BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University wrestling (3-4) dropped a tough dual to Ohio (1-0) on Friday night in Varsity Gym. The Bobcats defeated the Mountaineers, 26-21.

Junior Kyle Blevins, who was ranked as high as #20 coming into tonight's dual, had no problem with taking care of Steve Wilson in the first bout of the night at 165. Blevins scored a takedown in the first period to give himself a 2-0 advantage. The Mountaineer then scored an escape and another takedown to go up 5-0. Wilson was able to notch an escape to start off the third period to avoid the shutout, moving the match to 5-1. Blevins tallied another takedown, but Wilson countered with an escape to bring the match to 7-2. Blevins sealed the deal with another takedown and got Appalachian on the board with the fall decision (9-2) earning six points for the Mountaineers.

Top-25 wrestler Nick Purdue got the best of junior Carter Downs at 174 as he scored the technical fall against Downs, 21-6 and closed ASU's gap to 6-5.

Redshirt junior Austin Trotman pushed Appalachian's advantage to 9-5 after he defeated Ryan Garringer, 9-5 in the 184-pound weight class. Trotman, who's highest ranking was #21 by WrestlingReport.com, was down early in the first period after Garringer tallied a takedown to go up 2-0. Trotman was able to escape to move the match to 2-1. Trotman then nailed an escape and takedown as the second period of action ended to give himself a 4-2 gain. Garringer was able to escape and then nailed a second point for stalling to tie things up at 4-4. Trotman broke things up and scored another takedown to go up 6-4. Garringer escaped again, but Trotman registered the final takedown of the match as time expired to earn an 8-5 decision and stretch the Mountaineers' lead.

The Bobcats recorded back-to-back falls against the Apps as #19 Erik Schuth earned a fall against sophomore Jon Hartley in 197 and #21 Jeremy Johnson scored the fall against freshman Marc Tyson in the heavyweight match to give Ohio its first lead of the dual 17-9.

Sophomore Tony Gravely put points on the board for the Black and Gold as he earned the fall against Gabe Ramos at 125 in the first period of action, shrinking the Bobcat advantage to 17-15.

The Mountaineers dropped consecutive decisions at 133 and 141 as Jake Wojcik defeated freshman Chris Johnson 4-2 and #8 Germane Lindsey edged junior Mike Kessler by a 5-2 margin to move the Bobcats lead to 23-15.

In the 149 matchup, junior Savva Kostis was down early in the first period after a two-point takedown by Brad Squire, but escaped to close the gap at 2-1. Kostis nailed a takedown, but Squire countered with a reversal to go back up 4-3. Kostis escaped to tally the single point to knot things back up, but Squire took down Kostis again in the second to go up 6-4. Kostis pulled ahead and secured the victory in the match after scoring the fall to halt the Bobcat lead to 23-21 heading into the final match of the dual.

The 157 match between Chris Kline and sophomore John Blakely went scoreless in the first period, but Kline was able to capture a reversal to go up 2-0 on Blakely. After an illegal hold was called and Kline awarded a point, Blakely escaped to get on the board. Blakely was able to counter with good movement on the mat before his momentum was killed on a Kline takedown. With time winding down, Blakely was awarded a point for stalling with 26.9 seconds left in the final stanza. Blakely escaped again as time was expiring and dropped the 6-3 decision to Kline to close out the dual.

The Mountaineers return to action again on Dec. 19 as they take part in the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev. in an all-day affair.