Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Drexel
Wrestling Doubles Up Drexel, 26-13
November 10, 2010 | Wrestling
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Seniors Casey Thome and Rudy Chelednik registered major decision victories and sophomore Christian Botero picked up a pin to lead the Army wrestling team past Drexel, 26-13, Tuesday evening in the Black Knights' home opener at Gillis Field House.
Army (2-1) won four of the first five bouts to take control of the match. Drexel (0-1) took three of the next four matchups to make it interesting, but Botero's pin in the heavyweight bout put an exclamation point on the Black Knights' victory.
"It was great to get the win," said first-year Army head coach Joe Heskett. "It's a process. We work really hard every day to instill fundamentals, and the bottom line is that we have to come out on the mat and execute. Tonight, we did an okay job of execution. We have some work to do, and we have to go back to the drawing board in a lot of positions. But we dug deep in a couple of matches and we won the match."
The match began at 125 pounds with Army junior Travis Coffey awarded a win by forfeit to stake the Black Knights to an early 6-0 lead.
The 133-pound bout was a low-scoring affair between Drexel's Frank Cimato and Army sophomore Jordan Thome. Cimato was able to pull out a 4-2 decision following a takedown late in the first sudden victory period.
Casey Thome pushed Army's lead to 10-3 as he recorded a 10-1 major decision against Josh Yurasits in the 141-pound matchup. Thome posted three takedowns and one near fall during his dominating performance. He also added an escape and tacked on a point for riding time to account for the final margin.
Army sophomore Daniel Young made it two wins in a row for the Black Knights, taking a 7-6 decision from John McDermott at 149 pounds. The match was tied entering the third period, but a takedown by Young midway through the stanza provided the deciding points.
Chelednik ran Army's advantage to 17-3 with an 11-0 major decision verdict opposite Charles Aungst in the 157-pound bout. The match was scoreless after the first period, but Chelednik took over in the final two frames, posting two near falls, one reversal and a takedown in the final four minutes. The riding time point rounded out the scoring.
Joe Booth stopped Army's run by posting a 6-1 decision against Army senior Jake Vetter at 165 pounds, drawing Drexel to within 17-6 with four bouts remaining.
Sophomore Collin Wittmeyer got Army back on the winning track by taking a 2-0 decision from Justin Wieller in the 174-pound bout. Wittmeyer earned one point for an escape to start the second period and added a second point for riding time.
Drexel won the next two matches to trim the Black Knights overall lead to 20-13. Jamie Callender registered a 16-8 major decision triumph against Army freshman Wil Brown at 184 pounds and Brandon Palik picked up an 11-5 decision over Army junior Daniel Mills at 197 pounds.
Botero capped the match for Army in style, pinning Robert Schwalbenberg in 5 minutes, 58 seconds in the heavyweight bout. Botero was credited with a pair of takedowns in the second period before earning the pin midway through the third stanza.
"Rudy Chelednik did a really nice job out there getting bonus points for the team at 157, and Casey Thome did the same for us at 141," said Heskett. "Collin Wittmeyer looked pretty flat for most of the match at 174, but he rode it out to get the win. That showed some guts; it was really nice to see. Daniel Mills, although he didn't get the win, was able to go out there and not give up bonus points in a position where we couldn't afford to give up bonus points. I'm very proud of him for that. The highlight, though, was Christian Botero at heavyweight. He's a young man who is a tremendous worker with a big heart. He went out there and got his first win of the season in dramatic fashion and it was really great to see."
The Army wrestling team returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 13, when the Black Knights travel to Brockport, N.Y., to participate in the 12th annual Oklahoma-Gold Classic. The action is scheduled to get under way at 10 a.m.
Notes: Army's record versus Drexel improves to 6-5-0 all-time ... Botero's pin was his second career win by fall ... Coffey and Wittmeyer are the only two Army wrestlers to boast 3-0 records through the team's first three dual matches ... it marked the home coaching debut for Heskett, who led Army to a split at the Pentagon Duals last weekend ... Heskett is in his first season as a collegiate head coach after spending stints as an assistant coach at Ohio State and Cal Poly ... USMA Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. William Rapp was in attendance, as was Army interim Athletic Director Col. Sam Johnson.
Army 26, Drexel 13
125: Travis Coffey (A) win by forfeit
133: Frank Cimato (D) dec. Jordan Thome, 4-2 (SV)
141: Casey Thome (A) maj. dec. Josh Yurasits, 10-1
149: Daniel Young (A) dec. John McDermott, 7-6
157: Rudy Chelednik (A) maj. dec. Charles Aungst, 11-0
165: Joe Booth (D) dec. Jake Vetter, 6-1
174: Collin Wittmeyer (A) dec. Justin Wieller, 2-0
184: Jamie Callender (D) maj. dec. Wil Brown, 17-8
197: Brandon Palik (D) dec. Daniel Mills, 11-5
285: Christian Botero (A) pinned Robert Schwalbenberg, 5:58
Players Mentioned
