West Point Team Handball
ClubnameWest Point Team Handball
FullnameWest Point Team Handball
Short nameWPTHB
Founded1976
GroundArvin Gymnasium
ManagerMAJ Coree Aten
CaptainOwen Rodgers and Samuel Neaves
LeagueThe Northeast Team Handball League
Websitehttps://www.facebook.com/WestPointTeamHandball

West Point Team Handball is a handball club from West Point, New York, United States. They are the handball team of the United States Military Academy. They play with four teams at various competitions. There are two teams for each gender. The West Point Black team (men and women) is the first team and the West Point Gold team (men and women) is the second team. They have won the most College National Championships in their collegiate league with the men's team winning 40 College National Championships, with their 18th consecutive College National Championship in 2026 at North Carolina State University. Three past members have competed in the Summer Olympics for Team USA to include Peter Lash (’81) - 1984 & 1988 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and Korea; LTC (R) Craig Gilbert (’78) - 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and Mike Thornberry (’93) - 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Many other players have competed for the USA National Team to include Mark Miller ('24) and Gary Phillips ('25).[1]

Accomplishments

  • Nationals:
    • Men's Elite:
    • Men's Open / Division I:
    • Men's Division II:
  • College Nationals:
    • Men:
      • : 1976, 1979–1982, 1985–1987, 1989–1993, 1995–2001, 2003, 2007–2019, 2022–2026
      • : 2002–2006, 2010–2013, 2015–2016
    • : 2024–2025
    • Women:
      • : 1980, 1990–1991, 1996, 1999–2003, 2005–2007, 2012–2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026
      • : 2009–2011, 2022, 2025
      • : 2000, 2002, 2006 2010, 2015–2017, 2024
  • Northeast Team Handball League
    • Men's Division I:
      • : 2012/2013, 2013/14, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2022, 2023
      • : 2009/2010, 2011/12, 2014/15
    • Women's Division:
      • : 2014/2015
  • Carolina Blue Cup (men) : 6
    • : 1991, 1992, 1998, 2009, 2010, 2024
    • : 1993, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2016
    • : 1994, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2023

Head coaches

SeasonCoachSeasonsCollege Nationals Titles%
1975–1978CPT James J. Thome Sr.3/61/433/75
1978–1979LTC Gert Evert11100
1979–1981CPT Terry Freeman2/32/3100/100
1981–1983MAJ Bob Asiello2150
1983–1985MAJ Jim Johnston2150
1985–1986MAJ Terry Freeman (2)1/31/3100/100
1986–1988MAJ Howard Barton2150
1988–1991LTC James J. Thome Sr. (2)3/63/4100/75
1991–1992MAJ John Turner11100
1992–1993MAJ Bill Nanry11100
1993–1994MAJ Rollie Jacobs100
1994–1996MAJ Bill Rapp2150
1996–1997MAJ Greg Wise11100
1997–1998MAJ Mike Endres11100
1998–2000CPT Jonathan Negin22100
2000–2002MAJ Kevin Volk2150
2002–2004MAJ Darren Smith2150
2004–2005MAJ Kyle Simpson100
2005–2008CPT Chris Springer3267
2008–2009MAJ Travis Habhab11100
2009–2010MAJ Adam Hodges11100
2010–2012MAJ Michael Tilton22100
2012–2014MAJ Harry Terzic22100
2014–2016CPT Reginald Shelton22100
2016–2018CPT Jonathan Harmeling22100
2018–2021 SFC Eric Lawson31[* 1]100
2021-2024MAJ Craig Champlin33100
2024-2026MAJ Dylan Hyde22100
2026-MAJ Coree Aten---
  1. ^ Lawson

Source:[6]

