App State wrestling opened Southern Conference play Thursday with a dominant 46-4 win in Clinton, South Carolina against Presbyterian College. Winning 9 of 10 matches, 8 netting extra points, the Black and Gold did not allow the Blue Hose to sniff a victory until the third-to-last match.
This marks the 11th-straight win over Presbyterian. Of the 11 wins, 4 came in the 1940s, and the other 7 came after the Blue Hoses joined the SoCon’s wrestling division in 2019. Before Thursday’s 46-4 result, App State had not given up points to the Blue Hoses since 1948.
Matches kicked off at 125-pounds, and freshman Cooper Foster needed no more than 40 seconds to pin his opponent and set the tone early. The Newland native moved his season record to 13-11 and picked up a much-needed win after 2-straight losses at the Southern Scuffle.
Next up at 133-pounds, redshirt freshman Jarvis Little dominated his opponent with 18 points in the first period alone. Little, who picked up numerous back points, did not get the pin, but a 21-5 tech-fall victory put 5 more points on the board for the Mountaineers. The young 133-pounder has been wrestling at his best, with an 8-3 record since Nov. 23.
In the 141-pound class, redshirt sophomore Aldo Hernandez faced off against one of the best wrestlers on the Presbyterian roster. Noah Luna, who was 2-0 in SoCon play entering Thursday, of the Blue Hoses gave the Mountaineers the closest match of the first 7, but Hernandez used smart and tactful positioning to win the match 5-0.
The next match saw the return of 149-pound redshirt junior No. 27 Kaden Keiser, who looked anything but rusty in his 19-4 tech-fall victory. Keiser had not wrestled since Dec. 5 at the Cliff Keen Invitational.
The next three weight classes continued the Mountaineers’ dominance as 157-pound redshirt junior Kai O’Dell, 165-pound redshirt junior Anthony Conetta and 174-pound freshman Colt Campbell all picking up victories. O’Dell used a third-period pin to win his match while Campbell blanked his opponent 12-0. Connetta had the easiest victory of the night, not even facing an opponent as Presbyterian was unable to field a wrestler at 165-pounds.
The lone loss for the Black and Gold came at 184-pounds, as redshirt senior Joe Zovitoski, who was wrestling up from his usual 174-pound class, gave up a 15-5 major decision. The matchup was Zovistoski’s first dual match of his career and his 50th match overall at App State.
The second-to-last match saw 197-pound redshirt junior Hunter Adams pick up a pin in under a minute against Joshua Henderson. The 53-second pin is Adams’ fastest and the fourth of his career.
Heavyweight sophomore Stephan Monchery closed the book on the dual meet for both teams as he dominated Morvens Saint Jean 18-3. Saint Jean came into the dual meet 2-0 in his last two matches against SoCon opponents, but Monchery dominated him from start to finish.
App State is back at home Thursday for the first time since Nov. 30 as they face off against Virginia Military Institute. The matchup is slated to start at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on FloWrestling.
