Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Penn
Wrestling Suffers 30-6 Setback at Penn
January 17, 2015 | Wrestling
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Army wrestling team suffered its first road loss of the season, 30-6, to the University of Pennsylvania at the Palestra on Saturday. The Black Knights fell to 2-4 on the season and 2-2 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA).
"There wasn't a whole lot of good in that dual for our team and that blame falls directly on me," said head coach Kevin Ward. "We didn't look prepared or ready to compete and that's on me. We will work hard to make sure that doesn't happen again."
The match began at 165 pounds with senior Cole Gracey, ranked 20th by InterMat, dropping a 9-7 decision to Ray Bethea. Junior Brian Harvey, who is No. 19 in the InterMat 174 rankings, then tied the match up at three all with an 8-3 decision over Brad Wukie.
"Brian Harvey wrestled a great match and avenged a loss from the EIWA Tournament last year," added Ward. "I really like the way he is wrestling right now."
Lorenzo Thomas, ranked fifth by InterMat, put Penn back on top by four with a 14-5 major decision at 184 over sophomore Samson Imonode. The Quakers extended their lead to seven at 10-3 when junior 197-pounder Bryce Barnes dropped a tough decision to Canaan Bethea, 2-0.
Penn continued to roll with another victory at the heavyweight class with Patrik Garren taking down junior Tyler McLees in a 7-4 decision to go ahead by 10 points. Army then suffered another close decision with freshman Sean Badua coming up short in a 7-5 defeat against Jeremy Schwartz at 125.
The Quakers gained complete control after the 133-pound match as Caleb Richardson put in a 21-6 tech. fall over sophomore Christian Doyle, taking a 21-3 lead. After Penn had taken five straight bouts, sophomore Logan Everett (141) came away with a 9-4 win for Army over Jeff Canfora.
C.J. Cobb, ranked 16th in the country by InterMat at 149, then picked up a 22-7 tech. fall over sophomore Andrew Mendel to put Penn up by 20. Brooks Martino followed that up with a 14-0 major win over junior Javier Rodriguez at 157 to complete the match.
Army will host its second home dual match of the season on Sunday, Jan. 25, welcoming Drexel for a 2 p.m. meet.
MATCH NOTES
Army leads the all-time series 14-11-1 versus Penn … nationally ranked 157-pounder Russell Parsons was not in the lineup for the first time this season with Javier Rodriguez making the start instead … Brian Harvey now leads the team with a 5-1 dual match record … Cole Gracey, Samson Imonode and Tyler McLees suffered their first dual losses of the season … Army will have its first home match on Jan. 25 since beating Franklin & Marshall in its home opener on Nov. 16.
Penn 30, Army 6
165: Ray Bethea (P) dec. #20 Cole Gracey, 9-7
174: #19 Brian Harvey (A) dec. Brad Wukie, 8-3
184: #5 Lorenzo Thomas (P) maj. dec. Samson Imonode, 14-5
197: Canaan Bethea (P) dec. Bryce Barnes, 2-0
285: Patrik Garren (P) dec. Tyler McLees, 7-4
125: Jeremy Schwartz (P) dec. Sean Badua, 7-5
133: Caleb Richardson (P) tech. fall Christian Doyle, 21-6 (6:45)
141: Logan Everett (A) dec. Jeff Cafora, 9-4
149: #16 C.J. Cobb (P) tech. fall Andrew Mendel, 22-7 (6:13)
157: Brooks Martino (P) maj. dec. Javier Rodriguez, 14-0
Players Mentioned
