Standout freshmen are staples of college sports, and App State had no shortage of them this year. Three of these freshmen have stood out from the rest during this time, but they each had different paths to the High Country.
Stephan Monchery: Wrestling, Heavyweight
Stephan Monchery wasn’t originally supposed to go to App State. The New York native was committed to the University of Buffalo, but he decommitted when they underwent a coaching change. App State was looking for a heavyweight, and it turned out to be a good fit, so Monchery committed.
Monchery wasn’t guaranteed to be a starter for the Mountaineers, and he wasn’t for the first duel of the year against NC State. Despite this, he eventually earned the role and proceeded to blow everyone’s expectations out of the water.
Monchery went 19-11 on the season and 7-1 in Southern Conference duels, playing a key part in the Mountaineers winning a share of the regular season conference championship.
His role only became more important in the conference tournament. Monchery ran the table and won the final with a clutch reversal to seal a conference championship for himself and the team, the only Mountaineer to win an individual conference title at the tournament.
With this win, Monchery also sealed a berth to the NCAA Tournament, where he lost both his matches but showed great promise in qualifying.
“Part of what makes him successful is he doesn’t get too high or too low,” head coach JohnMark Bentley said. “He’s just got a very even-keeled personality.”
Monchery’s goals for the future are simple.
“I want to make it back to the NCAA Tournament and All-American,” Monchery said.
Tyler Lichtenberger: Baseball, Shortstop
Tyler Lichtenberger committed to App State before he stepped foot on campus.
His friend, freshman utility player Riley Luft, had told Lichtenberger good things about the university and coaching staff, so he reached out.
“It just clicked right away,” Lichtenberger said. “I was like, a couple of phone calls with coach Smith and I committed on the spot right when I got my offer.”
Lichtenberger struggled with the transition to college at first as he likes to have a routine, but he credits the coaches with creating a “family environment,” which made his transition easier.
He didn’t expect to start coming into the season, but he got an opportunity and made the most of it.
As of April 30, Lichtenberger led the team in hits and batting average, hitting 2 homers, 32 RBIs and posting a .942 on base plus slugging.
This has been enough to earn himself national recognition, including being named Second Team Freshman All-American by Perfect Game alongside his high school teammate James Litman, a pitcher for Florida Atlantic.
Despite this, he’s still focused on improving, especially on defense. To remind himself of this, he keeps a social media post criticizing his defense as the lock screen on his phone.
Leah Gore: Softball, Catcher
Leah Gore has been coming to the High Country for years. Her family has a condominium in Blowing Rock, and she came up here many times when she was younger.
“When I came on my visit, it just kind of felt like home,” Gore said.
Head softball coach Whitney Jones got to know Gore at a game before she came to Boone and liked her competitive spirit.
“I remember after the game talking to Leah and she was like, ‘Yeah she just got me on that changeup,’ and I’m like, ‘Ugh, I should have just got that one pitch,’” Jones said.
Gore brought this competitive spirit with her to Boone and put a lot of pressure on herself, but the transition was challenging, and she didn’t necessarily play against the best high school competition.
Despite this, Jones knew Gore would have a chance to carve out a role in her first year.
“We had some conversations in the winter that a lot of freshmen weren’t gonna get to be freshmen this year,” Jones said. “We were gonna need people to kind of come in and fill in some roles, and Leah accepted that challenge.”
Gore has stepped up to that challenge and as of April 30 has 45 hits with 8 homers and 30 RBIs while posting a batting average of .304 and on base plus slugging of .888.
This is despite Gore moving to left field for a large portion of the season, away from her natural position at catcher.
This start makes Jones think there are big things for Gore in the future.
“The future is so bright, I mean you’re literally a freshman and you’ve gotten so much experience and you’ve had so much success already,” Jones said. “So just to keep building off that is like really exciting for her, for our program, and just the future of App State softball.”
