Falcon Wrestling Concludes Navy Classic with Four Placers

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Air Force saw two finalists and four placers at the 45^th-annual Navy Classic, hosted by Navy at the McDonough School, Saturday afternoon. Falcons Tucker Owens (125), Giano Petrucelli (165), Gage Musser (184), and Nick Gonzalez (125) all finished on the podium while the team finished tied for seventh in the field with 58 points despite having no heavyweight presence. No. 4 Nebraska, Navy and Princeton finished in the top-three, respectively.

Air Force's standout sophomore No. 22 Tuckers Owens impressed with his second finals appearance in as many Division I tournaments this season. Owens, the second-seeded wrestler in the bracket, went 4-1 on the day, posting a technical fall, two major decisions, and a decision win en route to the finals match against top-seeded No. 12 Caleb Smith of Nebraska. Smith, a two-time NCAA qualifier and Southern Conference champion, outscored Owens, 9-1.

The Falcons' No. 26 Giano Petrucelli came in hot off an App State Invite tournament title last weekend, battling to second-place finish with a 3-1 record on the day. The highlight of Petrucelli and Air Force's day came in the form of an upset as Petrucelli knocked off the top-seeded No. 12 Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) by major decision, 12-4. Petrucelli posted a fall, decision win, and major decision en route to the finals where he took on No. 24 Antrell Taylor of Nebraska. Taylor outscored Petrucelli, 10-3, to claim the title.

Air Force junior Gage Musser had a quality day in his fourth-place finish in the 184 division. Musser got out to a hot start with a pair of decision wins en route to the semi-finals where he took on Navy's David Key—the 12^th ranked wrestler in the division. Key edged by Musser, 8-5. In the third-place bout, Musser took on No. 30 Nathan Dugan (Princeton), dropping the match, 14-4.

Falcon sophomore 125-pounder Nick Gonzalez became the second Air Force wrestler to reach division's podium-- finishing sixth with a hard-fought 4-2 record on the day. Gonzalez won his first two matches by technical fall and decision, respectively. He fell to the eventual division champion, No. 12 Smith, in the quarterfinals. In his following two bouts, Gonzalez posted a fall (1:16) and decision victory on his way to the fifth-place bout. Princeton's Drew Heethuis won the spot by technical fall at 4:47.

Air Force senior Noah Blake picked up three wins in the 174-division but fell just shy of a podium spot. Other Falcons to pick up wins were Alec Viduya (149) and Jack Ganos (174).

Next up, Wyatt Hendrickson will represent the Falcons at the NWCA All-Star Classic, Tuesday, November 21 at the Penn State campus. After a short holiday break, Air Force will take its top-10 wrestlers to the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite to compete for titles, December 1-2.

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