Sacred Heart (0-8) took a 3-0 lead after a decision by heavyweight Bill Biermeister over Michael Sprigg , but gave six points right back with a forfeit at 125.
A 5-1 decision by junior Whitt Dunning over Patt Feeley at 133, made the score 9-3 in favor of the Black Knights, but a close 2-1 decision by the Pioneers' Cory Dunn over freshman Casey Smith, pulled the visitors back to within three points, 9-6. Dunning's victory improved his record to 22-12 this season.
Army (8-4) would take over from there, sweeping the final six bouts en route to its fourth-straight dual meet victory. Freshman Casey Thome upped his record to 23-8 this season with a 9-5 decision opposite Anthony Priore at 149, before classmate Sean Joyce's 7-3 decision against Michael Powers at 157 staked the Black Knights to a 15-6 edge.
Sophomore Christopher Grill compiled a 12-2 major decision over Tom Sullivan at 165 and sophomore Ryan Mergen out-pointed Jed Guguere, 5-1, at 174 to put the match out of reach with a 22-6 lead.
Senior Scott Ferguson – the only senior competing for Army as several regular starters were given the night off – pulled away from Rich Eichenlaub for an 11-7 decision at 184. Sophomore Richard Starks put things away with a 19-4 technical fall at 197 to improve his season record to 20-8.
"We were able to rest a couple guys tonight, but I give Sacred Heart a lot of credit for coming out to scrap. They really got after it," said head coach Chuck Barbee. "Our second and third-string guys are crucial to the program, especially at this time of year. They are the ones that push the first-string guys in the wrestling room on a daily basis and step in when something comes up. Any number-one guy has to give a lot of credit to that number-two guy because of what he does to make him better. They are also working their tails off so that when they have their chance, they are ready to go."
Army heads to New England this Saturday to make two separate dual meet stops. The Black Knights will look to make it five in a row at Brown at 11:00 a.m., before heading to Harvard to take on the Crimson at 5:00 p.m.
MATCH NOTES: Senior 125 pounder Fernando Martinez, sophomore 141-pounder Matt Kyler, and senior heavyweight Nathan Thobaben were all given the night off ... Martinez is ranked 20th in the most recent Intermat/NWCA national polls ... Kyler moved up to 15th in this week's W.I.N. Magazine poll and is ranked 19th in the Intermat listings ... Thobaben did see limited duty, started the night off by singing the National Anthem ... Army improved to 8-0 all-time versus Sacred Heart ... first-year Sacred Heart head coach Casey Brewster was a teammate of current Army head assistant coach Ryan Wilman at West Virginia ... the Black Knights won their third New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championship over the weekend, picking up their first crown since winning back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005 ... after this weekend's two dual meets, Army will host the 14th-Annual Academy Wrestling Championships next Saturday (Feb. 1) in Christl Arena ... tickets are available by logging on to www.goARMYsports.com and clicking the link on the right side of the page to the meet.
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