Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Body Bar Invitational
Thome Leads Army At Body Bar Invitational
November 19, 2011 | Wrestling
Nov. 19, 2011
Body Bar Invitational Brackets 
ITHACA, N.Y. - Junior Jordan Thome won the individual title at 133 pounds, and three other Black Knights placed sixth in their respective weight classes as the Army wrestling team finished seventh at the Body Bar Invitational on Saturday at Newman Arena on the campus of Cornell University.
Army racked up 73 points to place near the middle of the 12-team field. Cornell won the team title, piling up 186.5 points. Kent State finished runner-up with 150 points. The Big Red and Golden Flashes each produced three individual champions. Virginia placed third (126.5 points), while Columbia (95) and Drexel (81) rounded out the top five.
Thome, the top-seeded wrestler in the 133-pound bracket, went 4-0 en route to his first tournament title of the season. One week after placing second at the Oklahoma-Gold Classic last weekend, Thome ran roughshod over the field at the Body Bar.
He began his run by posting a 12-0 major decision versus Buffalo's Justin Farmer. The Troy, Ohio, native then blanked Binghamton's Patrick Hunter, 7-0, to reach the semifinals. Thome outlasted Virginia's Matt Nelson, 5-4, to make it to the championship bout. He then slipped past Minnesota's Chris Dardanes, 9-8, to capture the crown.
Senior Michael Gorman (184 pounds), junior Jimmy Rafferty (157) and freshman Cole Gracey (165) each registered sixth-place finishes to help pace the Black Knights.
Gorman immediately dropped into the consolation bracket of the 184-pound draw, but ripped off consecutive wins over opponents from Cornell, Columbia and Lock Haven to reach the consolation semifinals. The Harville, Ohio, product then dropped two straight bouts and had to settle for sixth place.
Rafferty, seeded sixth at 157 pounds, posted wins over foes from Lock Haven and Kent State, before dropping into the consolation bracket. The native of Haddon Heights, N.J., then forged wins over opponents from Columbia and Kent State to wrestle his way into the consolation semifinals. Rafferty was unable to advance past that point, however, losing consecutive matches to place sixth.
Gracey, meanwhile, went 3-3 with a pair of pins to place sixth at 165 pounds. He began his productive day by pinning Bloomsburg's Chris Smith in 2 minutes, 21 seconds. Then, after dropping into the consolation draw, he pinned Buffalo's Matt Dehney (6:19) and got past Lock Haven's Seth Creasy (7-2) to make it into the consolation semifinals. Back-to-back setbacks forced the Tuttle, Okla., product to settle for sixth.
Army returns to its dual match schedule on Saturday, Nov. 26, when the Black Knights travel to Troy, N.Y., to take part in the Northeast Duals. Army is slated to face Arizona State, Binghamton and Sacred Heart at the event.
Players Mentioned
