Air Force Academy Athletics
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force boxing team heads under the lights of Clune Arena on March 1, for a special edition of Friday Night Fights – as 22 Falcons step into the ring for the finals of the 67th Wing Open Tournament. The 11-bout, which will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network, is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. (MT).
The 2024 lineup features seven defending champions, including back-to-back winners in seniors Leo Camacho, Mack Lucas, Jacob Mendoza and Victor Benitez. Camacho will face sophomore Duong Tran in a rematch of last year’s 125-pound final, while Lucas will look defend her 147-pound title against freshman Lindsay Oliver. Mendoza and Benitez – the two reigning NCBA national champions – will face a pair of newcomers during their respective 175-pound (freshman Ellison Taylor) and heavyweight (freshman Justin Bonilla) championship bouts.
Junior Andrew Lu, sophomore Chinonye Mbanugo and junior Billie Botes also enter the ring as defending champions, while three others will look to claim their first title after earning runner-up recognition one year ago. Lu will face freshman Carson Watkins in the men’s 119-pound final, while Mbanugo and Botes will box in the women’s 132-pound (sophomore Elise Bell) and 139-pound (junior Peyton Glenn) championships, respectively. Sophomore Neo Takazawa, last year’s finalist at 156 pounds, will face classmate Jaxon Wardle in this year’s championship, while senior Andrew Ison returns to the ring for a 165-pound final against freshman Jonathon Watson, and senior Joe Wilson will make his fourth-straight trip to Clune Arena as he battles fellow senior Nasir Rashid in the 195-pound championship.
The final bout includes a finalist from 2022, as senior Dylan West, who finished second in the 132-pound bout that year, will face freshman Sebastyan Correa Rios in this year’s 139-pound final. A complete order of bouts can be found below.
Tickets, which can be purchased online at AFTickets.com, are $5 (military), $8 (groups of 10+), $10 (Zone 2) and $15 (Zone 1). Admission is free for all cadets.
Six boxers have already secured their Wing Open titles, either as unopposed contenders or after winning their championship bout earlier in the tournament. Sophomore Malaika Ndifang, a finalist at 165 pounds last season, captured that weight class this year, while senior Katie Bush, a 2022 finalist at 147 pounds, regained her title as an unopposed champion. Four first-year boxers – freshman Naomi Brabham (women’s 112 pounds), sophomore KJ Johnson (men’s 132 pounds), freshman Geoffrey Kim (men’s 147 pounds) and sophomore Nick Post (men’s 185 pounds) – also captured their first Wing Open title. In addition, junior Cass Rosa will look to regain her 125-pound title from 2022 on Thursday, Feb. 29, when she battles freshman Julianna Morris in a championship final in the Cadet Gym Boxing Room.
The champions will form the nucleus of the Air Force squad that will represent the…
The 2024 lineup features seven defending champions, including back-to-back winners in seniors Leo Camacho, Mack Lucas, Jacob Mendoza and Victor Benitez. Camacho will face sophomore Duong Tran in a rematch of last year’s 125-pound final, while Lucas will look defend her 147-pound title against freshman Lindsay Oliver. Mendoza and Benitez – the two reigning NCBA national champions – will face a pair of newcomers during their respective 175-pound (freshman Ellison Taylor) and heavyweight (freshman Justin Bonilla) championship bouts.
Junior Andrew Lu, sophomore Chinonye Mbanugo and junior Billie Botes also enter the ring as defending champions, while three others will look to claim their first title after earning runner-up recognition one year ago. Lu will face freshman Carson Watkins in the men’s 119-pound final, while Mbanugo and Botes will box in the women’s 132-pound (sophomore Elise Bell) and 139-pound (junior Peyton Glenn) championships, respectively. Sophomore Neo Takazawa, last year’s finalist at 156 pounds, will face classmate Jaxon Wardle in this year’s championship, while senior Andrew Ison returns to the ring for a 165-pound final against freshman Jonathon Watson, and senior Joe Wilson will make his fourth-straight trip to Clune Arena as he battles fellow senior Nasir Rashid in the 195-pound championship.
The final bout includes a finalist from 2022, as senior Dylan West, who finished second in the 132-pound bout that year, will face freshman Sebastyan Correa Rios in this year’s 139-pound final. A complete order of bouts can be found below.
Tickets, which can be purchased online at AFTickets.com, are $5 (military), $8 (groups of 10+), $10 (Zone 2) and $15 (Zone 1). Admission is free for all cadets.
Six boxers have already secured their Wing Open titles, either as unopposed contenders or after winning their championship bout earlier in the tournament. Sophomore Malaika Ndifang, a finalist at 165 pounds last season, captured that weight class this year, while senior Katie Bush, a 2022 finalist at 147 pounds, regained her title as an unopposed champion. Four first-year boxers – freshman Naomi Brabham (women’s 112 pounds), sophomore KJ Johnson (men’s 132 pounds), freshman Geoffrey Kim (men’s 147 pounds) and sophomore Nick Post (men’s 185 pounds) – also captured their first Wing Open title. In addition, junior Cass Rosa will look to regain her 125-pound title from 2022 on Thursday, Feb. 29, when she battles freshman Julianna Morris in a championship final in the Cadet Gym Boxing Room.
The champions will form the nucleus of the Air Force squad that will represent the…
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Read More: Air Force Academy Athletics 2024-02-29 03:13:13
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