Mark Conley Competing in European Wrestling Tour

6/4/2001 - Wrestling
Mark Conley Competing in European Wrestling Tour

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Navy wrestler Mark Conley (Jr./Exton, Pa.) is currently competing overseas on the 2001 European Wrestling Tour sponsored by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). The team is comprised of underclass wrestlers that achieved All-America status at the NCAA Championship. Buffalo assistant coach Sean Gibbs will lead the 16-man squad, while Buffalo head coach Jim Beichner will assist Gibbs.

The 13-day trip began in Sophia, Bulgaria on May 30 where the wrestlers competed and trained before travelling to Plovdiv for training and a competition. From Plovdiv, the tour heads to Varna on the Black Sea before wrapping up with a competition in Paris, France on June 8. The athletes will compete in a total of five competitions before returning on June 10.

"I think the trip will serve two purposes for Mark," Navy assistant coach Joel Sharratt said, who was a member of the 1993 All-America Tour sponsored by the NWCA that traveled to Italy. "It will help Mark become a more diverse person which will help him academically. The trip will also help Mark from a wrestling standpoint because it will show him that he is capable of wrestling with anybody all over the world.

"As a program, we are really excited for Mark because it gives our kids the same opportunities to be successful that other top wrestling schools provide. It exposes them to world competitions and the highest levels of wrestling."

Unseeded at the 2001 NCAA Championship, Conley wrestled his way to a fifth-place finish in the 141-pound weight class to earn All-America honors, the highest finish for a Navy wrestler since 1994 when Dan Hicks placed fifth in the heavyweight division. Conley captured the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championship in the 141-pound weight class with an overtime victory against Lehigh's Matt Goldstein.

Conley's 34 wins is the eighth most in a single season at Navy, while his 41 matches he competed in ties him for ninth all-time. Conley has won more than 30 matches the last two seasons and has compiled an 81-30 career record.

Also on the team is Illinois' John Lockhart, the 2001 NCAA Champion in the heavyweight division. Joining Conley from the EIWA is Mario Stuart and Chris Vitale from Lehigh and Rick Springman and Michael Faust from Pennsylvania.