Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Bucknell
Wrestling Falls in Road Test at No. 22 Bucknell
February 14, 2015 | Wrestling
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Army wrestling team dropped a 25-13 decision to Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) foe No. 22 Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Davis Gym.
“We won four matches and let two slip away,” said Army head coach Kevin Ward. “Not a terrible performance, just not the excitement that we needed to be able to beat a top 25 team.”
The match started at 149 and Bucknell, which is ranked 22nd in the latest USA Today/NWCA national poll, (15-3 overall, 8-0 EIWA) took an early 4-0 advantage after Victor Lopez posted a 16-4 major decision over junior Javier Rodriguez.
Army (2-6, 2-4) came back to take the lead, winning each of the next three matches and four of the next five. Sophomore Russell Parsons, ranked 16th in the 157-pound weight class, earned a 9-3 victory at 157 before No. 20 Cole Gracey collected his team-leading 30th victory of the season with a 6-2 decision over Bucknell’s Robert Schlitt in the 165 match to give the Black Knights a 6-4 lead.
Army junior Brian Harvey extended Army’s advantage to six points after winning by major decision, 11-2, against Joey Krulock at 174 pounds. The Bison climbed back to within three, thanks to an 11-6 win by Tom Sleigh in the 184-pound match.
At 197, 17th-ranked Bryce Barnes earned a 3-2 victory over Bucknell’s Tyler Lyster to make the score 13-7, in favor of the Black Knights, but No. 11 Joe Stolfi knotted the match up at 13-13 after winning by fall in the 285 bout.
No. 19 Paul Petrov helped Bucknell take back the lead with a technical fall victory at 125 before the Bison collected a major decision at 133 and a 9-4 win at 141.
“I knew going into the match that we were going to need to wrestle with some excitement and emotion to have a good performance and I don’t think we did that at every weight,” added Ward. “I know, without a doubt, you will see a much more fired-up team from this point forward.”
Army returns home for its final dual match of the season, when the Black Knights host service-academy rival Navy on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m. at Christl Arena.
No. 22 Bucknell 25, Army 13
149: Victor Lopez (B) maj. dec. Javier Rodriguez, 16-4
157: No. 16 Russell Parsons (A) dec. Logan Kerin, 9-3
165: No. 20 Cole Gracey (A) dec. Robert Schlitt, 6-2
174: Brian Harvey (A) maj. dec. Joey Krulock, 11-2
184: Tom Sleigh (B) dec. Samson Imonode, 11-6
197: No. 17 Bryce Barnes (A) dec. Tyler Lyster, 3-2
285: No. 11 Joe Stolfi (B) pinned Stephen Snyder (2:57)
125: No. 19 Paul Petrov (B) tech. fall Sean Badua, 17-0 (6:35)
133: Grim Gonzalez (B) maj. dec. Christian Doyle, 12-4
141: Tyler Smith (B) dec. Logan Everett, 9-4
Players Mentioned
