Easton, PA – The Army Prep Wrestling team kicked off the 2007-2008 season at the Lafayette Leopard Invitational in dominating fashion. The Black Knights placed second overall to Northampton CC, earning individual championships at four different weight classes, with three other wrestlers placing in the top three.
At 125 lbs, Travis Coffey smashed through the competition, pinning his way through the tournament. In his final bout, Coffey stuck Jeff Dorsey of Northampton CC in the second period with a devastating pinning combination that proved too much for Dorsey to handle.
John Michael Simpson followed suit at 133 lbs. by pinning his way to a gold medal with a pin of Army’s Josh Sanhaus in the first period of the finals. Simpson opened up the match with a quick takedown, followed by a Sanhaus escape. Simpson quickly countered with another lightning quick takedown straight into a textbook cradle to secure the pin and the win.
At 141 lbs, Zach Clark represented the USMAPS team with a solid third place finish. He opened up the tournament with a strong match, taking down Kenre Harvin of Gloucester CC in his opening bout with a score of 10-4. Clark then faced Jeff Rinker of NCC and was caught in a tough hold and pinned; however, Clark showed resilience as he plowed through the remaining competition. Clark came back to pin Neil Strebig of Lafayette in dominating fashion. He then faced Harvin once again, this time for the third place medal. It was all Clark in the rematch, as he turned in a 10-6 win and third place finish.
At 149, Jim Rafferty put in a full day’s labor, fighting through the consolation brackets to a third place finish after dropping an exciting 7-4 decision to Rudy Chelednik of Army. Raff then tore through the competition with an unwavering spirit. In his first consolation bout, Rafferty pinned Steve Haas of Luzerne County CC. In the next round, Rafferty collected four takedowns and two sets of near fall points as he steamrolled the University of Delaware’s Marc Villano. Raff then received a medical default into the consolation finals where he faced Andrew Lowy of Blair Academy. Raff opened up the match with three electrifying takedowns and an escape, giving up only two points to Lowy. The match ended with a dominate 7-2 victory and third place finish for Raff.
Mike Gorman helped add to the stack of points for the Black Knights at 165 lbs by capturing the championship. Gorman opened up the tournament with an exhilarating 20-5 technical fall over D.J. Neri of Lafayette College. In this bout, Gorman collected an amazing six takedowns with two sets of near fall points to propel himself into the semifinal round. In the semifinals, it was all Gorman as he blasted through Mike Wright of Delaware with a second period pin. In the finals, Gorman used his conditioning to knock off Army’s Tim Dean in sudden victory overtime. Gorman led the match from the start, jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the second period. Dean rebounded with an escape and quick takedown for near fall points to give him the 7-5 lead going into the final period. In the third period, Gorman allowed an escape, but rebounded with a takedown making the match 8-7 in Dean’s favor as the time clock ran dry. Gorman was awarded one point for a full minute’s riding time advantage which sent the match into overtime, where Gorman used a shot combined with a body lock to gain the final points of the match as well as the 165 lbs crown.
Derek Stanley added to the fire with a championship in the 174 lbs. bracket. He began the match with a sound 12-6 decision over Mike Bard of Delaware. Stanley then advanced to the finals where he faced Matt Landon of Northampton CC. It was all Stanley in the finals. In the first period, both wrestlers battled hard for positions and wound up in a few scrambles, but no points were awarded. Landon chose the bottom position in the second period, but was unable to score as Stanley rode him out for the full two minutes. Stanley chose the bottom position in the third period, where he earned a reversal and two near fall points to seal the victory in the match. Stanley was given a point for riding time advantage to end the finals with a 5-0 decision.
The final medal winner for the USMAPS Black Knights was Ryan Johnson, who competed at 197 lbs. Johnson opened up the tournament with a tough 8-1 loss to Luzerne County CC’s Justin Parker. He then bounced back to take his next two matches. He defeated Lafayette College’s Marty Racenis with a first period pin, using a neck shattering headlock to secure the win. In the consolation finals, Johnson faced second seed Nick Stratis of Gloucester CC. Johnson opened the bout with a takedown and tough ride from the top position. Stratis then hit a standup and attempted to cut away from Johnson, but the combination of Johnson’s raw strength and crushing bear hug send Stratis to the mat. Johnson quickly jumped on top and laced Stratis’s legs with his own, taking the life out of him and earning the pin, as well as third place medal.
“I’m really proud of the guys today. They went out and did what they had to do to get the job done” said head coach Austin Milster. “Every one of them wrestled with a lot of heart and I was pleased with our level of conditioning. Obviously there are still some technical things we can work on, but this was a great way to start out the year.”
The next event for the Army Prep wrestling team is the East Stroudsburg Open on November 17th at East Stroudsburg University. The team will use the upcoming weeks in preparation for this event and hopes to follow up this weekend’s performance with another strong showing.
