ANNAPOLIS (MD) – The Delaware Valley University wrestling team opened its 2016-17 campaign by winning one of three matches at the United States Naval Academy. The Aggies fell to the Midshipmen's Blue Squad (38-13) and Gold Squad (35-9), but bounced back with a 34-9 triumph over fellow Division III school Johns Hopkins University.
 
It marked the second straight year that DelVal traveled to the Division I institution to start its season and the Aggies will be back there in two weeks as well for the Navy Classic. DelVal's head coach, Steve Cantrell, is a 1991 Naval Academy graduate.
 
The Aggies improved their performance from a year ago against the Blue Squad as they picked up wins in three weight classes (just one triumph last year), including the first two to jump out to a 10-0 lead. Freshman Kordell Rush began his collegiate career with a 19-0, technical fall blanking of Jordan Denslow at 125 pounds. Returning national qualifier Brenden Velez then followed with a technical fall shutout of his own, a 17-0 drubbing of Ricky Bryant at 133 pounds.
 
The Midshipmen responded with four falls, two technical falls and a major decision over the next seven weight classes to take command of the match, Among the winners for the Navy Blue Squad were nationally-ranked and returning Division I national qualifiers Nicholas Gill (20^th at 141 pounds) and Jadaen Bernstein (10^th at 174 pounds).
 
DelVal ended the match on a high note as senior heavyweight Zach Roseberry hit the mat for the first as the defending Division III national champion. Roseberry posted a 5-2 decision over Thomas Ott.
 
Roseberry also notched one of the two Aggie victories over the Navy Gold Squad as he downed Ethan Stanley, 5-1. He was later awarded a forfeit victory over Johns Hopkins, giving him 23 consecutive wins dating back to last November. The three wins on Sunday also upped Roseberry's career record to 96-12.
 
Velez picked up the other DelVal triumph against the Navy Gold squad as he pinned Christian Swensen in just 63 seconds. He added a 9-3 decision over Johns Hopkins' Christian Vallis to complete a perfect 3-0 day.
 
The Aggies won the first four weight classes as well as the final three in their victory over the Blue Jays. Rush was winning his match when his opponent had to forfeit due to an injury. Then after Velez picked up his decision, Tim Ambacher followed with a 20-7 major decision over Lucas Escobar at 141 and Nick Menkin pinned Connor Joyce in 3:56 of their 149-pound contest.
 
Johns Hopkins had three straight decisions in the middle weights to make it a 19-9 contest. However, returning national qualifier Ben Schweiger stopped the run as he dropped 184-pound opponent Miles Gilliam in just over four minutes. Chris Yocum followed with a 9-4 decision over Andres Bright at 197. Roseberry's forfeit win added the final points in the 34-9 team triumph.
 
The Aggies return to action on Saturday, November 12 when they head to nearby Ursinus College for the Fall Brawl.
 
 
NAVY (BLUE) 38, DELAWARE VALLEY UNIVERSITY 13
125 – Kordell Rush (DelVal) by technical fall over Jordan Denslow, 19-0 (5-0 DelVal)
133 – Brenden Velez (DelVal) by technical fall over Ricky Bryant, 17-0 (10-0 DelVal)
141 – Nicholas Gil (N) by technical fall over Robert Trombetta, 18-2 (10-5 DelVal)
149 – Connor Prince (N) by fall over Nick Menkin, 6:09 (11-10 Navy)
157 – Zach Elvin (N) by fall over Sekou Harris, 3:46 (17-10 Navy)
165 – Jonathan Carrera (N) by technical fall over Brandon Rudy, 20-0 (22-10 Navy)
174 – Jadaen Bernstein (N) by fall over David Furmato, 1:14 (28-10 Navy)
184 – Alex Benoit (N) by fall over Ben Schweiger, 5:36 (34-10 Navy)
197 – Steban Cervantes (N) by major decision over Chris Yocum, 11-3 (38-10 Navy)
285 – Zach Roseberry (DelVal) by decision over Thomas Ott, 5-2 (38-13 Navy)
 
NAVY (GOLD) 35, DELAWARE VALLEY UNIVERSITY 9
125 – Noah Sirianni (N) by technical fall over Jarrett Jacobs, 29-11 (5-0 Navy)
133 – Brenden Velez (DelVal) by fall over Christian Swensen, 1:03 (6-5 DelVal)
141 – Jared Prince (N) by technical fall over Tim Ambacher, 19-3 (10-6 Navy)
149 – Corey Wilding (N) by fall over Nick Menkin, 3:38 (16-6 Navy)
157 – Casey Cowan (N) by decision over Anthony Snyder, 7-2 (19-6 Navy)
165 – Drew Caniels (N) by major decision over Brandon Rudy, 12-4 (23-6 Navy)
174 – Robert Winning (N) by technical fall over David Furmato, 18-0 (28-6 Navy)
184 – Michael Coleman (N) by decision over Ben Schweiger, 8-3 (31-6 Navy)
197 – Austin Faunce (N) by major decision over Chris Yocum, 9-1 (35-6 Navy)
285 – Zach Roseberry (DelVal) by decision over Ethan Stanley, 5-1 (35-9 Navy)
 
DELAWARE VALLEY UNIVERSITY 34, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 9
125 – Kordell Rush (DelVal) by injury default over Ricky Cavallo (6-0 DelVal)
133 – Brenden Velez (DelVal) by decision over Christian Vallis, 9-3 (9-0 DelVal)
141 – Tim Ambacher (DelVal) by major decision over Lucas Escobar, 20-7 (13-0 DelVal)
149 – Nick Menkin (DelVal) by fall over Connor Joyce, 3:56 (19-0 DelVal)
157 – Tommy Grifa (JHU) by decision over Sekou Harris, 3-2 TB2 (19-3 DelVal)
165 – Dane Morgan (JHU) by decision over Brandon Rudy, 3-2 (19-6 DelVal)
174 – Jared Forman (JHU) by decision over David Furmato, 9-2 (19-9 DelVal)
184 – Ben Schweiger (DelVal) by fall over Miles Gilliam, 4:01 (25-9 DelVal)
197 – Chris Yocum (DelVal) by decision over Anders Bright, 9-4 (28-9 DelVal)
285 – Zach Roseberry (DelVal) by forfeit (34-9 DelVal)