App State wrestling rang in the new year Saturday and Sunday, sending 17 wrestlers to the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The team finished 17th out of 28 teams. The Mountaineers saw five wrestlers place top-12, including redshirt sophomore Tomas Brooker, who took home third place in the 184-pound weight class.
Alongside Brooker, 141-pound redshirt sophomore Aldo Hernandez, 157-pound redshirt junior Kai O’Dell, 174-pound freshman Colt Campbell and 197-pound redshirt sophomore Logan Eller all made the second day of competition. Of the five, only Hernandez and Brooker made the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The result for Brooker marks his first-ever top-25 win in his college wrestling career and the first semifinalist at the annual event since 2022. One of his six wins included a 4-2 victory over No. 23 Jaden Bullock from Virginia Tech, who Brooker will most likely see again when the Black and Gold travel to Blacksburg, Virginia Jan. 16.
Campbell and O’Dell both finished with a 4-2 record, while Eller finished 3-2. Eller and O’Dell continue strong starts to their season as Eller extended his season record to 19-8, with O’Dell sitting at 16-8.
A surprising result from the weekend came from sophomore heavyweight Stephan Monchery, who had 12-straight wins leading into the tournament but lost both of his matches and went out winless. Monchery was unable to generate offense early, which has been a problem for last year’s Southern Conference champion.
App State gets a week off before hosting Virginia Military Institute Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. The matchup marks the beginning of SoCon play.
