BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University wrestling (6-9-1, 0-3 SoCon) dropped its third Southern Conference dual of the season to Chattanooga (9-9, 3-0 SoCon) on Sunday afternoon in front of a spirited crowd at Varsity Gym.
Things got under way in the SoCon dual at 149 with junior Savva Kostis getting on the mat for the first time in the second half of the season against Dean Pavlou. Pavlou tallied two takedowns and an escape before Kostis was able to get on the board via an escape in the second period to bring the match to 5-1 in favor of Pavlou. Kostis fought back by notching two escapes and a reversal, but fell to Pavlou, 12-7 to give the Mocs a 3-0 advantage.
Sophomore John Blakely faced off with Kelly Felix in the second bout of the afternoon at 157. Felix only held a 2-0 lead after the first period and escaped to start the second. Blakely got on the board with an escape, but Felix escaped again and tallied a takedown to go ahead 7-1. Blakely put together a reversal and an escape to close the gap to 7-4. That would be as close as Blakely would get as he fell to Felix 14-7, allowing UTC to move their team lead to 6-0.
At 165, junior Kyle Blevins took care of Dan Waddell, 5-2. After a scoreless first period, Blevins earned a two-point near fall in the second, but Waddell nailed a reversal to tie things up at 2-2. Since Waddell garnered a stalling warning in the first period, Blevins was awarded an additional point to put him up 3-2 with Waddell being issued another stalling call. Blevins escaped in the third and with 1:05 worth of riding time at the end of the match, Blevins took the decision and gave the Apps three team-points to bring the match to 6-3. With the decision, the #15 ranked wrestler earned his career-high 30th win of the season and broke into the single-season win list. Blevins' decision was also the 76th win of his career and needs six victories to break into the career wins list.
Chattanooga's Brandon Wright, who was ranked #33 this week by Wrestling Report, controlled the 174 match and proved to be too much for junior Carter Downs as he recorded a 14-5 major decision to extend the Mocs' team lead to 10-3.
Redshirt junior Austin Trotman got things started quickly in the 184 bout against #19 Jason McCroskey, scoring a takedown seconds into the match. McCroskey escaped and then Trotman took down McCroskey again to go ahead 4-1. From there on out it was all Trotman as the #21 ranked wrestler earned a 15-6 major decision to close the Moc advantage to10-7. With the decision though, Trotman moves into a tie with Amaro Lamar (1984-87) for sixth all-time for career wins with 83.
Chattanooga widened the margin heavily back into its favor after snatching the 197 match away from the Mountaineers via a Niko Brown 14-5 major decision over sophomore Jon Hartley, moving the team score to 14-7.
Freshman Marc Tyson was able to kill the Moc momentum in the heavyweight battle as he took a 2-1 decision over Robert Prigmore. With the first period going scoreless, Tyson was able to scratch the scoreboard with an escape to start the second period. Prigmore escaped to tie things up in the third, but a critical illegal hold was called against the Mocs allowing the Mountaineers to tally a single point for the call, putting Tyson up 2-1. Despite getting a stalling call to end the match, Appalachian closed the Moc advantage up to 14-10.
With momentum knocking on the ASU's door and a chance to earn its first lead of the dual, sophomore Tony Gravely started off with a takedown of Prescott Garner at 125 to take a 2-0 advantage, but in the blink of an eye, Garner pinned Gravely in 24 seconds to expand the Moc lead to 20-10.
At 133, sophomore Brett Boston took on Demetrius Johnson. It was all UTC until Boston earned a second period escape to close Johnson's lead to 5-1. Johnson took down Boston again, but Boston countered with an escape to bring the match to 7-2 to open the third period. Johnson brought down Boston again, but Boston escaped. Boston tallied a takedown of his own, but due to riding time, Johnson tallied the decision, 10-5, putting the dual out of reach for Appalachian.
In the final match of the afternoon, #9 Cody Cleveland controlled the match from beginning to end and never allowed junior Mike Kessler to get ahead, scoring a 12-1 major decision and finalizing UTC's third SoCon win of the season, 27-10.
The Mountaineers travel to VMI searching for their first SoCon victory of the season on Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
ASU 10, Chattanooga 27
125: Prescott Garner (Chatt) fall Tony Gravely (ASU) :24
133: Demetrius Johnson (Chatt) dec. Brett Boston (ASU), 10-5
141: Cody Cleveland (Chatt) major dec. Mike Kessler, 12-1
149: Dean Pavlou (Chatt) dec. Savva Kostis (ASU), 12-7
157: Kelly Felix (Chatt) dec. John Blakley (ASU), 14-7
165: Kyle Blevins (ASU) dec. Dan Waddell (Chatt), 5-2
174: Brandon Wright (Chatt) major dec. Carter Downs (ASU), 14-5
184: Austin Trotman (ASU) major dec. Jason McCroskey (Chatt), 15-6
197: Niko Brown (Chatt) major dec. Jon Hartley (ASU), 14-5
HWT: Marc Tyson (ASU) dec. Robert Prigmore (Chatt), 2-1
