A snowy, windy afternoon on the mountain brought the No. 11 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies to Varsity Gym to take on a red-hot App State team coming off two straight Southern Conference dual wins. The Hokies proved to be too much for the Mountaineers, as they won 30-11.
“Our lineup is coming together, but we still have work to do,” said head coach JohnMark Bentley. “We just need experience, and that’s what a match like this gives us.”
App State won 3 of the 10 matches as 165-pound senior No. 7 Will Miller and 174-pound redshirt junior Luke Uliano both picked up top-20 ranked wins. Redshirt sophomore and 149-pound Kaden Kesier was the third win of the night after climbing back from an 8-3 deficit in the first period.
The first match of the afternoon was at 125 pounds as redshirt freshman Bryson Terrell faced off against No. 5 Eddie Ventresca. The match was short-lived, as Terrel was unable to get any offense going and was eventually pinned in two minutes and 30 seconds. Terrell was one of five freshmen in the lineup today for the Mountaineers.
The next two matches were at 133 and 141 pounds as senior Chad Bellis and redshirt freshman Aldo Hernandez both lost to top-15 opponents in matches where the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story. Bellis lost 13-3 and Hernandez lost 5-1 but both matches were very close as neither were completely dominated. Hernandez showed great potential in his takedown defense against former All-American Sam Latona.
The next matchup was at 149 pounds as Keiser faced off against Hunter Mason. Keiser found himself down 8-3 after the end of the first period after a very slow start in which he allowed a takedown and a 4-point near fall, both within the last two minutes of the period. Keiser then blew up the match, outscoring his opponent 12-2 in the last two periods and winning the match 15-10.
“The last two years I’ve been behind Cody Bond and Jon Jon Millner and they taught me a lot,” Keiser said. “Just practicing with them and talking to them every day showed me how to keep my composure and be me on the mat.”
The final bout before intermission was 157-pound redshirt freshman Jeremiah Price faced off against No. 11 Rafael Hipolito Jr. Hipolito did not allow Price any offense outside of a reversal in the final period. Hipolito eventually won the match 14-5.
The match score going into intermission was 17-3 in favor of Virginia Tech.
The first match after intermission was at 165 pounds as Miller faced off against No. 20 Mac Church. The match was filled with controversy and thrown blocks as there were three challenges in the final and sudden victory periods alone. The three regulation periods were lackluster with the two wrestlers only mustering 1 point each.
“I missed out on Cliff Keen due to injury and that has caused some rust,” Miller said. “The last two matches I just haven’t been myself but towards the end of this match I felt good and loose again.”
The sudden victory periods were filled with yells from the crowd, the two benches and the two coaches. Virginia Tech challenged twice over illegal holds and Bentley contested over a false start. All calls were upheld and the resisted calls were unsuccessful.
“I’ve just got to keep my mind right in those situations,” Miller said about the turmoil during his match. He kept his mind right and won the match due to a stalling call on church and won the match 2-1.
The next match was at 174 pounds as Uliano defeated No. 20 Lennox Wolak. Uliano came out on fire getting 2 takedowns in the first period and riding out all but 24 seconds of the three minute period. Uliano got the crowd on fire as the fans were chanting “Luke” after every takedown. Uliano eventually won the match 19-3 on a tech fall after achieving 4 minutes of ride time. Uliano’s win brought the match score to a close 17-11.
“I credit Will’s match a lot for hyping the crowd up,” Uliano said. “The crowd was super into it and that helped me out for a fast start.”
The last three matches at 184, 197 and heavyweight were all losses for the Mountaineers and only 197-pound junior No. 32 Carson Floyd’s match was close as it was a 6-1 final but 1-0 until the final period. Redshirt freshman and 184-pound Logan Eller and freshman heavyweight Stephan Monchery both lost by tech fall. This allowed the Hokies to blow up the score to a final of 30-11.
“The opportunity to face stronger opponents is what will make us better,” Bentley said about the two-day slate with Virginia Tech and Duke. “We have a ways to go, but that’s the goal.”
