App State wrestling welcomed the No. 2 team in the Southern Conference on Sunday with two possible scenarios in mind. The first scenario being an App State win could give the team their seventh conference title in nine years. The second option, Campbell winning, would make the two teams co-champions. The latter option became a reality as the Mountaineers could only win 4 of the 10 matches and lost 21-15.
The crowd of more than 900 people was treated to a feisty rivalry match as every time Campbell won a match, the winning wrestler taunted the student section. The student section was mainly filled with athletes from other sports, such as football, men’s basketball, women’s soccer, women’s tennis and field hockey, who attended to support the wrestling team in their biggest match of the season.
“We had a great crowd, great atmosphere to compete in and I never want to take that for granted. You know, we have the best fan support of anywhere in the country so I’m thankful for that,” head coach JohnMark Bentley said. “Obviously was hoping for a different result today but hats off to Campbell, they came in here ready to wrestle and seemed more fired up than we were.”
The four App State victories came from two ranked veterans and two freshmen. The first win of the night came from redshirt freshman 157-pound No. 32 Jeremiah Price followed by senior 165-pound No. 7 Will Miller and redshirt junior 174-pound No. 29 Luke Uliano. Freshman heavyweight Stephan Monchery picked up a huge 11-2 major decision against another true freshman.
Price’s match started fast as he picked up a quick takedown and controlled his opponent for almost the whole first minute of the match before his opponent escaped. That one takedown was the only offense Price could muster all three periods but 2 escapes allowed him to hold a 5-3 lead with 10 seconds left.
With the clock ticking down, Price’s opponent seemed to get a takedown but a review from the officials deemed it came after the buzzer went off, allowing Price to pick up the first win of the night for the Black and Gold. This win gives Price momentum going into his first ever SoCon championship.
“At the end of the day, I’m trying to be a world champ and NCAA champ so my goal is just keep getting better and better,” Price said. “Whoever steps in front of me, just see them as a competitor.”
The next matchup was Miller against another ranked wrestler and former NCAA qualifier Dom Baker. Miller and Baker showed great respect for each of their offenses as neither wrestler wanted to give the other an opportunity and there were shots taken in the first two periods. Miller finally opened the scoring with an escape out of Baker’s top positioning to open the third period and then capitalized with a takedown as he rode his opponent out to win the match 4-0.
“It’s a good feeling, not the result we wanted but I think it was nice to come out and know that this was my last match and I feel like it actually took a lot of pressure off me,” Miller said. “I know the match didn’t go that way, it didn’t look like I felt free but I definitely felt that way.”
Uliano and Monchery’s matchups went a different way than the low-scoring other matches. Uliano continued his hot streak with a 15-0 tech fall win and Monchery won a 11-2 major decision after getting 3 takedowns in the final two periods. The win marks the 10th straight win for Uliano since Dec. 12, he’s outscored his opponents 89-4 and pinned three opponents over those 10 matches. Monchery’s win marks his fourth straight victory, and he has picked up bonus points in all of those matches.
The losses for the Mountaineers all were close, other than 184 pounds as redshirt freshman Logan Eller was pinned in the second round. Redshirt sophomore 149-pound Kaden Keiser, 197-pound junior No. 29 Carson Floyd, 125-pound redshirt freshman Bryson Terrell, 133-pound senior No. 27 Chad Bellis and 141-pound redshirt freshman Aldo Hernandez all lost by 5 points or fewer. Campbell defeated Terrell, Bellis and Hernandez in back-to-back-to-back matches after App State held a 15-12 lead to win 21-15.
The Mountaineers now look to March 7-8 as they will be in Asheville for the SoCon championships looking for a third straight tournament title. While Bellis, Miller, Uliano and Floyd have all been to SoCon’s before, that leaves 6 out of 10 starters making their tournament debuts.
“I just try to talk to them and educate them on what to expect and what not to expect,” Miller said. “Encouraging them is the key.”
The SoCon Tournament will take place at Kimmel Arena at UNC-Asheville. The schedule can be found online here, with all matches being streamed on ESPN+.
