Air Force Academy
Regional Championships
Boxers Capture 27th Consecutive Regional Title
3/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Boxing
March 23, 2003
RENO, NV - Air Force won its 27th consecutive regional National Collegiate Boxing Championship title Saturday as they captured seven gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the El Dorado hotel.
Head coach Eddie Weichers said his team was the underdog coming into the regional competition because of the youth of the Falcon boxers. "I can not say enough about the resolve of our boxers. I believe after the Wing Open they came together and started to really believe in themselves and that carried over into this competition."
The finals Saturday were a mixture of highs and lows for the Falcons. The highs were victories by Frankie Woods (147-lbs.), Jake Hostetler (156-lbs.), Leif Nordhagen (175-lbs.) and Ryan Coates (185-lbs.). Clell Knight, in the 165-pound division, Ethan Sabin, in the 195-pound division, and heavyweight Brian Trumble won their gold medals with walkovers as they did not have an opponent in the finals.
The disappointments came in the 119-pound division with Nevada's Lawrence Tam earning a decision over Darren Smith and in the 139-pound division when Thomas Parker was held out of the finals because of an abrasion over his left eye.
Boxer of the Week honors went to Nordhagen, according to Weichers.
"Leif had three tough fights to earn this honor. On Thursday he earned a decision over San Jose State's Robert Trijillo and then came back on Friday to beat Mike Shuck from Cal," said Weichers. "This fight was a big win for Leif as he lost to Shuck earlier this year. In the final Saturday, Leif beat hometown favorite Ryan Healey." Next up for Air Force is the defense of the national title when UNLV hosts the championships in two weeks.
Here are the complete results from Saturday's finals.
119-lb. -Lawrence Tam, Nevada dec. Darren Smith
147-lb. - Frankie Woods dec. Abu Ramin, Cal
156-lb. - Jake Hostetler dec. Brendan Shue, San Jose St.
165-lb. - Clell Knight won by walkover
175-lb. - Leif Nordhagen dec. Ryan Healey, Nevada
185-lb. - Ryan Coates dec. Justin Mmasaniai, UNLV
195-lb. - Ethan Sabin won by walkover
Hvwt. - Brian Trumble won by walkover
