BOONE, N.C. — Pins in half its matches against VMI helped Appalachian State's wrestling team gain sole possession of first place heading into a SoCon showdown with Chattanooga.
The Mountaineers posted a 46-5 home victory at Varsity Gym on Wednesday thanks to five falls, one technical fall and two major decisions.
"We had a lot of guys step up that were taking risks," App State coach
JohnMark Bentley said. "Even in matches that were not in question, at the end of matches, we were still trying to score, execute holds and things we needed to get better. That's what I was proud of."
App State (7-3, 5-0) can clinch at least a share of a third straight Southern Conference championship if it wins Sunday at Chattanooga (6-6, 4-0). Picked second in the preseason, the Mocs still have dual meets left against Appalachian, Gardner-Webb and preseason favorite Campbell, which lost 18-12 to the visiting Mountaineers last week. They have league matches left against Chattanooga and The Citadel.
App State's
Angel Najar opened Wednesday's match at 157 pounds with a pin 26 seconds into the second period, and the other four pins occurred in the first period. In recording his team-leading 23rd victory, redshirt freshman
Alan Clothier registered his first pin by wrapping up his match at 184 pounds in 2:36, and
Cary Miller needed only 54 seconds to pin his heavyweight opponent.
De'Andre Swinson-Barr followed Miller with a pin in the closing seconds of the first period at 125 pounds, and
Irvin Enriquez registered a pin in 1:15 at 141.
The five pins were App State's highest total since a 46-6 victory against Cumberland to open the 2014-15 season, when current assistant
Dominic Parisi had one of the five in that dual meet.
"As a team, we went out there and wrestled hard," Najar said. "We went to our moves and did everything our coaches wanted us to do."
App State's tech fall against VMI came from
Gavin Londoff by a 15-0 score at 149 pounds, while the Mountaineers won by major decision at 197 (
Randall Diabe, 14-3) and 133 (
Codi Russell, 11-1). Making his dual meet debut, freshman
Joe Accousti posted a 6-1 decision at 174 pounds.
App State 46, VMI 5
157:
Angel Najar (APP) def. Steve Midkiff (VMI), fall, 3:26 (6-0)
165: Blake Hohman (VMI) def.
Thomas Flitz (APP), 20-5 tech. fall (6-5)
174:
Joe Accousti (APP) def. Gage Levine (VMI), 6-1 dec. (9-5)
184:
Alan Clothier (APP) def. Jack Scalio (VMI), fall, 2:36 (15-5)
197:
Randall Diabe (APP) def. Max Gallahan (VMI), 14-3 maj. dec. (19-5)
HWT:
Cary Miller (APP) def. Jake Tomlinson (VMI), fall, 0:54 (25-5)
125:
De'Andre Swinson-Barr (APP) def. Daniel Millstead (VMI), fall, 2:56 (31-5)
133:
Codi Russell (APP) def. Hunter Starner (VMI), 11-1 maj. dec. (35-5)
141:
Irvin Enriquez (APP) def. Michael Hulcher (VMI), fall, 1:15 (41-5)
149:
Gavin Londoff (APP) def. Kevin Keaveney (VMI), 15-0 tech. fall (46-5)
