Army West Point Wrestling’s CDT Gunner Filipowicz ’27 secured the Southern Scuffle championship at Chattanooga’s McKenzie Arena on January 5. Additionally, Army’s 132.5-point team score output gave the Black Knights the overall championship. Filipowicz dominated his 165 lb final, jumping to an 18-3 technical fall win over Duke’s Aidan Wallace. The sophomore went 6-0 across the two-day event, winning each match in bonus point fashion.
It’s Army’s second year in a row with an individual champion at the Southern Scuffle. Last season, Ben Pasiuk ’24 took the 174 lb title on his way to becoming an All-American just two months later. CDT Lucas Stoddard ’27 joined Filipowicz as finalist but fell in the 285 lb title bout to Penn State’s Cole Mirasola.
Nine of Army’s 17 total wrestlers made the podium in Chattanooga. CDT Richard Treanor ’25 (141 lbs) took third place with a pin in the metal match over Shannon Hanna of Campbell, and CDT Brady Colbert ’24 (285 lbs) beat Hunter Catka of Virginia Tech 4-1 to also secure third place. CDT Wolfgang Frable ’26 followed in fourth at 197 lbs.
CDT Braden Basile ’27 (141 lbs) claimed a fifth place finish with a late takedown in his ultimate bout. CDT Dakota Morris ’27 (157 lbs) won by 15-0 technical fall in his fifth place match. Like Basile, CDT Dalton Harkins ’25 (174 lbs) too secured a third period takedown in the fifth place match. CDT Jakob Gilfoil ’28 (184 lbs)—a plebe making his career debut—finished in eighth place.
The Black Knights entered the second day of the event with seven semifinalists in the championship bracket. Army’s result is the second top two team score finish this year, previously coming in second place to Penn State at the Black Knight Invitational on November 24.
Army will compete next on January 10 at the David Lehman/Franklin & Marshall Tournament in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The squad will then wrestle in a dual competition at LIU on January 12.
Excerpt and image taken from https://goarmywestpoint.com.
