Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
NavyÂ
Wrestling Secures the Star Dual in Thriller at Navy
February 20, 2026 | Wrestling
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The fate of Army West Point wrestling hung in the balance of a single bout.
But when everything was all said and done, the Black Knights left Friday night's rivalry match with a 19-18 win over the Navy Midshipmen.
Everything fell into place in the waning moments of the dual for Army to sing second. With its back against the wall just minutes earlier, the Black Knights had an opening to finish the Star Dual on top after trailing in the team score by as much as five points after bout eight.
With the final result squarely down to Brady Colbert and his counterpart Spencer Lanosga—both top 16 wrestlers in both the InterMat and FloWrestling rankings—the pair of 285 lb wrestlers were engaged to the last second.
Friday night's victor would need the smallest edge to pull ahead in the dual, and the same rung true in the final bout. Fortunately for Colbert, that edge was earned in the penultimate period with a two-minute ride.
With the riding time point secured, Colbert simply had to let the clock expire without conceding points, and he did just that, regrouping at a timeout with 17 ticks on the clock before finishing the job for Army.
Winning 2-0, the sophomore clinched a one-point dual win for the Black Knights.
Army completes the dual season with a 5-5 overall record and a 5-1 mark in EIWA matches. Friday's win was the program's third straight over Navy, its second in a row in Annapolis, and its eighth over the past 12 years for Army over its academy rivals.
For Army, the dual got off to the best start imaginable, when Charlie Farmer secured a fall over Navy's Andrew Binni just 37 seconds into the bout to give the Black Knights an early 6-0 lead.
Ethan Berginc followed at 133 lbs with a full second period ride and quick escape point in the third, pulling away with a 4-0 decision. Looking to continue that strong early momentum, Braden Basile had the lead over Caedyn Ricciardi in the third period, but was reversed and took a loss by fall at 141 lbs to get Navy on the dual scoreboard.
The ensuing 149 lb match saw Kaemen Smith tie the dual for the Midshipmen with a 12-7 decision over Conor Collins. Collins entered the third period down just three points but surrendered a takedown down the stretch.
Joseph Antonio had the lead in the third period at 157 lbs thanks to a staling call, but gave up a takedown to Jonathan Ley late, and despite an escape point, couldn't jump back in front on his way to a 4-3 defeat. This also represented Navy's first dual lead Friday night.
The Mids' lead would be short-lived for the moment, as Gunner Filipowicz took back points in the first period at 165 lbs on his way to a major decision over Dylan Elmore to make it 13-12 in favor of Army in the dual.
Navy re-took the lead with a 7-4 win at 174, with an Andrew Christie defeat by decision at the hands of Danny Wask.
At 184 lbs, Cooper Haase took a 1-0 lead into the final two minutes. After a lengthy video review early in the third period to determine correct riding time, Haase secured the advantage point over Daniel Williams. But a stall call and reversal in the final 30 seconds swung the match in favor of the home wrestler, and the Midshipman came away with the 3-2 bout win.
That result made it 18-13 in favor of Navy. Now facing the task of simply keeping Army alive in the dual with two matches left, Wolfgang Frable took the 197 lb bout to keep Army in the dual, scoring a takedown in the opening three minutes and taking a 5-0 decision over Navy's Zyan Hall to put the dual in the final bout's hands.
Full Results
125: Charlie Farmer (Army) def. Andrew Binni (Navy) by fall at 0:37
133: No. 14/12 Ethan Berginc (Army) def. Brendan Ferretti (Navy) by decision, 4-0
141: No. 28/24 Caedyn Ricciardi (Navy) def. No. 15/16 Braden Basile (Army) by fall at 5:38
149: Kaemen Smith (Navy) def. Conor Collins (Army) by decision, 12-7
157: No. 32/26 Jonathan Ley (Navy) def. Joseph Antonio (Army) by decision, 4-3
165: No. 13/16 Gunner Filipowicz (Army) vs. No. 30/28 Dylan Elmore (Navy) by major decision, 13-2
174: No. 11/11 Danny Wask (Navy) def. Andrew Christie (Army) by decision, 7-4
184: No. 32/29 Daniel Williams (Navy) def. Cooper Haase (Army) by decision, 3-2
197: No. 28/NR Wolfgang Frable (Army) def. No. 31/32 Zyan Hall (Navy) by decision, 5-0
285: No. 16/13 Brady Colbert (Army) def. No. 14/15 Spencer Lanosga (Navy) by decision, 2-0
Rankings by Intermat and FloWrestling, respectively
Next Up
Army heads to the EIWA Championships at American's Bender Arena in Washington, D.C on March 6-7.
Follow the Black Knights
Follow Army Wrestling on X @ArmyWP_Wrestling. Fans can also like Army West Point Athletics on Facebook and learn more about wrestling and other programs at goarmywestpoint.com.
Players Mentioned
