EAST LANSING, MICH. - Austin Trotman won the 174 pound weight class to lead Appalachian State University wrestling in the season-opener at the Michigan State Open on Sunday.

ASU had eight wrestlers finish in the top-six in their weight class as the Mountaineers had a solid debut to the 2009-10 season. The tournament featured more than 20 schools, including ranked opponents such as Central Michigan, Indiana and Michigan State.

A redshirt sophomore, Trotman led the way for ASU with his first place finish. He defeated The Citadel's Jonathan Oddo 14-5 in the first round and followed that with a 7-0 decision over Ian Hinton to reach the finals. In the finals he dominated Findlay's Justin Shannon 10-1 to take home first place honors.

Frank Celorrio was the Apps' next highest finisher, taking fourth at 133. He won three match on the day, including a 4-2 decision over Zach Neibert to clinch fourth place.

Three Mountaineers earned fifth place finished in the open division, including Mike Kessler, Kyle Blevins and Dylan Temple.

Kessler won his first match of the day by pinning Ohio's Heath Allen. After a second round loss, Kessler went 1-1 in the consolation bracket before defeating Ohio's Darren Boing 10-8 in the fifth place match.

Blevins opened his season with a 2-1 win over Kris Bowser before falling in the next round to Indiana's Ryan LeBlanc. Blevins, like Kessler, went 1-1 in the consolation round before beating Michigan State's Ben Boudro 9-4 for fifth.

After falling in the first round, Temple won five-straight matches to capture fifth. The junior defeated North Idaho's Jacob Burge to capture fifth.

Savva Kostis captured sixth place, picking up two wins in the process, beating The Citadel's Derek Royster 8-1 and Cleveland State's Collin McCreary 14-5.

Paul Glover and Carter Downs represented ASU well in the under 21 division, earning fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively.

Also for ASU, Brock Durfee and Richie Dehnz picked up two wins apiece while freshmen Brett Boston, Jacob Earp and Chris Collura picked up a win and sophomore Travis Puckett earned a win.

Appalachian is back in action on Sunday, Nov. 22 when they travel to the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, Pa.