App State wrestling began the 2025-26 season in Salem, Virginia at the annual Southeast Open Sunday. App State had seven top-six finishers in both the open and the freshman/sophomore event, with two top-three finishers as redshirt sophomore Jermiah Price took second-place at 157-pounds and redshirt junior Kaden Keiser took third-place at 149-pounds.

Price began his tournament with a three-match run, winning his first bout by fall in the second period. He then won his round of 32 and quarterfinal matches by a combined 32-6 scoreline. 

He advanced to the finals by match forfeit as University of Tennessee-Chattanooga’s No. 18 Cody Chittum was unable to compete. The finals did not fall in his favor as No. 22 Charlie Millard from the University of Minnesota took Price down with an 8-1 scoreline.

Keiser started his open tournament with an undefeated record heading into the semi-finals as he took down No. 27 Drew Roberts from Minnesota before meeting up with No. 10 Koy Buesgens from North Carolina State University in the semi-finals. Buesgens took the match 8-2 over Keiser in what could be a preview of the 149-pound match on Nov. 30 when NC State comes to Boone for a dual meet. 

Keiser won the third-place match in just two and a half minutes with a fall over Jager Eisch from Minnesota. 

Redshirt sophomore Tomas Brooker made his return to the mat in the 184-pound weight class after an 11-month recovery from a torn ACL against NC State last year. Brooker placed fourth, going 2-2 on the day. 

Redshirt junior Anthony Conetta placed sixth in the 165-pound weight class with a 4-2 record while defeating three power conference opponents en route to the placement. Conetta, who wrestled at 157 pounds last season, could slot into the starting spot at 165 left by Mountaineer legend Will Miller after a strong tournament. 

The final Mountaineer to place in the open division came from freshman Musa Tamaradze in the 133-pound class. Tamaradze placed fifth in a very competitive bracket that featured University of Maryland’s No. 8 Braxton Brown and former Mountaineer No. 13 Ethan Oakley, who is now at UNC-Chapel Hill. 

Tamaradze faced off against both of the top seeds, barely losing against Brown in a close 6-5 match that saw him tie with a takedown with under a minute remaining, but he gave up an escape to lose the match. His match against Oakley went his way as he pinned the three-time NCAA qualifier in the first period. 

A shocking result for one of the Mountaineer’s premier wrestlers came from heavyweight sophomore Stephan Monchery. Last year’s Southern Conference champion in the heavyweight division went 0-2 on the day with an 8-0 major decision loss versus Koy Hopke from Minnesota and a close 10-9 loss against James Blackmon from George Mason University.

In the freshman and sophomore division, App State saw 174-pound freshman Colt Campbell take second while 165-pound freshman Caleb Cady placed sixth. Campbell won his first three matches before a 3-1 sudden victory loss against Beau Lewis from Virginia Military Institute. Cady went 4-2 in his first-ever tournament, repping the Black and Gold. 

App State wrestling hits the mats again Saturday and Sunday, as they travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to face off against Navy and Hofstra on Saturday, then participate in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic on Sunday. The Saturday match versus Navy begins at 11:30 a.m., followed by Hofstra at 1:30 p.m., while the tournament on Sunday begins at 9 a.m.