The rivalry between the United States Military Academy (Army) and the United States Naval Academy (Navy) is one of the most storied in college sports. While the annual football game often takes center stage, the wrestling program is another arena where this intense competition plays out. Navy leads the all-time series, 52-11-5.
Midshipmen cheering on the wrestling team.
Sunday's match will mark the 69th-consecutive season the Mids and Black Knights face each other in a dual. Navy is 22-7-3 when wrestling in West Point. The Mids last lost to Army in West Point back in 2019, 22-10.
Historical Overview
On November 20th, 1890, Navy defeated Army 24-0 in the first ever Army-Navy football game. Since then, the rivalry has grown over the past 131 years to include 24 men’s and women’s sports. Football was the only game in town for the first 10 years of the rivalry.
In 1901, baseball was added. Those were the only two sports until 1920 when they began competing against each other in basketball. Later that decade, track & field and lacrosse became part of the rotation. During the first 45 years of the Army-Navy Sports series, the Black Knights held a slight advantage.
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Over the next four decades, the Black Knights steadily increased their advantage in the all time Army-Navy sports series. By the end of the 1973 sports season, the Black Knights lead had grown to double digits. The Mids were looking up at an 11 year gap, with their record being a less than mediocre 26-37-12.
The Turning Point: The Bo Coppedge Era
In 1968, Bo Coppedge became the Athletic Director at Navy. He was a ’46 graduate of the Academy and was an active duty captain when he took over the role. He was also an offensive lineman and a wrestler when he was at Navy. Nobody knows the importance of beating Army and singing second more than the guy who used to compete against them every year. I’m willing to bet that Coppedge knew the score coming in, and he had plans to do something about it.
During that time, the Army-Navy sports series expanded to 19 head to head competitions. And in the ’80s, six women’s sports were added, starting with basketball in 1980. Based on the results that occurred on his watch, I think it’s fair to say that Coppedge made beating Army a priority in ALL sports, not just football.
Coppedge did three things that signaled his intent to beat Army no matter what the sport. First, he made sure that wrestling coach Ed Peery didn’t go anywhere. Peery had been coaching the Mids since 1961, and he was already building a pretty strong legacy. When Coppedge arrived, Peery was in the middle of a winning streak against Army that had reached 5 matches.
But Peery stayed at Navy, and it turns out that he never lost to the Black Knights while Coppedge was the AD. His record was a sparkling 22-2-3. Both losses and two of the three ties occurred during his first five years as head coach. Most of the wins were total blowouts.
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Most importantly, beginning in 1973 until the end of Coppedge’s run as athletic director in 1988, Navy won the overall head to head competition against Army every single year. Now the Mids held a 41-37-12 advantage. And they were about to build on that lead in a big way.
After Bo Coppedge retired in 1988, Jack Lengyel took over as the Navy AD. He served for 14 years. Under Bo Coppedge, the Mids overall the record in the Army Navy series was 18-1-1. While Lengyel was the AD, they were 12-1. And since Gladchuk has been overseeing the program, they’ve gone 16-3-1. That brings their overall record to 69-41-13.
Modern Era and Key Wrestlers
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A Star will be on the line when the Navy wrestling team (5-3, 4-0 EIWA) goes head-to-head against 24th-ranked Army (6-3, 3-2 EIWA) on Sunday afternoon at West Point, N.Y. Sunday's match is part of the annual Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
- Army leads the 2024-25 Star Game series, 9-7.
- Three Stars are up for grabs this weekend.
The Black Knights won last season's meeting by a score of 18-17. The Midshipmen stays hot winning its fourth-straight dual when it knocked off Bucknell on Jan. 31 at Davis Gym in Lewisburg, Pa., 27-9.
Freshman Nick Treaster kicked the dual off at 125 pounds with a shutout tech fall victory over Chris Nucifora, 15-0. It was a top 20 showdown at 141 pounds as senior team captain and seventh-ranked Josh Koderhandt went head-to-head against 20th-ranked Dylan Chappell.
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Freshman Dylan Elmore continues his impressive freshman campaign with an upset victory over 21st-ranked Noah Mulvaney, 4-3. Thirteenth-ranked Danny Wask kept Navy's hot streak going when he knocked off 18th-ranked Myles Takats, 4-2.
Army enters the dual with a 6-3 record and is 3-2 against Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) foes. The Black Knights enters the weekend ranked 24th in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings.
Seven Army wrestlers were ranked in the latest InterMat rankings, led by No. 17 Gunner Flipowicz (165) and No. Head coach Kevin Ward is in his 11th season in West Point.
