Army West Point Athletics
Sunday, November 22
Ithaca, NY
All Day
Army West Point
at
New York State Championships
Wrestling Takes Second at NY State Championships
November 22, 2015 | Wrestling
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Army West Point wrestling team posted a second-place finish at the New York State Championships, hosted by Cornell, behind a 1st-place finish from Rocco Caywood at 197 pounds on Sunday.
The Big Red, who are ranked fourth in the nation by InterMat in tournaments, won the tournament with 202 points and five individual champions, including 10th-ranked Duke Pickett at 165, fourth-ranked Nashon Garrett at 133, second-ranked Brian Realbuto at 174 and top-ranked Gabe Dean at 184.
It was Army's best finish at the tournament since the 2011-12 season in which the Black Knights finished first.
"There is no question that we showed some improvements today," said head coach Kevin Ward. "I am proud of the fight we showed in most situations. I thought we let a few matches get away from us, but those are some things we can work on. Overall, it was a good experience before Thanksgiving."
All 10 of the Black Knights advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective weight classes with only one failing to place in the top-eight. Brian Harvey (174), Bryce Barnes (197), Samson Imonode (184), Mark Marchetti (149) and Caywood all advanced to the championship matches of their respective weight classes while Logan Everett (141), Russell Parsons Jr. (157), Andrew Mendel (165) and Trevor Smith (285) managed to fight their way to the third-place match after falling in the semifinals.
Caywood was the lone Black Knight to finish the day undefeated and as a top-finisher in his weight class with four victories. The freshman started his first appearance at the state tournament with a pin in the first period. The Perrysburg, Ohio, native continued with decisions of 4-2 and 3-1 with the latter coming in the first period of sudden victory. In the finals, he topped Barnes by a 3-1 decision for his first-career individual championship.
"Rocco did a good job today," said Ward. "Winning that bracket as a freshman is impressive. Still, I know he is capable of a lot more, and he knows that as well. He needs to score more. We are fortunate to have two guys, with him and Barnes, at that weight."
Barnes earned back-to-back bonus point victories with a pin in period one and a 19-4 technical fall. The senior from Virginia Beach, Va., earned a 5-3 decision over Cornell's Jacob Taylor.
Harvey opened his day with four-straight victories, three of which came by bonus points. After an 11-6 decision, he rattled off two falls in the middle frame before earning a 17-2 technical fall. His lone hiccup came in the finals against the Realbuto, the second-best wrestler in the nation at 174 pounds, by an 8-3 decision.
Imonode stated quickly with a 16-point shutout technical fall. After decisions of 10-3 and 8-3, the junior from Phoenix, Ariz., ran into Dean in the finals. Imonode was the only opponent of the top-ranked 184-pounder to not be pinned.
Marchetti earned a 15-2 major decision to start the tournament before he battled through a 6-4 decision and a 3-2 decision. He fell 5-2 in the finals to Daniel Pak from Ithaca.
Everett started the day red hot as he recorded two technical falls and a major decision in his first three matches. After suffering a setback to the eventual 141 champion Dylan Realbuto, the junior from Tioga, Pa., closed out his third-place finish with a pair of pins and a 5-1 record.
Smith took two-consecutive decisions of 6-1 and 5-0 before falling by decision to the eventual champion, Mike Hughes from Hofstra. In order to reach the third-place match, the native of Eaton, Colo., had to face RIT's Sam Weinger for the second time in the tournament. After opening the tournament against Weinger, Smith fought his way to a 2-0 decision en route to a third-place finish.
Parsons Jr., who is ranked 19th by InterMat, used three-straight bonus point wins to earn a bid into the semifinals. Back-to-back 16-point performances with a technical fall and a major decision preceded a pin in the final seconds of the opening frame of his quarterfinal match. An 8-5 setback was followed by Parsons Jr.'s second pin of the tournament, this time at 2:18. The junior from Clinton, N.J. was unable to continue, however, and mad to forfeit for medical reasons before the third-place match.
Mendel opened the tournament with a 7-1 decision and followed that up with a 15-2 major decision. He fell by major decision to Pickett before earning a birth into the consolation finals after another major decision, but found himself on the wrong side of an 8-5 decision in the match.
