Black Knights Finish Fourth at EIWA Championships

Saturday, March 9

Binghamton, N.Y.

All Day

Army West Point

EIWA Championships

Black Knights Finish Fourth at EIWA Championships

March 09, 2019 | Wrestling

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The 23rd-ranked Army West Point wrestling team finished the 115th Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships with a fourth-place finish at Binghamton's Events Center on Saturday.

The Black Knights earned 106.5 team points after placing in all 10 weight classes for just the second time in program history. It was the second-most points by an Army team at the EIWA Championships in program history behind the 1987 squad's 135.25 mark.

Junior Cael McCormick was the lone finalist for Army and was one of four NCAA qualifiers. Joining McCormick were his classmates Lucas Weiland, Ben Harvey and Noah Stewart.

HOW IT HAPPENED
125 Lbs.: 4-seed #27 Trey Chalifoux (6th): 0-3 (2-3)
Semifinals: L, Major Decision, 13-1 vs. 1-seed #7 Vitali Arujau (#9 Cornell)
Cons. Semifinals: L, SV-1, 6-4 vs. 7-seed Gage Curry (American)
Fifth Place: L, 9-6 vs. 10-seed Joe Manchio (Columbia)
133 Lbs.: 5-seed Lane Peters (5th): 1-2 (3-2, Fall)
Semifinals: L, 6-3 vs. 1-seed #12 Chas Tucker (#9 Cornell)
Cons. Semifinals: L, 9-8 vs. 7-seed Zack Trampe (Binghamton)
Fifth Place: W, SV-1, 7-5 vs. 8-seed Doug Zapf (Penn)
141 Lbs.: 6-seed #26 Corey Shie (4th): 1-2 (3-2, MD)
Semifinals: L, 4-1 vs. 2-seed #15 Nicholas Gil (Navy)
Cons. Semifinals: W, 11-6 vs. 8-seed Wil Gil (Franklin & Marshall)
Third Place: L, 8-4 vs. 5-seed Anthony Sparacio (Binghamton)
149 Lbs.: P.J. Ogunsanya (6th): 1-2 (3-3)
Cons. Round of 4: W, SV-1, 11-5 vs. Brock Wilson (Harvard)
Cons. Semifinals: L, 1-0 vs. 3-seed #27 Cortlandt Schuyler (#20 Lehigh)
Fifth Place: L, TB-2, 5-4 vs. 5-seed Michael Sprague (American)
157 Lbs.: 5-seed #28 Lucas Weiland (4th): 1-2, Fall (3-2, Fall, MD)
Semifinals: L, 4-0 vs. 1-seed #12 Zach Hartman (Bucknell)
Cons. Semifinals: W, Fall at 3:32 vs. 4-seed #30 Dan Reed (Columbia)
Third Place: L, SV-1, 6-4 vs. 3-seed Quincy Monday (#19 Princeton)
165 Lbs.: 4-seed #27 Cael McCormick (2nd): 1-1 (3-1)
Semifinals: W, 11-8 vs. 1-seed #15 Ebed Jarrell (Drexel)
Finals: L, 4-0 vs. 3-seed #30 Tanner Skidgel (Navy)
174 Lbs.: 3-seed #18 Ben Harvey (5th): 2-1 (4-2)
Cons. Round of 4: W, 9-6 vs. 8-seed Max Elling (Columbia)
Cons. Semifinals: L, 8-4 vs. 4-seed #19 Spencer Carey (Navy)
Fifth Place: W, 5-1 vs. 6-seed #27 Travis Stefanik (#19 Princeton)
184 Lbs.: 5-seed #23 Noah Stewart (6th): 1-2 (3-3, TF, MD)
Cons. Round of 4: W, 6-0 vs. 7-seed #30 Kevin Parker (#19 Princeton)
Cons. Semifinals: L, Major Decision, 11-0 vs. 2-seed #11 Lou DePrez (Binghamton)
Fifth Place: L, 3-2 vs. 4-seed #24 Christian LaFragola (Brown)
197 Lbs.: 3-seed #7 Rocco Caywood (7th): 1-1 (3-2, 2 MDs)
Cons. Round of 4: L, 2-0 vs. 7-seed John Jakobsen (#20 Lehigh)
Seventh Place: W, 6-2 vs. Tucker Ziegler (Brown)
285 Lbs.: 4-seed #30 Ben Sullivan (6th): 0-3 (2-3, TF)
Semifinals: L, 6-2 vs. 1-seed #4 Jordan Wood (#20 Lehigh)
Cons. Semifinals: L, 5-3 vs. 2-seed #21 Joey Goodhart (Drexel)
Fifth Place: L, Fall at 6:54 vs. 9-seed Joe Doyle (Binghamton)

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Head coach Kevin Ward was named the EIWA Coach of the Year.
Army earned a top-eight finish in all 10 weight classes for just the second time in program history and first since 1987.
The Black Knights eclipsed the 100-point mark as a team for just the third time in program history and first since 1987.
It was the second-highest point total in program history behind the EIWA Championship squad from 1987 who scored 135.25 points.
Army earned a top-four finish for the third time in the last four years, the seventh such stretch in program history.
It was the first time since 1989-92 that the Cadets put together a streak of three top-four finishes in four years.
The Black Knights posted multiple pins at the tournament for the first time since 2014.
McCormick earned runner-up honors in his first appearance at the EIWA Championships.
He is the first finalist for Army since Russ Parsons in 2017 and the first at 165 pounds since Gale Stockdale in 1945.
The Yorktown, Ind., native became the first junior to advance to the finals since Matt Kyler (149 lbs.) and Richard Stark (197 lbs.) in 2009.
McCormick and Stewart qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time in their careers.
Weiland and Harvey return to the national tournament for the second year in a row.
Harvey documented the 70th victory of his career.
The New Palestine, Ind., native earned his third podium finish at EIWAs.
He leads the team with 28 wins on the season.
Shie, Ogunsanya and Sullivan became just the second trio of freshman in program history to all place at the conference tournament.
The other group was William Simpson (4th at 125 lbs.), Brian Rowan (6th at 157 lbs.) and Michael Sprigg (6th at 285 lbs.) in 2006.
Ogunsanya notched his 20th win of the season.
Stewart collected his fifth-career win over a ranked opponent with a 6-0 victory over No. 30 Kevin Parker of #19 Princeton.
Weiland collected his second pin of the season and fifth of his career.
The Barnhart, Mo., native finished fourth for the second straight year.
Caywood tallied his third podium finish at the EIWA Championships and second straight seventh-place showing.
The Toledo, Ohio, native reached 25 wins in a season for the first time in his career.
Peters earned a personal-best fifth-place finish after taking seventh a year ago.
Chalifoux placed at the conference tournament for the third straight season with his second consecutive sixth-place finish.

WARD'S WORDS

Head coach Kevin Ward – "I'm really proud of our guys. I thought we competed really hard all weekend. We had a goal of ten placers, ten national qualifiers and a top-3 finish. We came up a bit short of that, but, overall, we have to be pleased with our progress. We almost doubled the team points we scored last year and all ten made the podium. It was a pretty incredible performance.
"As for the coach of the year honor, all that means to me is that I am fortunate to work with some amazing athletes and have an incredible staff. It's a team recognition more than anything. It's definitely not an individual award."

UP NEXT

Weiland, McCormick, Harvey and Stewart will represent the Black Knights at the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh at the PPG Paints Arena from March 21-23.