA semifinal.
Looming in the second round is sixth-seeded Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina, a sophomore who has beaten Koderhandt twice this season by close decisions (4-2, 9-6).
“That’s going to be my situation at nationals. I’m probably going to be seeded somewhere in the double digit range, but still truly believe I can win it all. People out-wrestle their seeds all the time,” Koderhandt said. “I know if I’m wrestling my match and getting to the positions I’m good in, things normally go my way.”
Navy coach Cary Kolat is not betting against Koderhandt because he knows the 141-pounder is battle-tested. He has dropped tight decisions against such standouts as third-seeded Real Woods of Iowa and ninth-seeded Brock Hardy of Nebraska.
“I think Josh faced five or six top-10 opponents in the first couple months of the season, so he had a good idea where he was at. He’s made some adjustments and just gotten better and better,” Kolat said. “Josh is looking solid in every position and his poise is outstanding. He’s not nervous, he’s not hesitating, he’s just getting after it. He’s on fire.”
One of the adjustments to which Kolat referred involved Koderhandt’s penchant for going after opponents nonstop instead of wrestling more strategically. Kolat was impressed by the approach the Illinois native took at the EIWA Championships.
“Josh is always aggressive, sometimes too much so. Those mistakes are diminishing and that’s the difference,” Kolat said. “Josh is being really, really smart. He’s capitalizing on guys getting frustrated and trying to make something happen.”
Kolat felt several other Navy wrestlers were capable of reaching nationals and was disappointed they didn’t get the job done at the EIWA Tournament.
“We obviously need to have more than five guys going. If you didn’t get yourself there, that’s on you at this point. We had some guys who couldn’t get out of the rut and didn’t perform at that competition,” Kolat said. “That said, I feel like the five we have going can put points up at the NCAA Tournament and give us a strong [team] finish. I feel really good about the five we’re taking, but I feel we could have gotten two or three more guys to the NCAA Tournament.”
Cerniglia (22-5) was the EIWA runner-up at 165, dropping a 5-3 decision to Cornell’s Julian Ramirez in the final. He otherwise rolled through the tournament with a pin, major decision and 7-0 decision.
“The difference in that match was one scramble against a guy ranked third in the country,” Kolat said of the loss to Ramirez. “Andrew is wrestling really well right now and can certainly make some noise at nationals.”
Griess will be seeking some redemption coming off a disappointing performance at the EIWA Tournament. He was the defending heavyweight champion and was seeded third, but stumbled to a seventh place result.
“We felt like Grady underperformed at the EIWA Championships and we’re looking for a bounceback out of him,” Kolat said.
Army’s Lucas Stoddard upset Griess in the quarterfinals, avenging a 7-2 loss in the dual meet between the archrivals. Griess then lost a consolation round match to Binghamton’s Corey Day, 6-4.
“I didn’t wrestle very well, that’s the bottom line. Sometimes you have bad tournaments, but there’s no excuse for that at this point in my career,” Griess said. “I definitely learned some lessons and had some things I needed to work the last few weeks leading up to nationals. I need to get more offensive and finish my shots.”
No one will remember what happened at the EIWA Tournament if Griess (24-10) can pull a few upsets and make a run at the NCAAs. Griess still believes in his abilities and knows this is the last chance to make a mark.
“This is the pinnacle of my career and it’s time to achieve some of the goals I set for myself. I still want to be an All-American and get on that podium and I have the confidence I can do it,” he said.
Griess is seeded 17th and will meet a familiar foe in the first round in No. 16 Day, to whom he has lost three times this season. Two points was the difference in two of those matches.
“It’s hard to beat someone four times in the same season,” Griess said. “I know exactly what [Day] does and I know what it takes to beat him.”
Probably the biggest win of this season for Griess came in mid-November against Pittsburgh’s Dayton Pitzer, who was ranked ninth at the time. He dropped decisions to Campbell’s Taye Ghadiali and Lehigh’s Nathan Taylor, who are seeded seventh and fifth, respectively.
If Griess wins his opening bout, he advances to face top-seeded and undefeated Greg Kerkvliet of Penn State. Wrestling four hours from his hometown of Grand Island, Nebraska, Griess will have a large contingent of family inside the T-Mobile Center providing support.
“If you want to get on the podium you have to beat the top guys,” Griess said. “I’m not worried about who I’m going to wrestle and when. I just have to be at the top of my game and wrestle the way I’m capable.”
Key (18-12) is headed to nationals for the third time after placing third at the EIWA Tournament. He lost in the quarterfinals to Cornell’s Chris Foca, then fought back by winning four straight matches, including a rematch with Foca in the third place bout.
Key has the most NCAA Championship wins (three) of any wrestler on the Navy roster. The Georgia native went 2-2 at nationals as a plebe then won another match as a junior.