Navy Wrestling Finishes Sixth at EIWA Championship; Conley Wins 141-Pound Weight Class

3/5/2001 - Wrestling
Navy Wrestling Finishes Sixth at EIWA Championship; Conley Wins 141-Pound Weight Class

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PHILADELPHIA - The Navy wrestling team finished sixth at the EIWA Wrestling Championship Sunday night at the Palsetra in Philadelphia, Pa.

Second-seeded Mark Conley (Jr./Exton, Pa.) won the 141-pound weight class in overtime over top-seeded Matt Goldstein from Lehigh, extending his winning streak to 13 matches. Conley automatically qualifies for the 2001 NCAA Wrestling Championship, March 15-17, in Iowa City, Iowa. The last Navy wrestler to win an individual weight class at the EIWA Championship was Greg Gingeleskie in 1999 when he 184-pound weight class.

Navy team captain Mark Newman (Sr./Mayer, Minn.) fell to Princeton's Greg Parker, 4-2, in the third-place match of the 174-pound weight class.

In the 184-pound weight class, Jim Letchford (So./Marlton, N.J.) dropped a 19-6 decision to Harvard's Francis Volpe in the third-place match.

Mike Bigrigg (Jr./Santa Ana, Calif.) placed fourth in the 197-pound weight class, dropping a 8-3 decision to Rutgers' Rick Romero.

In the heavyweight division, Steve Kovach (So./Parkerburg, Pa.) fell to Lehigh's Shawn Laughlin, 3-2, to finish fourth. Kovach lost in the quarterfinals Saturday but fought back in the wrestlebacks, winning three straight to advance to the third-place match against Laughlin. Kovach wrestled in 47 matches this year, tying the single-season school record and finished with a 38-9 overall record, one win shy of tying the single-season mark for wins in a season.

Jason Homestead (Sr./Sayville, N.Y.) came back to record a fifth-place finish in the 133-pound weight class after dropping a 3-0 decision in the semifinals to eventual champion Matt Picarsic.

Team Scores

1. Harvard 123.0

2. Pennsylvania 114.0

3. Lehigh 109.5

4. Cornell 95.5

5. Rutgers 95.0

6. Navy 75.0

7. Princeton 60.0

8. Brown 52.0

9. Army 46.5

10. Bucknell 30.0