Black Knights Finish EIWA Championships in Fourth

Saturday, March 4

Lewisburg, Pa.

All Day

Army West Point

EIWA Championships

Black Knights Finish EIWA Championships in Fourth

March 04, 2017 | Wrestling

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Army West Point wrestling team closed out the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships with a fourth-place finish and qualified two more cadet-athletes for the NCAA Championships on Saturday at Sojka Pavilion.

Senior co-captain Russ Parsons and junior Andrew Mendel each earned a berth to the national tournament, joining senior Samson Imonode. It will be Parsons' third appearance at the NCAA Championships, becoming the 14th Cadet to make three or more appearances at the bid dance. Imonode will be making his second showing in as many seasons, while Mendel qualified for the national tournament for the first time in his career.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

The Black Knights placed fourth at the conference tournament for the second year in-a-row.
This is the first time since the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons Army has finished with consecutive top-five finishes, having placed fourth in both of those years.
Army placed seven Cadets on the podium in their respective weight classes, the most since the 2006 tournament when it earned seven place winners.
Freshmen Trey Chalifoux and Ben Harvey and sophomore Rocco Caywood all placed in their debut at the EIWA Championships.
Senior co-captain Logan Everett earned the 30th bonus-point victory of his career with a technical fall to open the final day of the tournament.
Parsons competed in his first-career EIWA Championship finals in three years, finishing as the runner-up at 157 pounds.
The Clinton, N.J., native earned his 10th-career victory at the conference tournament in the semifinals with a 10-2 major decision.
All three of Parsons' victories in the tournament came with bonus points with a pin, technical fall and major decision throughout the two-day event.
Mendel earned the most wins for Army in the tournament with five, having also earned two bonus-point wins throughout the season.
The Mason, Ohio, native earned his first victory of the season against a ranked opponent in his first bout of the second day which qualified him for the NCAA tournament.
Imonode, who qualified for the national tournament on day one, earned his 70th-career victory in the third-place match.
The Phoenix, Ariz., native documented his fourth-career victory against a ranked opponent in that match, taking down Binghamton's Steven Schneider for the second time this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
125 lbs.
6-seed Trey Chalifoux (5th): 1-2
Semifinals: L, MD, 12-0 vs. 2-seed #10 Josh Terao (American)
Cons. Semifinals: L, 7-5 vs. 8-seed Jordan Gessner (Bucknell)
Fifth Place: W, 9-4 vs. 3-seed Tanner Shoap (Drexel)
141 lbs.
5-seed #19 Logan Everett (6th): 1-2, Technical Fall
Cons. Round of 4: W, TF, 18-2 vs. 8-seed Jacob Macalolooy (Columbia)
Cons. Semifinals: L, 12-5 vs. 3-seed #16 Tyler Smith (Bucknell)
Fifth Place: L, 3-2 vs. Dylan Caruana (Binghamton)
157 lbs.
2-seed #12 Russ Parsons (2nd): 1-1, Major Decision
Semifinals: W, MD, 10-2 vs. 6-seed Mike D'Angelo (Princeton)
Finals: L, 4-2 vs. 4-seed Dylan Palacio (#7 Cornell)
165 lbs.
6-seed Andrew Mendel (3rd): 3-0
Cons. Round of 4: W, 10-8 vs. 2-seed #22 Cole Walter (#11 Lehigh)
Cons. Semifinals: W, SV-2, 7-5 vs. 4-seed Jonathan Viruet (Brown)
Third Place: W, 5-2 vs. 3-seed Tyrel White (Columbia)
174 lbs.
7-seed Ben Harvey (7th): 1-1
Cons. Round of 4: L, MD, 11-0 vs. 6-seed #22 Jon Schleifer (Princeton)
Seventh Place: W, 6-1 vs. Anthony Lombardo (Binghamton)
184 lbs.
4-seed #25 Samson Imonode (3rd): 2-1
Semifinals: L, Fall at 4:24 vs. 1-seed #1 Gabe Dean (#7 Cornell)
Cons. Semifinals: W, 4-1 vs. Jason Grimes (American)
Third Place: W, 5-3 vs. 2-seed #15 Steven Schneider (Binghamton)
197 lbs.
Rocco Caywood (6th): 0-3
Semifinals: L, 3-1 vs. 1-seed #12 Tom Sleigh (Bucknell)
Cons. Semifinals: L, 6-0 vs. 7-seed #30 Jeric Kasunic (American)
Fifth Place: L, MD, 11-2 vs. 2-seed #14 Brett Harner (Princeton)

COACHES CORNER

Head coach Kevin Ward – "I think we wrestled better than we have all season as a team. Eight of our 10 guys competed to an equal or better level than their seed. We put seven guys on the podium and are guaranteed three in the NCAA Championships. Logan Everett should be joining that group as well, deserving an at-large bid to the tournament."
"You know, when you leave a tournament, you're never really satisfied with the results unless you have 10 champions, but I am so proud of our team and the way we fought. I couldn't be more proud of the character we showed across the board. We pulled multiple upsets this weekend, and I was really pleased with Andrew Mendel's effort in particular for battling through a monster bracket with a 5-1 record to take third place as the six seed."

UP NEXT

The Black Knights will send seniors Samson Imonode and Russ Parsons and junior Andrew Mendel to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., on March 16-18 for the NCAA Championships.