Projected Lineups
Projected Navy Lineup
- 125 | Aslan Kilic (Fr, 10-10 overall, 3-4 dual)
- 133 | Cody Trybus (Fr, 13-12, 5-4)
- 141 | #20 Nicholas Gil (Jr, 26-6, 6-2)
- 149 | Corey Wilding (Sr, 23-7, 7-1)
- 157 | Zack Davis (Sr, 24-9, 7-2)
- 165 | #20 Drew Daniels (Sr, 22-3, 8-1)
- 174 | #8 Jadaen Bernstein (Sr, 19-3, 3-0)
- 184 | #18 Michael Coleman (Sr, 27-5, 8-0)
- 197 | Steban Cervantes (Sr, 10-7, 4-2)
- 285 | Austin Faunce (Sr, 13-13, 3-4)
Projected Army Lineup
- 125 | Trey Chalifoux (So, 16-11, 4-3)
- 133 | Lane Peters (Fr, 18-12, 3-5)
- 141 | Austin Harry (Jr, 15-14, 4-4)
- 149 | Will Lucie (Fr, 16-10, 1-3)
- 157 | Lucas Weiland (So, 17-13, 1-6)
- 165 | Andrew Mendel (Sr, 15-6, 1-1)
- 174 | Ben Harvey (So, 14-7, 5-2)
- 184 | Noah Stewart (So, 15-12, 2-6)
- 197 | Rocco Caywood (Jr, 15-10, 1-4)
- 285 | Bobby Heald (Fr, 10-14, 1-6)
Key Statistics and Achievements
With his pin over George Mason's Bryce Reddington in 1:32, Navy senior Zack Davis became just the 15th wrestler in school history and the second this season to reach 100 career wins. He currently stands 15th on the Mids' career wins list with a 100-50 record, trailing 14th-place Aaron Kalil (2009-12) by just one win. Additionally, Davis is tied for seventh on the Mids' career matches wrestled leader board with 150.
Following a 7-3 win over Old Dominion's Seldon Wright on Feb. 2, Jadaen Bernstein broke into the top 10 of Navy's career wins list with a 108-40 record. He is currently tied for 10th alongside former teammate Peyton Walsh (2012-15) and trails ninth-place Scott Schleicher (1987-00) by four. Bernstein also stands among the top 10 in career matches wrestled with 148 (#9). Bernstein is 3-0 in dual action this season and stands 24-4 in dual matches over his career.
Among the projected lineup for Friday night's dual, seven wrestlers are either freshmen or sophomores, while two are juniors and just one senior is expected to start. Rookie 133-pound Lane Peters sits atop the Black Knights' wins leader board with an 18-12 record, while second-year 157-pound Lucas Weiland is second with his 17-13 mark. Sophomore 174-pound Ben Harvey stands 14-7 this season, but leads the team in dual wins with a 5-2 record.
Fifteen wrestlers have reached double-digit wins this season, while five of those 15 have won 20 or more matches. Michael Coleman is just three wins shy of becoming just the 48th different wrestler in school history to win 30 matches in a season. He stands atop the wins list with 27, while Nicholas Gil owns a 26-6 record. Gil has won at least 20 matches in each of his three seasons - 25-16 as a freshman, 21-7 as a sophomore and 26-6 as a junior. Coleman, meanwhile, recorded 22 wins a year ago.
Zack Davis (24-9), Corey Wilding (23-7) and Drew Daniels (22-3) all reached the 20-win milestone on Jan. 27 at the All-Academy Championship, while Jadaen Bernstein needs one more victory to make it four straight years with 20 or more wins.
Six of Navy's 10 starters enter the Army match riding winning streaks of four or more, while four of the six have won at least six straight matches. Topping that list is Michael Coleman who has won 10 consecutive matches.
The second edition of the NCAA Coaches Panel Rankings were released Feb. 5 and included six Navy wrestlers - #17 Nicholas Gil (Crystal Lake, Ill.) at 141, #24 Corey Wilding at 149, #26 Zack Davis at 157, #19 Drew Daniels at 165, #8 Jadaen Bernstein at 174 and #17 Michael Coleman at 184. Gil (#20), Daniels (#20), Bernstein (#8) and Coleman (#18) are among the InterMat National Rankings this week, as well.
Army-Navy Star Series
As both athletic programs expanded and began to meet more frequently in conference play across different sports, the Star Series was created. In sports like soccer, basketball and baseball where they were scheduled to meet more than once in a season, one of the games would be designated as the Star game or Star match. Over the past 25 years, the Mids have won the annual Star series a ridiculous 23 times (to go along with 1 loss and 1 tie).
With victories by Army Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse programs, respectively on April 12 over Navy, Army Athletics has won the Army-Navy Star Series Presented by USAA for the first time since 2013-14.
On April 12, Army Men’s Lacrosse defeated Navy in Annapolis in overtime, 12-11 on a game-winning goal scored by CDT Jackson Eicher ’25. Swimming & Diving made history in December by sweeping Navy and collecting both stars that were up for grabs. Women’s Basketball was victorious over Navy in their Star match for the fourth consecutive season, defeating the Mids, 68-64 in Annapolis.
Army Wrestling won seven of the 10 bouts at Christl Arena to secure a 22-10 dual win over Navy. Women’s Tennis won its star over Navy on April 5, defeating Navy, 4-1. Both soccer programs won their matches in the fall as Men’s Soccer won 2-1, winning two of the past three series meetings. Women’s Soccer clinched the star for the third consecutive season with a 4-0 victory.
Army-Navy rivalry: A deep dive into the history of college football's biggest game
Historical Data
A summary of Army-Navy series records across different sports:
| Sport | Navy Wins | Army Wins | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Football | 61 | 53 | 7 |
| Basketball | 81 | 53 | 0 |
| Lacrosse | Many | Many | Some |
Note: The table contains sample data; actual figures may vary.