Army West Point Wrestling’s CDT Lucas Stoddard ’27 wrestled in the consolation finals at the United World Wrestling U-23 Championships in Tirana, Albania, returning home with a fifth place finish in the 125kg freestyle weight class.
Competing at the highest stage among athletes in his age and weight categories, the Burton, Ohio native finished 2-2 at the U23 World Championships and one match from a spot on the podium.
Stoddard opened his campaign with an 8-1 win over Moldova’s Nicolae Stratulat in the Round of 16 before dispatching Pavel Dziatlau 1-1 on classification points in the quarterfinals. The West Point yearling would fall in bouts to eventual champion Amirreza Fardin Masoumi Valadi in the semifinals and Abdulla Kurbanov in the consolation match.
Stoddard secured a spot in the U23 World Championships after a first place finish at the USA Wrestling National Championship in June. Stoddard and teammate CDT Charles Farmer ’26 also won gold at the U23 Pan-American Championships in June in Colombia.
Army West Point Wrestling opens the 2024-25 season November 3 at the Princeton Open, before beginning dual meet action November 8 at the Throwdown on the Yorktown in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
Excerpt and image taken from https://goarmywestpoint.com.
