NEW PALESTINE — Ben Harvey was about to face off against Jadaen Berstein, the eighth-ranked wrestler in the NCAA. Throughout Harvey’s two-year wrestling career at the United States Military Academy, he’d been defeated by Berstein four times. Each time Harvey had lost just barely.
But not this time, the Hancock County native said. This time Harvey would finish the fight on top.
Harvey, a 2015 graduate of Cathedral High School, has become the second member of the New Palestine family to make a name for himself at West Point, head coach Kevin Ward said. No longer in the shadow of his brother, the 174-pound sophomore is ranked 19th in the nation in wrestling, and he stands in the top 20 percent of his class academically.
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Harvey’s victory against Berstein last February help closed the gap in points leading to a historic win for Army against Navy, the second time the Black Knights have defeated the Naval Academy since 1962. The two titans traded shot for shot before Harvey scored a decisive single-leg takedown and held down the Navy team’s champion until the clock hit zero, winning the match 9-8.
The breakthrough match was the most exhilarating moment of his wrestling career, Harvey said.
No longer in his shadow
Harvey’s older brother, Brian, was the Indiana State champion at 160 pounds his senior year of high school and went on to wrestle at West Point at 174, the same class in which his younger brother is now seated. 2nd Lt. Brian Harvey holds a string of athletics accomplishments of his own, but especially after hearing about his younger brother’s win against a longstanding rival, he said his brother is king of his own legacy now.
Ben Harvey has wrestled to a 21-13 career record, with 10 of his losses being against nationally-ranked opponents. He is one of eight cadets in the program with at least 20 wins, and he was the only Black Knight to start in all 12 duals in the 2016-17 season.
Brian Harvey was at U.S. Army Ranger School when their sister told him over the phone about Ben’s victory against Berstein. Despite the grueling training environment, Brian couldn’t help but grin.
“I had to put the little brother sibling rivalry at rest to just focus on his achievement,” Brian Harvey said.
“He’s not living in my shadow,” the older brother added. “Ben Harvey will be the Harvey of Army wrestling.”
Brian Harvey graduated Ranger school just in time to visit his little brother and watch him compete at Nationals. Brian is stationed in Germany, and the two hadn’t seen each other in months, so Ben greeted him with familiar goofy grin and happy-go-lucky attitude that the younger brother has become so known for, Brian Harvey said.
Many strict, no-nonsense military types who’ve met Ben are surprised by how he balances a champion’s professionalism with such a fun-loving personality, Brian Harvey said. That’s actually what makes him such a great leader, he said.
In the disciplined environment that West Point harbors, a little comic relief goes a long way, Brian Harvey said.
“Sometimes you need someone like Ben who breaks ice and
tension and lets people enjoy a crappy situation,” Brian Harvey said.
A Black Knight rises
Ward said Ben’s charisma and big personality made him one of the most fun students he’s ever coached.
But don’t let the class-clown demeanor fool you, Ward said. Out of the 111 cadets at West Point, Ben is near the top of the list both athletically and academically, Ward said.
Even as a “yuck” –the slang term for a second-year student at the academy — Ben has proven to be as focused and as organized as any senior on the team, Ward said. On long bus rides in between wrestling tournaments, many of the players kill the time on the road sleeping or watching movies, but he always sees Ben Harvey buried in a book, studying. He’s a constant student both in the classroom and the mat room, Ward said.
As an individual sport, wrestling demands a singular focus on making yourself great, Ward said. Ben Harvey puts in the extra hours training on the mat, and that’s what makes him a powerful contender, he said.
“I wish he had more younger brothers,” Ward said. “The Harveys have been good to us, and they are tough sons of guns.”
‘This is my mat’
Ben Harvey said he initially struggled on West Point’s wrestling team during his “plebe” (freshman) year at the academy. It wasn’t easy learning to juggle his military obligations and schoolwork while wrestling at the same time. Wrestling for a D1 school is challenging enough; trying to find his place on West Point’s team — a program with a proud and historic legacy — was a new challenge entirely, Ben Harvey said.
The college experience of a West Point cadet is unlike what you might find at another university, Ben Harvey said. It’s a disciplined life, one that seems completely foreign to his friends outside the academy.
Ben Harvey tackled the task ahead of him with tenacity, earning a starting spot on the team in his freshman year. After losing to some of the best wrestlers in the nation, he was disheartened at first.
Yet he picked himself back up, his coach said. Every day of training, he concentrates his efforts on doing whatever he can to make himself better than the other D1 wrestlers across the country. He and his brotherhood of teammates are expected to embody core roles: Brother, Heart, Attitude, Warrior.
Honoring those values has become more important to him than anything else, Ben Harvey said.
“You’re deliberate when you go into practice,” Ben Harvey said. “You’re not just checking in a time card. Every single practice needs to be worth the time you put into it during the day.”
His unwavering mental toughness appears to have paid off. Finishing his sophomore year, Harvey earned high placement in both polls in the NWCA Coaches’ Panel prior to this past season’s NCAA Championships. He was slated 19th in the RPI and 23rd in the Coaches’ Panel.
Ben Harvey plans to move forward into freestyle season, keeping himself physically and psychologically conditioned to compete, he said. His experiences from the past two years are pushing away the doubts he faced as a newcomer.
“You know, there comes a time when you’re in the room, you realize you’re a D1 wrestler and you’ve got to act like it,” Ben Harvey said. “Now I’m saying, ‘No, I belong out here. This is my mat.”’
