App State wrestling took home the program’s third straight Southern Conference wrestling title and fifth in head coach JohnMark Bentley’s time as the leader on the sidelines. The top performance for the Black and Gold came from freshman heavyweight Stephan Monchery as he took home the team’s lone first place finish with a last-second reversal. Monchery’s matchup in the finals was truly the most important match of the entire tournament as he faced off against Jonathan Chesser of The Citadel. App State was up on The Citadel by 3 team points heading into the heavyweight finals, meaning if Chesser delivered a victory, he could tie the team score at 76.5 or allow The Citadel to overtake App State.
It looked like Monchery was going to give up those crucial 3 points as Chesser was on top of the Mountaineer freshman, but a back move gave Monchery the angle to flip the hold and win the match 6-5.
App State had 3 other finalists with 141-pound redshirt sophomore Kaden Keiser, 165-pound senior No. 7 Will Miller and 174-pound redshirt junior No. 27 Luke Uliano. Miller and Uliano each came into the tournament as the No. 1 seeds in their weight classes while Keiser came in as the No. 3 seed.
Keiser was the first Mountaineer to step foot on the championship mat on March 8 as he and top-seeded Carson DesRosier from The Citadel found themselves tied 1-1 going into overtime to lock in the lone qualifier at 141-pounds. Kesier had been on a run of getting down early in matches this season but showed great poise in staying equal with his opponent. Keiser couldn’t continue his defensive performance in OT as he gave up a takedown in just 16 seconds.
Miller found himself in a similar situation as Keiser, being tied at 1 in the closing seconds against another high-ranked wrestler from The Citadel in Thomas Snipes. Miller, who has not lost to a SoCon wrestler all year and only has 1 loss on the season overall, was unable to stop the defining shot from Snipes as he was taken down with just seconds remaining to lose 4-1.
Uliano also did not see his hand raised in the finals as he lost to Chattanooga’s Sergio Desiante 4-2 after also giving up a takedown in the final minute of play. This is Uliano’s first loss since December as in that run he defeated Desiante in a dominant 15-1 major decision.
The Black and Gold saw four wrestlers have their hands raised in third-place matches as 133-pound senior Chad Bellis, 157-pound redshirt freshman Jeremiah Price, 184-pound redshirt freshman Logan Eller and 197-pound junior Carson Floyd achieved bronze in the tournament.
Bellis and Floyd each had the opportunity to wrestle for NCAA locks if the bracket fell in their favor as it did for Bellis but he lost 4-1 in overtime. Floyd was not as lucky as Campbell’s Levi Hopkins ran through the 197-pound field disallowing any ability from Floyd to make second after losing to Patrick Brophy earlier in the semifinals.
Eller and Price each lost their semifinals matches before winning their final two matches. Price had a dominant run in the consolation bracket as he went 25-7 over two matches, including a dominant 17-4 win in the third place match. Eller had a bit of an easy run to third place as he faced off against the No. 6 seed in the 184-pound pool and then won the consolation final due to a medical forfeit.
Redshirt freshmen 125-pound Bryson Terrell and 141-pound Aldo Hernandez both went 1-2 and did not place in the two-day tournament as each of them lost in the consolation semifinals. Hernandez came one match short of the finals after upsetting the No. 4 seed in his pool before running into No. 1 seed Shannon Hanna. Terrell saw the opposite of Hernandez losing his first match in a close 9-7 decision before winning his second match via pin.
The Mountaineers’ three veteran wrestlers Miller, Uliano and Floyd did not automatically qualify for the NCAA championships in Philadelphia but strong seasons from each three could see them enter nationals as at large bids. Miller finishes the season with a 21-2 record while Uliano and Floyd each end their seasons 23-8 and 28-8 respectively.
Miller is virtually a lock with a No. 12 ranking on the ratings percentage index and No. 7 on the coaches ranking, but Uliano and Floyd find themselves seeking other tournaments to fall in their favor as each wrestler finds themselves at the No. 32 in the RPI in their weight classes. Only 32 wrestlers compete in each weight class with a 33rd being an injury replacement.
The NCAA championships will take place in Philadelphia March 20-22 with the brackets for each weight class being revealed on Wednesday. All matches will be streamed on ESPN+ with ESPNU, ESPN2 and ESPN also broadcasting certain matches throughout the tournament.
