App State wrestling made their season debut on Saturday as they hosted the Mountaineer Invitational where five teams, including two ranked teams, made their way to Varsity Gym. The event did not have team scores posted but the Black and Gold came second in the amount of wrestlers that finished second and third and finished third in wrestlers placing first.
No. 11 ranked 165-pound senior Will Miller and 149-pound redshirt sophomore Kaden Keiser highlighted the event for the Black and Gold as they took home first place in their respective weight classes.
No. 8 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Minnesota gave the Mountaineers a run for their money in this tournament as the three teams made up for 28/30 podium finishes at all 10 weight classes. The other two teams at the event were UNC-Chapel Hill and Davidson, while Campbell and Duke also had wrestlers competing, but they were unattached.
In the open division, 133-pound freshman Jarvis Little and 157-pound redshirt sophomore Nick Grizales went 3-0 in their weight classes. Grizales’ division only had four wrestlers so instead of a double-elimination format, it was a round-robin. Little dominated his bracket, which was the normal double-elimination format, outscoring his opponents 37-2.
Little’s open run on Saturday solidified a strong opening to his collegiate career, going 7-1 over two open tournaments as he went 4-1 last week at The Battle at The Citadel.
“When I first came here, I was not the best in the room by any means,” Little said. “Coach Bentley has helped improve a whole lot over these last two months.”
The invitational division saw the Mountaineers have five finalists and three third-place finishers.
Redshirt freshman 157-pound Jeremiah Price, 184-pound redshirt freshman Logan Eller and 197-pound junior Carson Floyd all finished third. Price found himself in a 4-2 hole with 30 seconds left but achieved a takedown and won the match 5-4. Eller opened his third-place match with a quick 7-0 scoreline but gave up 6 points in 40 seconds to make it a close match going into the third period. Eller achieved a takedown in the third to win the match 10-7. Floyd had the easiest final of the day, getting a pin in 50 seconds.
The first to wrestle of the Mountaineer’s five finalists was 141-pound sixth-year redshirt senior Sean Carter. This was Carter’s first time in almost two years representing the Black and Gold after rupturing his patella tendon in 2022. In the semi-finals, Carter faced No. 16 Sam Latona from Virginia Tech. Latona was the same wrestler that Carter had his injury against and it was evident that this match meant a lot to him. After defeating Latona in sudden victory, Carter let out a loud roar as the crowd went crazy for his first ranked win since his injury.
“If Sean wrestles like he’s behind, he’s awesome,” said head coach JohnMark Bentley. “We’ve got to keep him wrestling like that because sometimes he can get lulled to sleep and fall behind.”
Bentley’s worries for Carter were his downfall in the final as he went up against reigning All-American and No. 5 wrestler at 141 pounds in Minnesota’s Vance VomBaur. Carter fell down 7-0 early in the match and was unable to get any offense going and eventually lost 14-2. Carter’s problems also plagued 184-pound sophomore Tomas Brooker, who lost to No. 10 Max McEnelly from Minnesota 20-5.
Redshirt sophomore 157-pound Anthony Conetta followed up a fourth-place finish at The Battle at The Citadel with a second-place finish, defeating No. 32 Tanner Peake, a two-time SoCon runner-up and NCAA qualifier from Davidson in the semis. Conetta faced a familiar face in the finals, No. 8 Tommy Askey from Minnesota in the finals. Askey, who spent four years at App State and was a two-time NCAA qualifier, and Conetta went bell to bell, only achieving points from breaking the other opponents opening holds and went into overtime. In sudden death, Askey showed his experience and took Conetta down in the first 15 seconds.
“I’m getting better every week. My plan is to, after this, go back to the gym with some of the coaches and put some work in,” Conetta said. “Just trying to improve every single day.”
The first-place matches for Miller and Keiser were both close to the finish, but both were able to pull out wins in the end. Miller’s match was highlighted by a late stalling call that tied the match at 3-3 and caused an uproar in the crowd, but Miller stayed calm and won the match after his minute and a half of ride time gave him the extra point and a 4-3 win.
“I just stayed focused. I’m the only one in the match and the only one that makes or fixes a negative move,” Miller said. “It’s all up to me, so just staying focused.”
Keiser beat his opponent after each wrestler only gained a point off escaping the holds to start the periods but Keiser got a takedown with little time remaining and won first place at 149 pounds. Keiser won first place at the same tournament in the 149-pound open weight class in 2022.
The Mountaineers are back in action this Friday as they make their dual debut in Raleigh as they face off against No. 7 NC State at 7 p.m.
