Wrestling Falls Short at Navy

Saturday, February 20

Annapolis, MD

7:30 PM

Army West Point

Navy

Wrestling Falls Short at Navy

February 20, 2016 | Wrestling

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In front of a crowd of more than 2,500 at Alumni Hall, the Army West Point wrestling team gave Navy everything it had, but fell to the Mids 19-17 Saturday night.

"It was a tough loss for sure," said head coach Kevin Ward. "You never want to lose an important dual meet. Bonus points were the difference in the end. There are some positives to take away from tonight, though. With maybe two exceptions, all of our guys stepped onto the mat expecting to win.

"We fought. We made some mistakes that cost us, but we fought hard. Whether we won or lost tonight, we still would have had work to do. The biggest tournament so far is two weeks away. We are taking ten guys whose goals are to be on an NCAA podium. That's our focus now."

The meet started at 125 pounds where Sean Badua replicated his performance from last season, taking a decision over Brant Leadbeter. The sophomore from Manassas, Va., used a 5-3 score to give the Cadets an early 3-0 lead.

The Mids would answer back with a pair of decisions to turn their three-point deficit into a three-point lead. A major decision by senior Austin Wilding's brother, Corey, at 141 pounds allowed Navy to be the first to double-digit points with a 10-3 lead.

Army countered that with a pair of its own majors from constants Russell Parsons Jr., the team's leader in wins (24) and dual wins (8), and Andrew Mendel, who improved to 15-14 on the season. Mendel's 11-3 major decision avenged his 5-3 loss to John Keck from Nov. 8, at the Binghamton Open.

The following bout was the rematch everyone was waiting for at 174 pounds: No. 18 Brian Harvey against No. 19 Jadaen Bernstein. Harvey doubled-up Bernstein in their previous two meetings, 2-1 in last year's dual, and 4-2 in the finals at this season's All-Academy Championships. The senior from New Palestine, Ind., scrapped for all seven minutes, eventually earning the 3-2 decision to give the Black Knights a 14-10 lead.

The turning point in the meet was at 184 when 12^th-ranked Matthew Miller gave Navy six points with a first-period pin.

Now facing a 16-14 deficit, Army had to respond if it wanted a chance to seal the win in the heavyweight bout. Seniors Bryce Barnes and Michael Woulfe battled each other tough, but Barnes was unable to comeback from a 4-1 deficit in the final period.

Army kicks off its postseason at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships, hosted by Princeton, on March 5 and 6.

For up-to-date information on Army wrestling visit GoArmyWestPoint.com or follow @ArmyWP_Wres on Twitter.

RESULTS:
125: Sean Badua (Army) dec. over Brant Leadbeter (Navy), 5-3 (ARMY 3-0)
133: Zack Davis (Navy) dec. over Austin Harry (Army), 8-1 (TIED 3-3)
141: Nicholas Gil (Navy) dec. over Logan Everett (Army), 8-7 (NAVY 6-3)
149: Corey Wilding (Navy) maj. dec. over Mark Marchetti (Army), 10-1 (NAVY 10-3)
157: Russell Parsons Jr. (Army) maj. dec. over Drew Daniels (Navy), 13-2 (NAVY 10-7)
165: Andrew Mendel (Army) maj. dec. over John Keck (Navy), 11-3 (ARMY 11-10)
174: #18 Brian Harvey (Army) dec. over #19 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy), 3-2 (ARMY 14-10)
184: #12 Mathew Miller (Navy) pins Samson Imonode (Army) at 1:18 (NAVY 16-14)
197: Michael Woulfe (Navy) dec. over Bryce Barnes (Army), 6-3 (NAVY 19-14)
285: Trevor Smith/David Farr (Army) dec. over Nick Mabry (Navy), 5-0 (NAVY 19-17)
FINAL SCORE: Navy 19, Army 17