Wrestling Basile Wins Black Knight Invite; Team Finishes Third Overall

Sunday, November 23

West Point, N.Y.

ALL DAY (10:00 a.m. start)

Army West Point

Black Knight Invite

Wrestling Basile Wins Black Knight Invite; Team Finishes Third Overall

November 23, 2025 | Wrestling

Full Results

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point wrestling turned in a strong team performance at Sunday's Black Knight Invite at Christl Arena, finishing third overall among seven programs, while Braden Basile won the 141 lb tournament title and was one of 15 Black Knight athletes to place.

Basile's 141 lb title bout came against top-seeded Aaron Nagao of Penn State. While the Nittany Lion pulled ahead 3-0 early in the match, an injury suffered early in the second period forced Nagao to withdraw, handing the title to Basile by default.

Basile had previously won three matches to earn a spot in the finals, including an 11-3 major decision over Cael Nasdeo—also of Penn State—in the semifinals.

PSU came away with the team title Sunday, with 197 total points. Army finished third with 117.5 points, just one point behind second place Columbia.

Ethan Berginc (133), Gunner Filipowicz (165), Wolfgang Frable (197) and Brady Colbert (285) each finished second at Christl Arena. Berginc's day included two wins by decision as well as an 18-3 technical fall over Chattanooga's Bryce Luna, before his title defense finished one match short. Frable meanwhile recorded a first round technical fall over LIU's Kaleb Wright before a pair of decisions—including a semifinal win over teammate Chris Murphy—placed him in the title bout.

Filipowicz too earned a first round bonus point win before knocking off a pair of foes by decision to reach the championship, while Colbert utilized a first round bye and quarterfinal major decision to punch his ticket to the final.

Charlie Farmer (125), Jake Crapps (133), Mason Barvirskie (149), Cooper Haase (174) and Murphy (197) each finished in fourth.

Andrew Christie (174) recovered from a first round loss to eventual champion Levi Haines of Penn State to go 4-0 the rest of the day and place fifth. Reid Schroeder (197) too took a defeat in the first round to finish fifth.

Kellen Smith (157), Micah Hanau (165) and Sam Sorenson (285) each took sixth to round out the podium for Army.

Coach's Corner

"There was a lot going on today. We're still trying to analyze where we're at. I think overall, it got better as the day went. I think we wrestled better. First round, we were probably a little sluggish, but this is the competition we're going to see at the national tournament, and I thought it was important to be able to prepare for that," said Class of 1972 Head Men's Wrestling Coach Troy Nickerson.

On Basile winning the 141 lb title by injury: "[First off] I hope [PSU's] kid is okay. But Braden has been slowly making progressions. He's really starting to develop. I'm happy with how he's wrestling right now."

On Wisconsin next at Christl Arena: "We need your support. Bottom line, you know this is going to be a big dual. We both have borderline top 25 teams right now. It's going to be an exciting duel. We want to come out on top and we need your help."

Cadet's Corner – Braden Basile

"My heart goes out to my opponent in the final. I never want to see somebody get hurt, speaking from experience. But at the end of the day, a win is a win. I had three wins before that, so obviously it took some work to get there," said Basile.

Next Up

Army remains home for its season-opening home dual vs. Wisconsin on December 6. The first bout will get underway from Christl Arena at 7:00 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 wrestling and other programs at goarmywestpoint.com.