Return to the "POINTER VIEW"February 8, 2002
Return to the "POINTER VIEW"
February 8, 2002
The Army wrestling program continued its successful campaign with a fourth-place finish at the 2002 All-Academy Championships hosted by The Citadel Saturday. The Black Knights had three finalists and one individual champion as Air Force escaped with the team title.
Senior co-captain Graig Cooper became a two-time All-Academy individual champion with a 6-4 decision over Jason Cox of VMI. Cooper, who has been slowed this season with minor injuries, had his best performance of the season en route to the first-place finish. Cooper won by technical fall in his first bout against Coast Guard’s Ernie Saponara, then followed with a major decision over John Bohren of The Citadel.
The Black Knights had two other competitors reach the championship finals, however, both Army grapplers finished runners-up at both weight classes.
Junior John Paxton finished second at 197 pounds after dominating his first two competitors. Paxton scored a major decision over Kings Point’s Ed DiPierro in his first round bout, and used a 6-0 blanking over Air Force’s Ryan Kaiser to vault into the championship match. Paxton’s win over Kaiser atones for an early season loss against his academy-adversary at the Las Vegas Invitational. Despite a monumental effort, Paxton was stopped by Navy’s Mike Bigrigg in the finals 11-6.
"John shows continued improvement and he put himself in a position to win today," said Barbee. "We are proud of his efforts. We hope that John builds on today, and makes the necessary adjustments in order to become more consistent."
Freshman sensation Phillip Simpson was an individual finalist at 141 pounds. Simpson started the day strong, notching his 15th pin of the season, a fall victory over Casey Dexter of Kings Point. However, in the finals, Simpson faced Navy All-American senior Mark Conley. Conley, ranked second in the nation at the 141-pound classification, fought off a tremendous effort from the Army plebe, eventually picking up the 7-4 win. Simpson had the lead several times in the match as the two competitors traded blows throughout the seven-minute contest. Simpson qualified for the finals after securing a tough 6-2 decision over Chris Bennett of Air Force.
"Phillip made a few mistakes, and being the experienced senior, Conley was able to take advantage," explained Barbee. "It was a tremendous match, with the lead exchanging between the competitors several times. We know Phillip will not be satisfied, and has probably already begun preparing for next time."
Army also received critical points from junior Jeremy Conner and sophomore Matt Bernard, who both finished third overall. Conner started slow, dropping a 5-2 decision to Blaine Brown of Air Force. Conner would bounce back, winning his final two bouts, including the place-clinching match against Mike Carbonaro of Navy. Bernard, who won several of his matches at 174 pounds in the third period, upended Navy’s Andrew Hemminger 3-1 in the third-place match.