Captains

SeasonCaptainCollege Nationals
1975–76Marty Wisda
1978-77Mike Harwood
1977–78Joe James
1978–79Mike Clark
1979–80Mark House
1980–81Jim Kons
1981–82Mark Condry
1982–83Brad Elrod
1983–84Bill Rapp
1984–85Rick Oleksyk
1985–86Mike Endres
1986–87Ross Brown
1987–88Joe Chatfield
1988–89Chip Anderson
1989–90Kevin Hucthinson
1990–91Rhett Nichol
1991–92H. Huthison
1992–93JT Thome
1993–94R. Heine
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97David Borden
1997–98Jonathan Hartley
1998–99J. Kohowski
1999-00Frank Wendt
2000–01Mike Gilmartin
2001–02Adam Clements
2002–03Kurtis Bennett
2003–04Tim Lawrence
2004–05
2005–06Alex Deep
2006–07Alex Mullin
2007–08Jonathan Harmeling
2008–09Brian Walsh
2009–10Jason Borchik & Pat Saxby
2010–11Adam Moore, Marc Beaudoin, & Rickey Royal
2011–12Mark Conard & Greg Ayers
2012–13Craig Champlin & Ian Emory
2013–14Andrew College & Sean Boyle
2014–15Coree Aten & Connor Holt
2015–16Alec Zeck & Corinth Cross
2016–17Paul Palmer
2017–18Nick Scheblar
2018–19Nick Webster
2019–20Rob Purdyrowspan="2"
2020–21Ryan Thistlewood & Nathan Chilian
2021–22Chris Frazier & Will Considine
2022–23Colin Gray & Spencer Knudsen
2023–24Mark Miller & Ethan Flege
2024–25Gary Phillips & Aidan Halloran
2025–26Jamison Uptgraft & Caden Uptgraft
2026–27Owen Rodgers & Samuel Neaves

Source:[7]

Rankings

2017–18

Main article: 2017–18 USA Team Handball rankings
 Month 1Month 2Month 3Month 4Month 5Month 6
Final
BlackMen's77711107
College1 (9)1 (8)1 (7)1 (5)
GoldMen's20NRNRNRNR24
CollegeNR5тNR3

2018–19

Main article: 2018–19 USA Team Handball rankings
 Month 1Month 2Month 3Month 4Month 5Month 6Month 7
Final
BlackMen's667
College1 (7)1 (7)1 (6)
Women'sNVNRNR
GoldMen's1722 тNR
CollegeNVNVNV

* No Ranking was released.

Legend
  Improvement in ranking
 Drop in ranking
 Not ranked previous week
 No change in ranking from previous week
NRReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of men's poll or Top 5 College poll
тTied with team above or below also with this symbol

Current roster

NumberNameYearPosition
1Caden UptgraftSeniorCenter back
19Reid WesleySeniorPivot
3Cooper JohnsonJuniorLeft wing
7Jacob JohnsonJuniorRight wing
21Owen RodgersJuniorRight back
5Sam OrcuttJuniorRight back
28Liam GilfillanSeniorGoalie
10Jamison UptgraftSeniorLeft back
4Jack KendrickSeniorPivot
6Kalev KilgastJuniorLeft back
24Sam NeavesJuniorCenter back
22Tyson SmithSophomoreRight wing
11Toby ThompsonJuniorPivot
16Thomas NicholsonJuniorCenter back

References

  1. ^ mterzic (2013-09-26). "West Point Men's Team Handball". West Point Men's Team Handball. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  2. ^ Godwin, Maurice. "2014 USA Team Handball National Championships" (PDF; 207 KB). USA Team Handball. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  3. ^ "New York City wins Gold, Army Black Silver. – Team Handball News". teamhandballnews.com. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  4. ^ Sewell, Robert A. (2006-05-02). "Nat2006" (XLS; 82 KB). teamhandballnews.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  5. ^ "USATH Open Nationals 2017". USA Team Handball. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  6. ^ "Head Coaches". West Point Men's Team Handball. 2013-09-25. Archived 2019-04-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  7. ^ "Team Captains". West Point Men's Team Handball. 2013-09-25. Archived 2019-04-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-04-04.