Rutgers Wrestling Travels to Navy for Annual Tournament
Nov 17 | Wrestling
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Rutgers wrestling team will travel to the U.S. Naval Academy to compete in the Navy Classic on Saturday, Nov. 18, at Lejeune Hall. The preliminary rounds will begin at 9:00 a.m. with semifinals slated for 3:30 p.m. Finals will be held at 5:30 p.m.
Rutgers will be led by Karim Mahmoud (Wallington, N.J.), Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.), and Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) who all posted top-four finishes at last weekend's Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic on the campus of SUNY-Brockport. Mahmoud was third at 197 pounds, while Barrett and Whalen finished fourth at 149 and 174 pounds, respectively.
At 133 pounds, senior Dan Hilt (Manalapan, N.J.) went 3-3 on the day, finishing sixth at the tournament, while Chris Norrell (Phillipsburg, N.J.) also posted a sixth-place finish in his first collegiate tournament. At 165 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, Marcello Medini (Colonia, N.J.) and Mike D'Amico (Kenilworth, N.J.) both took sixth.
Last season, the Scarlet Knights took third at the tournament, as host-Navy won the event and West Virginia took second. Ryan Jablonski (Norristown, Pa.) took second at the 125-pound weight class, while D'Amico was third at heavyweight. Kyle Milanese (Delran, N.J.) was fifth at 125 pounds, while Jamie Lijo (Hoptacong, N.J.) took sixth. Mahmoud was sixth last year at 197 pounds.
With a number of newcomers in the line-up, head coach John Sacchi is hoping the team can use the tournament to gain some valuable match experience.
"We were pleased with how we performed at the Brockport tournament, but we're hoping to have an even better weekend at Navy," Sacchi said. "There are going to be a lot of good teams this weekend and we're hoping we can find out what we need to improve on and continue to get better in order to prepare for the upcoming dual-meet schedule."
Following the Navy Classic, the Scarlet Knights will be idle until Friday, Dec. 1, when they open up their dual-match slate as they return to Annapolis, Md. for a match-up with Navy at 7:00 p.m. at Lejeune Hall.
