Army Ready for Feb 5th All-Academy Championships

[Allen Brown]

^^^This 2/2/12 article is from the Army wrestling site-

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army wrestling team will begin its abbreviated February schedule on Sunday, Feb. 5, when the Black Knights travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to compete at the 18th annual All-Academy Championships.

Army, which only competes three times during the shortest month of the year, will join fellow service academies Air Force, The Citadel, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, Navy, Norwich and VMI at the event, which will be contested inside Clune Arena on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy.

The doors to Clune Arena will open to the public at 9 a.m. MT, with preliminary round action slated to begin at 10 a.m. MT. Wrestling will continue throughout the day and culminate with the championship and consolation finals at 5 p.m. MT. The price of admission is $6 for adults and $3 for youth (ages 3-15).

Army (7-5, 4-1 EIWA) enters this weekend's action riding a wave of momentum after defeating EIWA rivals Brown (24-15) and 25th-ranked Harvard (24-17) last weekend. The Black Knights have won four straight dual matches and captured the team title at the New York State Championships two weeks ago.

Senior co-captain Jimmy Rafferty and junior Jordan Thome are tied for the team lead with 20 wins apiece. Thome also paces the Black Knights with nine pins and 10 bonus-point victories.

Freshman Scott Filbert (125 pounds) ranks second on the team with six pins and lists third on the squad with 17 wins and eight bonus-point victories.

Fellow freshman Cole Gracey, who has won his last nine bouts, is tied for the team lead with three major decisions. He also ranks second on the squad with nine bonus-point victories, lists third on the club with five pins and stands fourth with 16 wins.

Army placed third at last year's All-Academy Championships, which were hosted by The Citadel. Army's most recent All-Academy title came during the 2007-08 season when the host Black Knights won the event at West Point's Christl Arena.

Army will have a quick turnaround following Sunday's tournament as the Black Knights host EIWA rival Bucknell on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The conference match, which will be held inside West Point's Arvin Gymnasium, is set to get under way at 7 p.m. It will serve as Army's final tune-up prior to facing Navy on Friday, Feb. 17, in Annapolis, Md.

[Allen Brown]

^^^The All-Academies is one of my favorite events, in that it gives The Citadel, VMI, Norwich, USMMA and the Coast Guard Academy a crack at the BIG THREE service academies. I'm wondering if we shall see Collin Wittmeyer back in the Black Knight lineup early this month.

[Armyfan76]

From the Air Force website, the finals should be televised on the web free this weekend! Air Force also has a pretty good team this year and may be in contention for the title! GO Army, Beat Navy!!!!!!

[Allen Brown]

^^^I think them Citadel Dawgs are going to make a strong showing - might be a four-team race. I recall last year the All-Academies were at Navy and that morning we had over four feet of snow on the ground in Montgomery County (MD). We had a lot of snow already fallen then got hit with a 3-foot snow fall. I got a call from someone asking me what time I'd be over to Navy to watch the event! LOL. Took me four days to shovel out.

[weh]

Allen, not that it matters a whole lot, but the All-Academy Tourney at Navy and the big snow fall was in 2010. I was not able to make it either even though I live less than 3 miles (as the crow flies) from USNA. Gotta go outside now and get the other side tanned.

[Allen Brown]

^^^The mega snow was 2010 - Right! Weh and my wife today have corrected me on that!

[Armyfan76]

The Navy website has a good rundown article on the expected winners from all the schools and mentions that "Live Video Streaming (Consolation Semifinals, Finals)" will be at
"www.goairforcefalcons.com" Comsololation finals to start at 3 PM, mountain standard time, with finals at 5.

Take a break from the superbowl coverage!

GO Army!