Saturday, April 04, 2009

Navy Boxers Capture Two Titles; Army Wins Second Straight Team Title at Collegiate Nationals!

In front of a raucous crowd at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum, boxers from four of the country's service academies captured 10 of 12 individual titles at the National Collegiate Boxing Association (NCBA) Collegiate Boxing Championships.

The US Naval Academy won two titles during the evening. Mike Steadman won his second straight 175-pound title defeating Sam Greenwood of The Citadel. Steadman was named the outstanding boxer for participants 147 pounds and over. Also, Evan Nordstrom won the 195-pound championship, defeating Patrick Frost of the US Coast Guard Academy by RSC-2.

For the second year in a row, the team trophy went to the US Military Academy. Army boxers won four titles with two of the championships going to defending champions. Danilo Garcia captured his second straight 125-pound title defeating Jake Winowich of Penn State University. Garcia also captured the Outstanding Boxer trophy for participants under 147 pounds. In the 156-pound category, Ryle Stous won his second title in his second weight class, defeated Ryan Kotey of University of Nevada-Reno. Stous was the champion at 165-pounds last year. Last year, Kotey won the 156-pound championship.

In the heavyweight category, Army boxer Cedric Frasier won the championship over the Navy's Nathan Jester. Also, Terrell Anthony of the US Military Academy won the 139-pound class by medical walkover against Antone Aku of the Naval Academy. Despite being unable to participate in the final because of a cut along his eye, Aku won the tournament's Sportsmanship Award.

The US Air Force Academy won three titles. Matt DeMars won the 112-pound title defeating Logan Hershman of the Naval Academy while Jesse Horton captured the 119-pound championship with a victory over the US Military Academy's Andrew Manglicmont. Also, Boyce Loomis won the 185-pound crown with a win over Army boxer Jody Chapman.

In other title bouts, Travis Murray of the US Coast Guard Academy won the 165-pound title with a victory over the Army's Will Myers. Marc Sanchez of San Jose State won the 132-pound championship, defeating Jarrell Hill of Mansfield University and Jamyle Cannon of the University of Kentucky captured the 147-pound title with a win over Steve Henoa-Escobar of the US Military Academy.

There was also a women's national invitational earlier in the evening. The University of Maryland's first female boxer -- Elizabeth Morgan -- won the 125-pound championship defeating Bonnie Kirkpatrick of University of California-Berkeley. Two other Cal-Berkeley boxers won their bouts. Lauren Pettis captured the 147-pound division with a victory over Renae Santa Cruz of the University of San Francisco and Inga Lamick won the 132-pound class, defeating West Virginia University's Mary Beth Giles.

The University of Maryland Terps Boxing Club hosted the three-day event, which long-time observers called the most competitive national tournament in recent years. Among the guests in attendance was Ben Alperstein, a member of the Maryland Boxing team who was the first Terps athlete to win a national title in ANY sport at the University of Maryland. Also, there were some familiar Beltway faces among the NCBA officials -- Brent Bovell served as a referee and a judge during the event while Rick Ellis was the timekeeper. DC Boxing Hall of Famer Henry "Discombobulating" Jones served as ring announcer.

A good amount of sound from this event for you.

BATB had the honor to talk to two writing legends -- Thom Loverro of The Washington Times and legendary historian Bert Randolph Sugar, a DC native and member of the last University of Maryland varsity boxing team in 1955.

Gabcast! Boxing Along the Beltway #156 - Writing Champions Comment on Collegiate Championships!

Two of the best writers around --Thom Loverro of the Washington Times and legendary historian Bert Randolph Sugar ( a DC native and a member of the 1955 Maryland Boxing team) discuss the importance of the college boxing program.




BATB also talked to one of the more popular boxers of the evening -- two-time 175-pound champion Mike Steadman of the US Naval Academy.

Gabcast! Boxing Along the Beltway #157 - Two-Time Collegiate Champion Talks to BATB!

Two-time 175-pound national champion Mike Steadman of the US Naval Academy talks about his title win over Sam Greenwood of The Citadel. After this interview, Steadman won the Outstanding Boxer trophy for boxers over 147 pounds.




And, in a very special edition of the BATB Post-Fight Wrap-Up show, long-time boxing writer and collegiate boxing official JR Jowett joins me in a detailed breakdown of tonight's championship bouts (first couple of minutes are a little garbled but it DOES clear up.)

Gabcast! Boxing Along the Beltway #158 - Post-Fight From NCBA Collegiate Nationals!

Long-time boxing writer and collegiate official J.R. Jowett joins me to break down the action from the final day of the NCBA Collegiate Nationals at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum !

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey gary are these fighters fighting in the regional golden gloves?

Gary Digital Williams said...

No, these boxers are not allowed to participate in the events like the Golden Gloves.

The way I understand it, boxers who are participating in NCBA events don't go to amateur tourneys like the Golden Gloves until after their college eligibility runs out.