Senior captain Fernando Martinez won his second-straight 125-pound championship, while sophomore Matthew Kyler swept four matches en route to his second-consecutive 141-pound crown. Junior Whitt Dunning (133 pounds), freshman Sean Joyce (157) and sophomore Ryan Mergen (174) all wrestled to second-place finishes, while senior heavyweight Nathan Thobaben finished third and freshman Casey Thome (149) finished fourth. Sophomore Richard Starks (197) and freshman Patrick Smith (184) also scored for Army, each notching sixth-place efforts.
"I thought this was a really good team performance," said head coach Chuck Barbee. "We battled some injuries and really had to work our tails off to hold off a tough Buffalo team so I'm real proud of our team. Coming in, we certainly weren't the favorite to win, but the guys really stepped it up and made it happen. The five guys in the finals all wrestled very well."
Martinez, seeded first in the weight class, started the tournament off with a 16-0 tech fall over NYU's Kyle Christensen (3:00) on Friday night, before earning a 8-5 decision over Cornell's Frankd Perrelli and a 5-0 decision against Buffalo's Dan Bishop. Ranked 15th in this week's W.I.N. Magazine national poll, and 19th in the Intermat/NWCA poll, Martinez improved his record to 24-3 this season and picked up his 60th career victory for a 61-23 collegiate record.
Kyler, also the top-seed in his division, opened the championship on Friday night by pinning Niagara County C.C.'s Mike Tiller (2:58) and Oneonta State's Michael Gregg (4:57), before picking up a 14-3 major decision opposite Buffalo's Andrew Stella in the semifinals, and downing NYU's Stephen Hult, 11-6, in the championship bout. Ranked in three national polls, including 17th in the Intermat/NWCA, Kyler's season record is now a team-best 27-5, including a squad-best 13 pins and 16 bonus-point victories.
After picking up a 19-2 tech fall (7:00) over Oneonta's Walter Moore and a 4-0 decision from Columbia's Jerome Greco on Friday, Dunning advanced to the championship match with a 4-3 decision over Cortland's Dave Colagiovanni. Nassau C.C.'s Chris Notte earned a 3-1 decision over Dunning in the final. Dunning's season record stands at 21-12.
Fourth-seeded Joyce picked up a 6-2 decision over Wagner's Sean Quinn on Friday, before opening the second day of action with a 6-3 decision over top-seeded John Cummings from Buffalo. His championship bid came up short after a tough 2-0 loss to Columbia's Matt Dunn in the final.
Mergen, seeded third, pinned Nassau C.C.'s Eric Roering (4:50) and picked up a 13-4 major decision over Oneonta State's Josh Wake on Friday. Following a slim 1-0 decision over Buffalo's Mike Ragusa, Mergen fell, 6-1 in the final to top-seeded Joey Hooker of Cornell.
Thobaben, seeded second, picked up decisions over Columbia's Jed Wade (4-1) and Nassau C.C.'s Brandon Williamson (10-3) to start the tournament off, before losing a 7-4 decision to Cornell's Maliej Jochym in the semifinals on Saturday. He bounced back with a 57-second pin of Columbia's Jed Wade in the consolation bracket, before beating Buffalo's Jeff Parker, 6-1, in the third-place match.
After hosting Sacred Heart this Wednesday (Jan. 23) at 7:30 p.m. in Gillis Field House, Army will travel to New England on Saturday (Jan. 26) and make stops at Brown (11:00 p.m.) and Harvard (5:00 p.m.) for two separate dual meets.
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