Simpson continues to dominate

Freshman wrestler holds 21-3 record in inaugural season

By James Kramer
Athletic Media Relations Assistant

One week after falling short on an attempt to pick up its first victory over a nationally ranked opponent in seven years, Army wrestling bounced back, scoring a lopsided 27-9 decision over No. 19 Wisconsin at the Virginia Duals.

Army cruised through the match nearly unscathed, securing a victory in seven of the ten bouts in the rout of the Big Ten-power. At 6-1, the Black Knights are off to their best start since 1994 and have not defeated an opponent ranked this high since edging No. 8 Bloomsburg 20-19 on Feb. 20, 1987.

"Everything that our guys needed to do to win, they did," said head coach Chuck Barbee. "Today [Jan. 11] we learned how to wrestle at the kind of level that is needed to do well at nationals."

Freshman Phillip Simpson and senior co-captain Graig Cooper led the offensive charge, knocking off two nationally ranked opponents. Simpson, who was searching for an unprecedented seventh straight pin, out dueled the Badgers’ Grant Hoerr, 5-4. Hoerr, ranked 18th in the nation in the latest Intermat wrestling rankings, is a returning NCAA All-American.

Cooper, who has struggled with a rib injury this season, picked up one of the biggest wins in his Army career with an 8-5 decision over Ralph DeNisco. The Wisconsin grappler was ranked 11th in the nation at 184 pounds and had recently downed two of the top ten 184-pounders in the country.

MATCH RESULTS

125 - Tony Black (W) dec. Matt Magennis, 8-2
133 - T.J. Grider (A) win by forfeit
141 - Phillip Simpson (A) dec. Grant Hoerr, 5-4
149 - Eric Miller (A) WBF Chris Borchardt, 4:32
157 - Jeremy Conner (A) dec. Adam Turner, 5-3
165 - Ryan Lewis (W) dec. Ron Schroeder, 6-3
174 - Brady Reinke (W) dec. Kurt Pryor, 9-7
184 - Graig Cooper (A) dec. Ralph DeNisco, 8-5
197 - John Paxton (A) dec. Jareck Horton, 7-1
HWT - Brendon Devlin (A) dec. Justin Staelder, 8-3