Sharpshooters Hit the Road to Face No. 3 WVU

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point Rifle team travels to take on its biggest challenge to date. The No. 9 Black Knights will face No. 3 West Virginia on Saturday, November 14. The three-time defending NCAA Champion Mountaineers are the highest ranked team Army has faced this season.

LAST TIME OUT
The Black Knights hosted the all service academy President Trophy's Match this past Saturday and had its best team outing of the year. While Army placed second in four-man NCAA scoring behind Air Force (4679), the Cadets outshot Navy (4642) and Coast Guard (4495) with a season-high 4655. Their 2313 smallbore scored all set a new season-high while tying their best result in air rifle with a 2342.

"I think that performance was a good confidence booster," stated Black Knights head coach Web Wright. "They know it's possible and they are seeing they can do it. They are all starting to put it together as a group. We have had some good individual performances over the past few matches but this is the first time everybody really came together and shot well as a team."

FRESHMAN BREWER SHINES WHILE SENIOR GESTL PROVIDES STABILITY
Army had a mix of youth and veteran perform well at the President Trophy's Match. Freshman Nathan Brewer earned medalist honors in smallbore with a 586 score, tying Josh Martin for the best mark this year. It also marked the second straight season a Black Knights' freshman won the smallbore event in the President Trophy's Match with Martin performing the feat last year. Junior Allen Solida also tied for runner-up with a 582.

In air rifle, senior Alyssa Gestl shot a 590, good enough for a fifth-place tie. It also tied her career-high while setting a new season-high for any Cadet.

WRIGHT COMING HOME
First-year Black Knights head coach Web Wright leads his team into an environment he is plenty familiar with. The former seven-time All-American, three-time NCAA team champion, and two-time NCAA smallbore champion was a 1989 graduate of West Virginia.

"It's really cool," said Wright in regards to the match-up of top ten teams and his return to the school as the opposition. "It's the first time I'll go back there and shoot against my alma mater. I left and went into the Army and the Army has been my life ever since. So, my loyalty is obviously with Army and the Army team."

LOOK AT WEST VIRGINIA
The Mountaineers are the defending national champions and have won a NCAA-best 17 national titles. They enter Saturday's match unbeaten on the season. Most recently, West Virginia knocked off Murray State 4697-4692.

Senior Garrett Spurgeon is an eight-time All-American and has the top individual aggregate score (1186) in the NCAA this season, a feat he accomplished against Ole Miss two weeks ago.

NEXT UP: #2 TCU
The schedule does not get any easier for Army after this weekend. The Cadets host No. 2 TCU on Sunday, November 22. The Horned Frogs go into this weekend 6-0 and travel to face No. 7 Ohio State.

Army Black Knights		West Virginia Mountaineers
1-3	Overall Record	5-0
1-2	Conference Record	3-0
4637.6	Average Aggregate Score	4704.4
2300.8	Average Smallbore Score	2333.4
2336.8	Average Air Rifle Score	2371
Alyssa Gestl (1170 at Ole Miss)	Best Individual Performance	Garrett Spurgeon (1186 at Ole Miss)

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Sharpshooters Hit the Road to Face No. 3 WVU

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Players Mentioned

Nathan Brewer

Alyssa Gestl

Josh Martin

Allen Solida

Army West Point Athletics