Black Knight Invite Preview

The Black Knight Invite hosted at Army West Point is going down this weekend at Christl Arena. There is a strong New York contingent of teams including Army, Binghamton, Columbia, and Long Island. Many of these schools have multiple entries at each weight, and there are a plethora of New York high school graduates competing this weekend as well.

From an out-of-state perspective, #1 Penn State is bringing their projected starting lineup and a string of backups as this weekend is considered a “wrestle-off” tournament for the Nittany Lions. Other schools coming to the Empire State include Bloomsburg, Gardner-Webb, Michigan State, and #24 Rutgers.

Please also read an open letter from Army West Point's Associate Head Coach Scott Green regarding the importance of attending college wrestling events this year. Now more than ever, these Division I wrestling institutions need your support with the changing landscape of NCAA Wrestling. We hope to see larger turnout at New York collegiate events this year, and that starts this weekend. Link to letter below:

An Open Letter from Army West Point Wrestling

‍

125 lbs

At this juncture 125 lbs is a wide open weight  with four individuals who could potentially win the bracket. Charlie Farmer and Luke Lilledahl highlight the weight class, but Robbie Sagaris and Kurt McHenry are wrestlers to watch this weekend. Sagaris proved he is able to compete with top talent after his upset win over Dean Petersen (Rutgers) and McHenry has beaten a handful of ranked wrestlers in his lifetime. Give me Luke Lilledahl to win the weight, but should be exciting from bout one.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#21 Charlie Farmer (Army)

#33 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

Robert Sagaris (Long Island)

Sawyer Ostroff (Long Island)

Sulayman Bah (Columbia, The Kiski School HS)

Connor Smith (Columbia)

Caleb Uhorchuk (Army)

‍

Wrestlers to Watch

Kurt McHenry (Penn State)

‍

133 lbs

Braeden Davis made the move up to 133 lbs after being a match shy of finishing on the podium a year ago at NCAA's and has since started the season with some shaky wins. Ethan Berginc and Tristan Lujan also highlight the field as they're both returning National Qualifiers at 125 lbs from a year ago. I'll take the Black Knight to upset Davis this weekend and win his home tournament.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#7 Braeden Davis (Penn State)

#25 Ethan Berginc (Army)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

Jared Chuquilin (Long Island, Central Islip HS)

Kaelan Francois (Long Island)

Boris Witmer (Columbia)

‍

Wrestler to Watch

Tristan Lujan (Michigan State)

‍

141 lbs

Three ranked wrestlers highlight this weight and is headlined by former NCAA finalist Beau Bartlett. He is the heavy favorite to win the weight this weekend, but an interesting bout would be Carter vs Basile in the semifinals. Also interested to see who finishes the best out of the Long Island trio that's registered. Jaden Crumpler returns to the Empire State but this time donning the Green and White at Michigan State and manning a starting spot. Not surprising, but I'll take Bartlett to win out this weekend.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#3 Beau Bartlett (Penn State)

#28 Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb)

#29 Braden Basile (Army)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

Jaden Crumpler (Michigan State, Niagara Falls HS)

Amir Avazov (Long Island)

Devin Matthews (Long Island)

Nicholas Gorman (Long Island)

Nathan Lucier (Binghamton)

Rich Treanor (Army)

Ryan Franco (Army)

Boris Witmer (Columbia)

‍

Wrestler to Watch

Joe Fongaro (Rutgers)

‍

149 lbs

Another Nittany Lion is the heavy favorite at 149 lbs in former All-American Shayne Van Ness. In total there are three nationally ranked wrestlers, four returning national qualifiers, and one All-American. Interested to see a potential all-Rutgers matchup as Cetta and Clark are in a lineup battle (both having previously qualified for the national tournament, and Clark coming down from 157 lbs). Give me SVN to win the weight, but I'll take Clark as the runner-up assuming he's opposite of SVN.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#2 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State)

#28 Trae McDaniel (Army)

#33 Mike Cetta (Rutgers)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

Drew Witham (Long Island)

Jordan Barry (Long Island)

Thomas Bonasera (Long Island, Wantagh HS)

Cooper Hornack (Columbia)

Jake Wacha (Columbia)

Kenny Duscheck (Columbia)

Richard Fedalen (Columbia)

Yanni Vines (Columbia)

Ivan Garcia (Binghamton, Port Chester HS)

Mason Barvitskie (Army)

‍

Wrestler to Watch

Andrew Clark (Rutgers)

‍

157 lbs

The lone ranked wrestler in this weight is Tyler Kasak, but rumor has it that Alex Facundo beat him 8-3 in a wrestle-off bout a couple weeks back. We'll see how everything shakes out, but love the laundry list of New York entries we have including former state runner-up Jordan Brown (Binghamton, Monroe-Woodbury HS). Facundo will be huge for 157 lbs, and assuming the weight cut isn't bad, I have him taking home gold this weekend.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#4 Tyler Kasak (Penn State)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

