Joe Conrad Earns Boxer of the Week Honors
10/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Boxing
Oct. 22, 2004
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - With 17 action-packed bouts, the Air Force boxing team kicked off a season of Friday Night Fights on October 22 in the Upper Boxing Room of the Cadet Gym. After opening the year against Navy at the beginning of the month, Friday marked the first night in a series of competitions that feature members of the Cadet Wing facing off against one another.
Sophomore Joseph Conrad was named the Academy's Boxer of the Week, following a decision in the 168-pound bout. Conrad put together a perfect plan to out-box an aggressive power-puncher in Trevor Cook. Using jabs and a nice, straight right, Conrad was able to keep Cook off balance.
Other Falcons who earned the decision in their respective bouts were Evin Negron (175-lbs.), Ronald Occenad (227-lbs.), Blake Baldi (149-lbs.), Mike Sackenheim (174-lbs.), Joel Lozano (156-lbs.), Jeremy Homan (138-lbs.), Nathan Dawson (163-lbs.), Mike Chua (149-lbs.), Marcos Gonzales (160-lbs.) and Chris Collins (188-lbs.).
Mark Ruther won the 173-lbs. contest after the referee stopped the contest in the first round, while Brian Navin (137-lbs.), Shane Malkin (182-lbs.) and Dustin Long (192-lbs.) won after a stoppage came in the second round. Zeke Ignaco (135-lbs.) and Clay Toerner (154-lbs.) earned victories after the referee called the bout in the third.
Friday was the first night of competition for many of the boxers and the Air Force coaching staff of Eddie Weichers and 2Lt. Leif Nordhagen were curious to see how the Falcons would react to the two minute rounds.
"Preparation was good all week," Weichers said. "We've stressed control and pacing the attack. For many of our guys, it was their first chance to compete in a two-minute round. And for the returning veterans, it was a chance to trim off the rust. Overall, we were very impressed with the poise displayed. We're talented, but young, and I think that the matches were huge in helping our boxers grow and mature."
The Falcons head out this weekend (Oct. 29), when they travel to Detroit, Mich., to take on service-academy rivals Army and Navy at the Detroit Athletic Club. It is the first of four road competitions for the Falcons, who will also make stops at West Point, N.Y., Louisville, Ky., and New York, N.Y., before returning to the Academy for another round of Friday Night Fights on Dec. 3.
COMPLETE RESULTS FROM FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS
175-lbs.: Evin Negron (CS-33) dec. Dustin Mayne (CS-17)
173-lbs.: Mark Ruther (CS-15) rsc-1 Kenneth Wat (CS-26)
227-lbs.: Ronald Occenad (CS-22) dec. Eric Stevens (CS-28)
149-lbs.: Blake Baldi (CS-14) dec. Luis Pena (CS-35)
174-lbs.: Mike Sackenheim (CS-23) dec. Andrew Quijano (CS-30)
156-lbs.: Joel Lozano (CS-30) dec. Richard Davis (CS-15)
137-lbs.: Brian Navin (CS-05) rsc-2 Matt Hornung (CS-27)
138-lbs.: Jeremy Homan (CS-11) dec. Christopher Sifuentes (CS-35)
135-lbs.: Zeke Ignaco (CS-12) rsc-3 Hsi Chun Chou (CS-02)
154-lbs.: Clay Toerner (CS-29) rsc-3 Ikedinachi Akagha (CS-28)
163-lbs.: Nathan Dawson (CS-30) dec. James Dunn (CS-09)
182-lbs.: Shane Malkin (CS-05) rsc-2 Tim Ford (CS-23)
149-lbs.: Mike Chua (CS-25) dec. Lonnie Ash (CS-34)
192-lbs.: Dustin Long (CS-16) rsc-2 Scott Giles (CS-18)
160-lbs.: Marcos Gonzales (CS-36) dec. Austin Street (CS-09)
168-lbs.: Joseph Conrad (CS-36) dec. Trevor Cook (CS-34)
188-lbs.: Chris Collins (CS-30) dec. Augustin Kamdem (CS-08)
