Army Names Two Champions in Third-Place Finish at EIWA Championships

Friday, February 26

Manheim, PA

10 AM

Army West Point

119.5

EIWA Championships

Army Names Two Champions in Third-Place Finish at EIWA Championships

February 26, 2021 | Wrestling

MANHEIM, PA – The Army West Point wrestling team closed out the 117^th EIWA Conference Championships with 119.5 total points, posting their second consecutive third-place finish at the EIWA Tournament Friday afternoon. The Black Knights battled to their second-best team finish in program history, surpassing their 2020 finish of 112 points.
Army went head-to-head with wrestlers from nine different conference schools including American, Binghamton, Bucknell, Drexel, Hofstra, Lehigh, Long Island U., Navy, and Sacred Heart.

The Black Knights got off to a hot start with two strong Round of 16 performances by Ryan Chauvin and Clayton Fielden at 125lbs and 165lbs. The Cadets then nailed 7-of-10 victories in the quarterfinals including wins from Mark Montgomery, Lane Peters, P.J. Ogunsanya, Ben Pasiuk, Taylor Brown, J.T. Brown and Bobby Heald.

All seven wrestlers earned a spot in the semifinals after their opening victories of the day, allowing the Black Knights to feed off their high energy. Army secured five NCAA qualifiers in the semifinal round. The senior captain led the way at 141lbs, punching the first of Army's tickets to the tournament. Peters took a dominant 10-2 major decision from Lehigh's Vinny Vespa, opening the door for four more qualifiers in Ogunsanya, Pasiuk, J. Brown and Heald, all of whom secured themselves a place in the finals as well. T. Brown was the final wrestler to clinch a spot to the tournament in his third-place finish against Charles Small (Hofstra).

The strongest performances of the day came from Ogunsanya and Pasiuk, each who competed to first place finishes at 149lbs and 174lbs. Ogunsanya became the first wrestler at 149lbs to post a first-place finish since the 2009-10 season (Matt Kyler). In his first collegiate conference tournament appearance, Pasiuk became the first champion at 174lbs since the 2000-01 season (Maurice Worthy). Both athletes become a part of a prestigious group of 30 Army wrestlers to accomplish the feat in their careers.

In their 81^st appearance as a team at the conference tournament, Army closed out the historic single day event with six NCAA qualifiers, two champions and seven top-5 finishes.

"I think the biggest takeaway is that we have six guys guaranteed to go to the NCAA Championships and Markus Hartman has a very good chance at an at-large bid," said Head Coach Kevin Ward. "I'm just really proud of our team today for how we competed. Coming away with two champs and our first freshman champ in quite a long time is more validation that we are doing the right things and we are constantly improving. I really think that we haven't seen anywhere close to our potential yet and we are just so excited for these guys to chase their dreams at the NCAA Championships in two and a half weeks."

125 |No. 8 seed, Ryan Chauvin
Round of 16: W, 3-2 Dec. vs Kyle Waterman (Drexel)
Quarterfinals: L, 13-1 MD vs Jaret Lane (Lehigh)
Cons of 8: W, 16-0 TF (3:52) vs Cole Meyer (Sacred Heart)
Cons of 4: L, 11-2 MD vs Dylan Ryder (Hofstra)
Eighth Place: L, 4-3 Dec. vs Kyle Waterman (Drexel)

133 | Mark Montgomery (No. 6 seed)
Quarterfinals: W, 6-3 Dec. vs Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton)
Semifinals: L, 3-1 Dec. vs Jacob Allen (Navy)
Cons Semifinals: L, 5-3 Dec. vs Garrett Lambert (Hofstra)
Fifth Place: W, 16-3 MD vs Chandler Olson (Drexel)

141 | Lane Peters (No. 2 seed)*
Quarterfinals: W, 3-0 Dec. vs Kurt Phipps (Bucknell)
Semifinals: W, 10-2 MD vs Vinny Vespa (Hofstra)
Third Place: L, 4-0 Dec. vs Cody Trybus (Navy)

149 | P.J. Ogunsanya (No. 1 seed)*
Quarterfinals: W, Fall (3:26) 12-1 vs Seth Brown (Sacred Heart)
Semifinals: W, 10-4 Dec. vs Greg Gaxiola (Hofstra)
First Place: W, 8-3 Dec. vs Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh)

157 | Markus Hartman (No. 2 seed)
Quarterfinals: L, Injury Default vs Nick Palumbo (Sacred Heart)

165 | Clayton Fielden (No. 8 seed)
Round of 16: W, 5-4 Dec. vs Ryan Ferro (LIU)
Quarterfinals: L, Fall (2:40) vs Zach Hartman (Bucknell)
Cons of 4: W, 4-2 Dec. vs Brevin Cassella (Binghamton)
Cons Semifinals: L, 10-0 MD vs Brian Meyer (Lehigh)
Sixth place: L, 4-3 Dec. vs Ricky Stamm (Hofstra)

174 | Ben Pasiuk (No. 3 seed)*
Quarterfinals: W, 8-3 Dec. vs Vincent Andreano (Sacred Heart)
Semifinals: W, 19-3 MD vs Tim Fitzpatrick (American)
First place: W, 2-1 Dec. vs Michael O'Malley (Drexel)

184 | Taylor Brown (No. 3 seed)
Quarterfinals: W, 17-5 MD vs Josh Stillings (Drexel)
Semifinals: L, 7-2 Dec. vs David key (Navy)
Cons Semifinals: W, 2-1 Dec. vs Joe Accousti (Sacred Heart)
Fourth Place: L, 3-2 Dec. vs Charles Small (Hofstra)

197 | J.T. Brown (No. 2 seed)*
Quarterfinals: W, 14-4 MD vs Mason McCready (Bucknell)
Semifinals: W, 3-2 Dec. TB2 vs Jacob Koser (Navy)
Second Place: L, 3-0 Dec. John Jakobsen (Lehigh)

285 | Bobby Heald (No. 3 seed)*
Quarterfinals: W, 12-0 MD vs Dorian Crosby (Bucknell)
Semifinals: W, 5-1 John Birchmeier (Navy)
Second Place: L, 6-0 Dec. vs Jordan Wood (Lehigh)

Up Next: The 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held on Wednesday, March 10 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO. The Black Knights will know the official number of wrestlers they send to the tournament on Monday, Mar. 1 when the selection show airs.