Return to the "POINTER VIEW"January 25, 2002
Return to the "POINTER VIEW"
January 25, 2002
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| Junior Jeremy Conner garnered a third-place finish at 157 pounds last weekend at the New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships at Oswego. |
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| Senior Graig Cooper finished in 5th place in the 184 pound weight class in week-end competition. |
After two days of tough competition, the Army wrestling program continued its ascension in the national standings. Freshman Phillip Simpson was declared the individual champion at 141 pounds, leading Army to a third-place finish at the 33rd Annual New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships at Oswego.
"I thought we had a real strong team performance," said head coach Chuck Barbee. "This is always a big tournament, and our guys had a strong showing. We wrestled aggressively, going for bonus points whenever the opportunity presented itself. We definitely saw a lot of things today that we can build on for the rest of the season."
Simpson’s final victory, a pin over Ryan Bentley of Buffalo, not only gave Simpson the weight class championship, but it also vaulted Army ahead of Buffalo in the team standings, as the Black Knights slipped by the Bulls 129.5 to 129. No. 20 Hofstra secured second place with 166 points, while Cornell surprised the field with a dominating win after netting 207 points.
Though the final score separating Army and Buffalo was miniscule, the place-clinching match was not. Ryan Bentley has the distinction of being just one of three wrestlers to hand Simpson a loss on the season. However, he was no match for the rookie star this time around. Simpson punished Bentley for three periods, before ending the bout at the 6:12 mark with his third pin of the weekend.
Simpson went 4-0 in the two-day tournament, bringing his overall record to 25-3. He continues to close in on Army’s record for pins in a season. Now with 14, Simpson needs just seven more pins in the final two months to tie Dave Warnick’s 1990 academy record.
Army placed at all nine weight classes in which the Black Knights had a competitor. Junior Jeremy Conner garnered a third-place finish at 157 pounds, while junior John Paxton clinched fourth overall at 197 pounds. Also earning a spot on the awards stand were senior T.J. Grider (133-5th), sophomore Matt Bernard (174-5th), senior co-captain Griag Cooper (184-5th), senior Bill Baird (HWT-5th), senior co-captain Eric Miller (149-7th) and sophomore Kurt Pryor (165-7th).
"I was very pleased to be able to finish third without two starters," added Barbee. "Anytime you concede a weight class, it makes things difficult in the team race. We fought back strong, however, and we continue to show improvement with every competition."
