Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Sacred Heart
Black Knights Cruise Past Pioneers, 34-7
January 11, 2015 | Wrestling
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - In its first road dual match of the season, the Army wrestling team cruised past Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) opponent Sacred Heart, 34-7, on Sunday afternoon.
The Black Knights improve to 2-1 in the conference and 2-3 overall, while the Pioneers fall to 0-4 in the EIWA and 0-7 overall. It was the first win for Army since taking down Franklin & Marshall, 36-6, in its EIWA opener on Nov. 16.
"Getting back on the winning side of a dual meet was good," explained head coach Kevin Ward. "But I just think we have a little more to give at some weights. Their guys were pretty scrappy, but I think we didn't have the urgency we needed to have across the board. I felt like we had a chance to blow some matches open and, for whatever reason, we didn't."
Freshman Sean Badua got Army on the board first with a 12-5 decision over Patrick Skinner at 125. Sacred Heart quickly bounced back, however, and took a 4-3 lead on a 9-0 major decision by Tim Johnson over sophomore Christian Doyle at the 133-pound weight class.
Army regained the lead, 8-4, as sophomore Logan Everett (141) picked up a dominating 20-5 tech. fall over Jay Oakes. The Pioneers then pulled within one after Brendan Goldup topped freshman Andrew Mendel, 8-4, at 149 pounds.
Army then took control as sophomore Russell Parsons (157) improved to 19-7 overall and 4-1 in duals this season with an 8-3 decision over Casey Mitchell. Senior Cole Gracey (165) made his first dual appearance of the season, making easy work of Johnny Vrasidas in a 15-0 tech. fall victory.
Junior Brian Harvey extended Army's lead to 12 at 19-7, getting past Conan Schuster in a 4-0 decision. Sophomore Samson Imonode then earned a 6-5 decision over Elliot Antler at 184 pounds in his dual match debut to put the match out of reach.
Army went up 28-7 when junior Bryce Barnes pinned Sasha Oliinyk (5:19) at 197. The Black Knights won the final six bouts, capped off by an injury default victory for junior Tyler McLees over Dan Hayden in his first dual match appearance of the season at the heavyweight class.
"I think Everett, Gracey and Barnes looked really dominant getting some bonus points," continued Ward. "We will get back to work in a couple days and get ready for a tough match with Penn next week."
Army will travel to Philadelphia, Pa., next for another conference battle with the Penn Quakers on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m.
MATCH NOTES
Army improved to 12-0 all-time versus Sacred Heart ... Cole Gracey earned his 89th career victory and team-leading 26th win on the season ... Gracey competed in his first dual match of the season ... Samson Imonode and Tyler McLees both picked up their first career dual wins.
Army 34, Sacred Heart 7
125: Sean Badua (A) dec. Patrick Skinner, 12-5
133: Tim Johnson (S) maj. dec. Christian Doyle, 9-0
141: Logan Everett (A) tech. fall Jay Oakes, 20-5
149: Brendan Goldup (S) dec. Andrew Mendel, 8-4
157: Russell Parsons (A) dec. Casey Mitchell, 8-3
165: Cole Gracey (A) tech. fall Johnny Vrasidas, 15-0
174: Brian Harvey (A) dec. Conan Schuster, 4-0
184: Samson Imonode (A) dec. Elliot Antler, 6-5
197: Bryce Barnes (A) pinned Sasha Oliinyk (5:19)
285: Tyler McLees (A) med. forfeit Dan Hayden
Players Mentioned
