NCWA Northeast Conference Tournament

28-FEB 2009

Albany, NY -- The USMAPS wrestling team traveled to Albany, NY this past weekend to compete in the NCWA North East Conference Tournament. 5 out of 6 wrestlers qualified for the NCWA Nationals on March 13th and 14th. Despite only having 6 of the 11 possible weight classes, the team achieved a place of 5th out of 27 teams.

Joseph Sterr, wrestling at 125, went 1-2 on the day winning a close bout in the second round over a determined opponent.

Steven West dominated his competition throughout the tournament exceeding his 4th seeded position to take first at 133. His performance earned him a trip to nationals and his advancement points contributed significantly to our team score.

Dillon Horn pulled several upsets in the 149 weight class. Unseeded in the tournament he finished 4th over all, winning  him a spot at nationals. Horn had 2 very tough matches leading up to the consolation finals which he won by a close margin. In the consolation finals he suffered a close defeat to a Navy prepster.

Eric Gobin had an amazing performance. He was seeded 11th in his weight and upset the 3rd seed in the quarter finals and the 2nd seed in the semi finals. In his finals match he lost to a Navy prepster named Jacob Schalles by a score of 6-5. Even though he lost the match was a dog fight in which Gobin almost pinned Schalles in the 2nd period before Schalles escaped out of bounds on his back. His second place finish also added substantially to our final team score.

Thomas O’Connor was seeded 4th in the tournament and lost his semi final match. When he went to the consolation he faced off against the wrestler seeded above him at 3rd. O’Connor defeated his opponent and finished 3rd in the tournament and won a ticket to nationals as well.

Alan Lutterman was seeded first at heavyweight. He lost his semi final match to a heavyweight from Blair by one point while battling a mid match injury. In his consolation finals match he lost a in triple over time to a wrestler from Pitt. With his fourth place finish, he too will be attending nationals in mid march.

NCWA National Tournament
14-MAR 2009

Hampton, VA -- At 133 Steven West dominated his competition. His closest match was 12-5 in the semifinals and he also posted a 17-7 victory over his opponent in the finals to earn the national title.

At 149 Dillon Horn went 2-2 in the tournament but showed tremendous heart in his second to last match by winning in over time with a high ankle sprain (an injury he receive 40 seconds before the end of the 3rd period).

Eric Gobin placed second at 165 losing a tough match to Schalles of Navy in the finals. He had one of the toughest draws in the bracket though with many close matches all the way to the finals. In one match he was down 6-2 with 35 seconds to go and came back to win 7-6 with riding time increasing to exactly 1:00 in his favor at the last moment in the match.

Thomas O’Connor went 2-2 at 174 against very solid competition. He also faced adversity as he was slammed on his shoulder and continued to wrestle with the injury.

At 285, Alan Lutterman took 4th and joined Gobin and West for All-American Honors. He avenged a loss from two weeks ago against the heavyweight form Blair Academy. An opponent he had previously lost to by 1 point, this time he beat the Blair Heavyweight 7-4.

The United States Military Academy Preparatory School Athletic Department
• BLDG 1204 • Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703 • (732) 532-5313•
 
Copyright ©United States Military Academy, West Point, New York USA 10996 DISCLAIMER: Non-DOD links may be provided for mission support and as a community service. Their appearance does not constitute an endorsement by the DOD, DA, or USMA.