Wrestling Lands Three Champions, 14 Placeholders at Princeton Open

Sunday, November 3

Princeton, N.J.

All Day

Army West Point

Princeton Open

Wrestling Lands Three Champions, 14 Placeholders at Princeton Open

November 03, 2024 | Wrestling

Full Results

PRINCETON, N.J. – Army West Point Wrestling opened the 2024-25 season in style Sunday at the Princeton Open, collecting three individual championships, five finals appearances and 14 podium finishes.

Ethan Berginc (133 lbs), Gunner Filipowicz (165 lbs) and Dalton Harkins (174 lbs) each won the title in their respective weight classes. Cooper Haase (174 lbs) and Sam Sorenson (285 lbs) were finalists in their career debuts, with the 174 lb title bout being an all-Army affair.

Charles Farmer (125 lbs), Wolfgang Frable (197lbs) and Brady Colbert (285lbs) each finished third. Ryan Franco (141lbs) and Mark Metz (157lbs) followed in fourth, Trae McDaniel (149lbs), Dakota Morris (157lbs) and Austin Kohlhofer (197lbs) were fifth and Richard Treanor (141lbs) claimed sixth place.

"Really valuable experience gained today," said head coach Kevin Ward. "It was nice to see some of our more experienced guys lead the group and set the tone for how our team should compete. And our younger guys are leaving with a lot of valuable lessons learned. We will take a lot away from this tournament that we can take into the practice room and improve on. Our program is always based on hustle, effort, and improvement and we can certainly improve after today."

"Today was a great start to the season, going up a weight class," said Berginc. "I really focused on getting stronger and having proper nutrition. But my main focus throughout the preseason was my mindset, meeting with our performance psych each week and just talking about trust in myself and living for competitive moments. This has played a major factor thus far, as I embrace every aspect, both positive and negative, and just go out, let it rip and have fun."

Berginc went 4-0 Sunday with a trio of bonus point wins, including a win by fall over Hofstra's Gauge Shipp in the semifinals.

"I had a mindset of positivity and grit today," said Filipowicz. "I knew through my training that I was going to be tougher than whoever I wrestled, and I was going to be happier when I did it."

Filipowicz was 5-0 on his way to the crown, with technical fall wins in the Rounds of 32 and 16.

"I had fun today. I thought I went out there and wrestled tough matches, getting to the positions I wanted to be in," said Harkins. "I thought our team looked tough today. Looking forward, we can learn a lot from our performances in order to prepare for our duals in Charleston."

Harkins' major decision over teammate Haase capped his 5-0 day, featuring two pins.

Next Up

The Black Knights gear up for the signature Throwdown on the Yorktown event held November 8 on the Deck of the USS Yorktown in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Army will wrestle duals vs. The Citadel and Gardner-Webb beginning at 5:00 p.m.

Follow the Black Knights

Follow Army Wrestling on X @ArmyWP_Wrestling. Fans can also like Army West Point Athletics on Facebook and learn more about baseball and other programs at goarmywestpoint.com.