App State wrestling had a jam-packed weekend, with its first two dual matchups of the season on Saturday and a round-robin tournament on Sunday. App State split the dual matchups, losing to the United States Naval Academy 27-13 before a 24-15 comeback victory over Hofstra University, and had five wrestlers unbeaten in the Journeyman Collegiate Classic.
Redshirt freshman Jarvis Little and No. 28 redshirt junior Kaden Keiser highlighted the Black and Gold with victories versus Navy at 133-pounds and 149-pounds. Little used a strong start to the match to put away Brendan Ferritti.
The Mountaineers were only able to muster 4 wins versus the Midshipmen as 157-pound redshirt sophomore Jeremiah Price joined Little, Keiser and No. 32 197-pound redshirt sophomore Tomas Brooker in the win column. A close 4-2 loss by decision for 165-pound redshirt junior Anthony Conetta against No. 33 Dylan Elmore advanced his strong start to the season.
Three-straight wins — Brooker at 184-pounds, redshirt sophomore Logan Eller at 197-pounds and sophomore Stephan Monchery at heavyweight — pushed the Black and Gold past Hofstra.
Before the wins, App State dropped three of the first four matches versus Hofstra to fall into a quick 11-4 team score deficit before winning five of the final six matches. Eller’s and Monchery’s wins by fall and tech fall cemented the match for the Black and Gold, turning a 15-14 deficit into a 24-15 victory to finish the first day in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The second and final day at Freedom High School saw the Mountaineers send 20 wrestlers to the Journeyman Collegiate Classic, a round-robin style tournament, which is different from a traditional tournament, such as the Southeast Open. The format features multiple pools of four or five wrestlers, with some weight classes having up to six different groups.
App State had 14 — over half of the participating wrestlers — leave the tournament with a positive record as five went undefeated. Conetta, Eller, Monchery and 141-pound redshirt sophomore Aldo Hernandez all went 3-0, with 174-pound redshirt sophomore Alex Hopper going 4-0.
Little and 157-pound redshirt junior Kai O’Dell went 3-1 with Keiser, Price and five other wrestlers finishing 2-1 on the day. Keiser took the Mountaineers’ lone ranked win of the tournament with an overtime win over No. 31 Richard Fedalen from Columbia University.
App State wrestling is back on the mat this weekend as they travel to Morgantown, West Virginia for a tri-meet on Sunday. The team will face off against Princeton University at noon before facing Glenville State University at 1:30 p.m. Their busy day will end with a dual versus West Virginia University at 3 p.m.
