Colorado Springs, Colo. Four Bulldogs placed as The Citadel wrestling team finished 4th with 41 points at the All-Academy Championships hosted by Air Force at Cadet East Gym on Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo. Junior and third-seeded Darius Caldwell finished second at 174 pounds, junior and third-seeded Levi Duyn placed third at 149 pounds, and freshman and fourth-seeded Matthew Leach at 133 pounds and senior and fifth-seeded John Dickerson at 184 pounds both ended up fourth in their weight classes.

Navy, rated 22nd in the latest USA Today/InterMat/National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings, won the tournament with 124.5 points, over 20 points ahead of Army who finished second with a mark of 96.5. VMI placed third with 72 points. Rounding out the fifth through eighth spots in the tournament were Air Force, Norwich, the Merchant Marine Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy respectively.

Caldwell advanced to the finals at 174 pounds after a 12-2 major decision over sixth-seeded Brian Caffelle of Norwich in the quarterfinals and a 5-2 decision against second-seeded Brent Smith of Army in the semifinals. He faced top-seed Matt Stolpinski of Navy, who is ranked 10th in the country in the latest USA Today/InterMat/NWCA rankings, in the finals and lost a close 3-2 decision to end up with second place.

Leach started off his day with a pin of fifth-seeded Dan Ippolito of the Coast Guard Academy in 1:19 to advance to the semifinals of the 133-pound bracket. Top-seed William Simpson of Army sent Leach into the consolation bracket after a 14-3 major decision. Leach advanced to the third-place match with an 8-6 decision over sixth-seeded Stephen Makuka of Air Force. He ended up in fourth place after dropping a 7-5 decision to third-seeded Matt Pagan of Navy.

Duyn advanced to the semifinals at 149 pounds after a pin of fifth-seeded Austin Milster of Army in 4:55. He then fell into the consolation bracket after losing an 8-5 decision to second-seeded Joel Ahern of Navy. Duyn earned a berth in the third-place match against fourth-seeded Bryan Radik of the Coast Guard Academy after notching a fall against seventh-seeded Matt Dolby of the Merchant Marine Academy in 58 seconds. He registered his third fall of the day in the consolation final as he pinned Radik in 4:00 to take home third place. Duyn now has 16 falls on the season.

Dickerson moved on to the semifinals of the 184-pound bracket with a 12-4 major decision against fourth-seeded Jake Devlin of Air Force. After losing a 10-2 major decision to top-seed Antonio Miranda of Navy, Dickerson advanced to the consolation finals with a 14-4 major decision over sixth-seeded Ben Sanders of the Merchant Marine Academy. He placed fourth after losing by injury default to second-seeded Corry Murray of VMI in the third-place match.

Freshman and fourth-seeded Tyler Sim at 125 pounds, sophomore and fifth-seeded Matt Bullwinkel at 141, senior and fourth-seeded Travis Piccard at 157, freshman and sixth-seeded Zachary Filter at 165, and junior and fourth-seeded John Buck at 285 also each earned victories for the Bulldogs. Sim and Filter both won by fall as Sim pinned fifth-seeded Scott MacLean of Norwich in 1:11 in the quarterfinals of the 125-pound bracket before losing his last two bouts of the day, while Filter pinned seventh-seeded Trevor Muhler of the Merchant Marine Academy in 3:59 during the first round of the consolation bracket at 165 pounds after dropping a 9-5 decision to third-seeded John Burton of VMI in the quarterfinals. Filter's hopes to place were ended after he was pinned by fourth-seeded Anthony Dorward of Air Force in 6:20.

The Bulldogs return home to host UNC Greensboro for Alumni Day in a Southern Conference match at McAlister Field House on Saturday, Feb. 10. All of the latest on Bulldog athletics is available at www.CitadelSports.com.   

The Citadel Results at All-Academy Championships

4. The Citadel 41

125 Pounds: Tyler Sim, 1-2

133 Pounds: Matthew Leach, 2-2 (fourth place)

141 Pounds: Matt Bullwinkel, 1-2

149 Pounds: Levi Duyn, 3-1 (third place)

157 Pounds: Travis Piccard, 1-2

165 Pounds: Zachary Filter, 1-2

174 Pounds: Darius Caldwell, 2-1 (second place)

184 Pounds: John Dickerson, 2-2 (fourth place)

197 Pounds: Griffen Greene, 0-2

285 Pounds: John Buck, 1-2