Harvey Leads Army’s Charge on Day One of NCAAs

Thursday, March 21

Pittsburgh, Pa.

All Day

Army West Point

NCAA Championships

Ben Harvey advanced to the 174-pound Quarterfinals with an upset victory over 6-seed David McFadden of Virginia Tech on Thursday

Harvey Leads Army’s Charge on Day One of NCAAs

March 21, 2019 | Wrestling

PITTSBURGH – Junior 174-pounder Ben Harvey led the Army West Point wrestling team on the first day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

The Black Knights currently sit in a tie for 25th with Purdue at 7.5 points after combining to go 6-9 with a fall on the first day of competition.

Army opened the tournament with a 4-4 mark in Session I, including a fall by 165-pound junior Cael McCormick. Army added upset wins by the 24th-seeded McCormick, 22nd-seeded Harvey and 20th-seeded junior Lucas Weiland (157 lbs.).

Harvey provided the Cadets with another upset victory in the second round in overtime with a 5-3 victory over 6-seed David McFadden of Virginia Tech to advance to the quarterfinals. He became Army's first quarterfinalist since 149-pounder Matt Kyler in 2010. Junior 184-pounder Noah Stewart added the squad's other win in Session II with a 6-4 decision over 21-seed Nick Gravina of Rutgers to pick up his first win at NCAAs as he advances to the second day of competition.

HOW IT HAPPENED
125 Lbs.: 33-seed #32 Trey Chalifoux: 1-2
Prelim: W, 6-4 vs. 32-seed #33 Willy Girard (Bloomsburg)
Round of 32: L, Technical Fall, 21-6 vs. 1-seed #1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern)
Cons. Round of 16 #1: L, Major Decision, 12-4 vs. 17-seed #18 Devin Schroder (#25 Purdue)
141 Lbs.: 29-seed #28 Corey Shie: 0-2
Round of 32: L, 10-3 vs. 4-seed #8 Josh Alber (#14 Northern Iowa)
Cons. Round of 16 #1: L, Major Decision, 16-5 vs. 20-seed #16 Matt Findlay (Utah Valley)
157 Lbs.: 20-seed #29 Lucas Weiland: 1-1
Round of 32: W, 4-0 vs. 13-seed #14 Jarrett Jacques (#5 Missouri)
Round of 16: L, 5-3 vs. 4-seed #3 Alec Pantaleo (#4 Michigan)
165 Lbs.: 24-seed #26 Cael McCormick: 1-1, Fall
Round of 32: W, Fall at 2:27 vs. 9-seed #9 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley)
Round of 16: L, 4-1 vs. 8-seed #8 Mekhi Lewis (#13 Virginia Tech)
174 Lbs.: 22-seed #23 Ben Harvey: 2-0
Round of 32: W, 8-3 vs. 11-seed #11 Dylan Lydy (#25 Purdue)
Round of 16: W, SV-1, 5-3 vs. 6-seed #6 David McFadden (#13 Virginia Tech)
184 Lbs.: 28-seed #28 Noah Stewart: 1-1
Round of 32: L, Major Decision, 13-2 vs. 5-seed #6 Max Dean (#9 Cornell)
Cons. Round of 16 #1: W, 6-4 vs. 21-seed #20 Nick Gravina (#18 Rutgers)
197 Lbs.: 12-seed #15 Rocco Caywood: 0-2
Round of 32: L, 8-3 vs. 21-seed #24 Thomas Lane (Cal Poly)
Cons. Round of 16 #1: L, 7-0 vs. 28-seed #27 Drew Phipps (Bucknell)

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

The Black Knights set a program record with five different wrestlers earning a win in the same NCAA Championship.
The previous program best was four set by the 1966 squad with Bob Steenlage, Bob Robbins, Ray Sepata and Russ Baker all earning a victory.
Army has won six matches at the national tournament for the just the seventh time in program history.
Chalifoux, Shie, McCormick and Stewart all made their debut at the NCAA Championships.
Harvey became the 11th wrestler in program history to record six career wins at the national tournament.
The New Palestine, Ind., native turned into Army's first quarterfinalist since Matt Kyler in 2010.
He collected his 30th win of the season, the most wins by a Cadet since Cole Gracey's 35 victories in 2015.
McCormick earned a first-period pin in his first career match in the national tournament.
It was the sixth-fastest pin in program history at NCAAs.
The Yorktown, Ind., native became the ninth Army wrestler to pin his first opponent at the NCAA Championships.
He earned his fifth win of the season over a ranked opponent and first over a top-10 foe.
McCormick became the ninth Black Knight to record a pin in his debut at NCAAs and first since John Paxton in 2003.
Chalifoux posted the first 20-win season of his career.
The Nashville, Tenn., native becomes just the second Army 125-pounder to win a match in the national tournament, joining Fernando Martinez in 2007.
He became the first Cadet to win his NCAA debut since Logan Everett topped 10-seed and 12th-ranked Todd Preston of Harvard, 4-2, at 141 pounds in 2016.
Weiland notched his first 25-win season.
The Barnhart, Mo., native earned his second win over a ranked opponent this year and sixth of his career.
Stewart contributed his first-career victory at nationals.
The Lewistown, Pa., native tallied his 20th win of the year, becoming the ninth Cadet to reach that mark.

WARD'S WORDS

Head coach Kevin Ward – "The guys wrestled tremendously hard today. I'm really happy for them to know they are leaving everything they have on the mat in every match. We are excited for our guys wrestling for All-America honors tomorrow."

UP NEXT

Weiland, McCormick, Harvey and Stewart will continue competing at the NCAA Championships at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Friday with Session III beginning at 11 a.m.