App State wrestling found themselves in Philadelphia Thursday and Friday as three wrestlers participated in the NCAA Championships. Senior 165-pound No. 13 Will Miller, junior 197-pound No. 33 Carson Floyd and freshman heavyweight No. 32 Stephan Monchery all suffered early exits.
Floyd and Monchery both went 0-2 and did not advance past Thursday afternoon in their first time at the national tournament. Miller, the 2024-25 Southern Conference Wrestler of the Year, went 1-2 in his third NCAA appearance. Miller’s exit on Friday saw him get upset by the No. 30 wrestler in the 165-pound class in a 9-1 major decision loss.
Floyd kicked off the tournament for the Mountaineers and the 197-pound weight class as he faced off against No. 32 seed Wolfgang Frable from Army. The No. 32 vs No. 33 seed matchup is referred to as a pigtail match where the winner will advance to face the No. 1 seed.
Floyd was unable to get any offense until the final minute where he took down his opponent and got 4 back points. However, Frable had built up 12 points of his own, and Floyd lost the match 12-8. Floyd then found himself against Ian Bush, the No. 30 seed from West Virginia, in an elimination match where he again went down early and found offense late but was unable to finish his final offensive attack and lost 5-4. Floyd ends his season with a 28-10 record.
Monchery also found himself in the pigtail matches in the heavyweight division facing off against No. 33 Hayden Filipovich from Purdue for the opportunity to face off against the No. 1 pound-for-pound wrestler in the country Gable Steveson from the University of Minnesota. A very jittery and untested Monchery was unable to score any points and lost a 9-0 major decision.
His second match was the same as the first, as he was unable to get any offense against Sam Mitchell — the No. 30 seed from Wyoming — in a bout he lost 5-0. Monchery ends his season at 19-11 after starting the season 6-6 and as the backup at heavyweight.
Miller kicked off his tournament with a huge victory against No. 20 Gunner Filipowicz from Army. Miller picked up his first pin of the season against Filipowicz in the second period to move on to the next round. Miller then found himself against the No. 4 seed Terrell Barraclough from Utah Valley in a matchup where Miller couldn’t get off his legs to start any attacks and lost a 11-1 major decision. Barraclough would go on to place fifth and be awarded All-American.
Miller’s third match found him in the consolation bracket against No. 30 Aiden Riggins from Iowa State. Riggins, who finished the year 17-19, kept Miller on his legs the same way Barraclough was able to and defeated Miller in a 9-1 major decision. The major decision loss was Miller’s first time this season giving up more than 6 points in a dual setting.
Miller finishes his season with a 22-4 record and his App State career with 84 victories. Miller’s four losses this season were the lowest of his career but three of the four losses came within the last two weeks.
While a disappointing NCAA Championships for App State, the team achieved their third straight conference title in a season where 5 of the 10 starters were freshmen. Mixed with the team’s inexperience, two wrestlers with NCAA experience were injured in the first dual match of the season and the team had two top-16 wrestlers at last year’s nationals leave for bigger programs in the offseason. They were also displaced from their locker room in the preseason due to Hurricane Helene.