Army returns to action after the holiday on Dec. 4 and 5 at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev.
For up-to-date information on Army wrestling visit GoArmyWestPoint.com or follow @ArmyWP_Wres on Twitter.
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The Big Red, who are ranked fourth in the nation by InterMat in tournaments, won the tournament with 202 points and five individual champions, including 10th-ranked Duke Pickett at 165, fourth-ranked Nashon Garrett at 133, second-ranked Brian Realbuto at 174 and top-ranked Gabe Dean at 184.
It was Army's best finish at the tournament since the 2011-12 season in which the Black Knights finished first.
"There is no question that we showed some improvements today," said head coach Kevin Ward. "I am proud of the fight we showed in most situations. I thought we let a few matches get away from us, but those are some things we can work on. Overall, it was a good experience before Thanksgiving."
All 10 of the Black Knights advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective weight classes with only one failing to place in the top-eight. Brian Harvey (174), Bryce Barnes (197), Samson Imonode (184), Mark Marchetti (149) and Caywood all advanced to the championship matches of their respective weight classes while Logan Everett (141), Russell Parsons Jr. (157), Andrew Mendel (165) and Trevor Smith (285) managed to fight their way to the third-place match after falling in the semifinals.
Caywood was the lone Black Knight to finish the day undefeated and as a top-finisher in his weight class with four victories. The freshman started his first appearance at the state tournament with a pin in the first period. The Perrysburg, Ohio, native continued with decisions of 4-2 and 3-1 with the latter coming in the first period of sudden victory. In the finals, he topped Barnes by a 3-1 decision for his first-career individual championship.
"Rocco did a good job today," said Ward. "Winning that bracket as a freshman is impressive. Still, I know he is capable of a lot more, and he knows that as well. He needs to score more. We are fortunate to have two guys, with him and Barnes, at that weight."
Barnes earned back-to-back bonus point victories with a pin in period one and a 19-4 technical fall. The senior from Virginia Beach, Va., earned a 5-3 decision over Cornell's Jacob Taylor.
Harvey opened his day with four-straight victories, three of which came by bonus points. After an 11-6 decision, he rattled off two falls in the middle frame before earning a 17-2 technical fall. His lone hiccup came in the finals against the Realbuto, the second-best wrestler in the nation at 174 pounds, by an 8-3 decision.
Imonode stated quickly with a 16-point shutout technical fall. After decisions of 10-3 and 8-3, the junior from Phoenix, Ariz., ran into Dean in the finals. Imonode was the only opponent of the top-ranked 184-pounder to not be pinned.
Marchetti earned a 15-2 major decision to start the tournament before he battled through a 6-4 decision and a 3-2 decision. He fell 5-2 in the finals to Daniel Pak from Ithaca.
Everett started the day red hot as he recorded two technical falls and a major decision in his first three matches. After suffering a setback to the eventual 141 champion Dylan Realbuto, the junior from Tioga, Pa., closed out his third-place finish with a pair of pins and a 5-1 record.
Smith took two-consecutive decisions of 6-1 and 5-0 before falling by decision to the eventual champion, Mike Hughes from Hofstra. In order to reach the third-place match, the native of Eaton, Colo., had to face RIT's Sam Weinger for the second time in the tournament. After opening the tournament against Weinger, Smith fought his way to a 2-0 decision en route to a third-place finish.
Parsons Jr., who is ranked 19th by InterMat, used three-straight bonus point wins to earn a bid into the semifinals. Back-to-back 16-point performances with a technical fall and a major decision preceded a pin in the final seconds of the opening frame of his quarterfinal match. An 8-5 setback was followed by Parsons Jr.'s second pin of the tournament, this time at 2:18. The junior from Clinton, N.J. was unable to continue, however, and mad to forfeit for medical reasons before the third-place match.
Mendel opened the tournament with a 7-1 decision and followed that up with a 15-2 major decision. He fell by major decision to Pickett before earning a birth into the consolation finals after another major decision, but found himself on the wrong side of an 8-5 decision in the match.
Army returns to action after the holiday on Dec. 4 and 5 at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev.
For up-to-date information on Army wrestling visit GoArmyWestPoint.com or follow @ArmyWP_Wres on Twitter.
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