Brayden Roberts (Long Island)

Dominic Rossetti (Columbia)

Jaden Le (Columbia)

Nicholas Campagna (Columbia)

Tyler Barrett (Columbia)

Fin Nadeau (Binghamton)

Jordan Brown (Binghamton, Monroe-Woodbury HS)

Dakota Morris (Army)

Micah Hanau (Army)

Taythan Silva (Army)

‍

Wrestler to Watch

Alex Facundo (Penn State)

‍

165 lbs

Mesenbrink is the standard at 165 lbs, but very interested to see the bottom half of the bracket and how that shakes out. Filipowicz vs Alvan in the semifinals would be an awesome match, but would also like to see former three-time state champ Carter Baer (Binghamton, Gouverneur HS) in there as well and how he does at 165 lbs (coming up a weight from a year ago). Alvan just pinned #10 Tyler Lillard (Indiana) on Thursday and has looked great to start the year. Predicting a Mesenbrink vs Alvan finals, with Mesenbrink winning out.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State)

#14 Gunner Filipowicz (Army)

#26 Cesar Alvan (Columbia)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

James Johnston (Long Island)

Oliver Howard (Columbia)

Carter Baer (Binghamton, Gouverneur HS)

‍

Wrestler to Watch

#26 Cesar Alvan (Columbia)

Andrew White (Rutgers)

‍

174 lbs

Former national champ Levi Haines (Penn State) headlines this weight with Dalton Harkins (Army) the other ranked wrestler in play. Outside of those two this is a wide open field with most wrestlers donning .500 records to start the season. I'll take Haines vs Harkins in the finals with Haines winning out.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#2 Levi Haines (Penn State)

#31 Dalton Harkins (Army)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

Corey Connolly (Long Island)

Donavan Smith (Long Island, Elmira HS)

Jack McGill (Columbia)

Matt Romanelli (Columbia)

Cooper Haase (Army)

‍

Wrestler to Watch

Caesar Garza (Michigan State)

‍

184 lbs

Three returning national qualifiers highlight 184 lbs including 4x National Champ Carter Starocci. Outside of Starocci, Brian Soldano (Rutgers) has now qualified 2x for the national tournament and has reached the R16 once before. The other former national qualifier is Anthony D'Alesio (Long Island) who has started the season slowly with a record of 1-3. No surprises here, taking Starocci to win yet another tournament.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#1 Carter Starocci (Penn State)

#21 Brian Soldano (Rutgers)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

Anthony D’Alesio (Long Island)

Braden Brown (Long Island)

Spencer Fine (Columbia)

Andrew Christie (Army)

Cole Karpinski (Army)

‍

Wrestler to Watch

Anthony D’Alesio (Long Island)

‍

197 lbs

This is my favorite weight this weekend because there are probably five different people who can win the tournament. Penn State has a great problem as neither Josh Barr, Luke Cochran, or Connor Mirasola have solidifed themselves as the starter yet. FloWrestling has Cochran ranked and thus the starter while InterMat has Barr ranked and thus him being the starter. On top of that, you have two other ranked wrestlers in Remy Cotton (Michigan State) and Austin Kohlofer (Army) in the mix this weekend. Cotton has started the season off 6-1 while Kohlhofer has started off 7-2. Austin Kohlofer is gonna be the man this weekend, and we have him winning the Black Knight Invite.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#23 Josh Barr (Penn State)

#27 Remy Cotton (Michigan State)

#33 Austin Kohlhofer (Army)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

Maxx DeCapua (Long Island, Newburgh HS)

Ike Schmidt (Columbia)

Jack Bernik (Columbia)

Cayden Bevis (Binghamton)

Eli Pack (Army)

Reid Schroeder (Army)

Wolfgang Frable (Army)

‍

Wrestler to Watch

Luke Cochran (Penn State), Connor Mirasola (Penn State)

‍

285 lbs

Returning National Champ Greg Kerkvliet sits at the top of this weight class and is the favorite to win out this weekend. Former national qualifier Luke Stoddard is the other ranked wrestler at the weight and has started off 1-0 this year. There are three former New York high school stars at the weight including Chris Powell, Charles Tibbitts, and Tristen Hitchcock. We like a Kerkvliet vs Stoddard finals, with Kerkvliet winning in the finals.

‍

Ranked Wrestlers

#2 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)

#20 Luke Stoddard (Army)

‍

Other New York Wrestlers

Chris Powell (Long Island, Centereach HS)

Billy McChesney (Columbia)

Richard Ryu (Columbia)

Vincent Mueller (Columbia)

Charles Tibbitts (Binghamton, Sauquoit Valley HS)

Brady Colbert (Army)

Sam Sorenson (Army)

Tristen Hitchcock (Army, Warrensburg Central HS)

‍

Wrestler to Watch

Cole Mirasola (Penn State)