PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Reigning Southern Conference wrestler of the week, Dylan Cottrell, did not disappoint on Sunday when he finished in third place at 149 pounds in what was a tough field at the Keystone Classic.

The Mountaineers had two wrestlers place on the day with Cottrell taking third and Denzel Dejournette finishing sixth at 285 pounds.

Cottrell started the day with a win over Nathan Hoffer (Arizona State) by a convincing 8-1 decision after receving an opening round bye. Cottrell then won by decision over Andrew Lenzi (Penn), 6-2. In the semifinal, Cottrell fell to Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) by major decision 16-3. Tsirtsis came into the weekend ranked fifth at 149 pounds according to InterMat Wrestling. After the semifinal loss, Cottrell would rally off two wins in the consolation bracket to take third place. A pin against Colin Shober (Northwestern) would place redshirt-freshman in the third place match where he met Mike Racciato (Pittsburgh) and would win a 7-6 decision.

Dejournette defeated Steven Graziano (Penn) by decision 6-1 to get his day started. Kyle Colling (Arizona State) would defeat Dejournette in the quarterfinal match with a pin. Dejournette would then win matches against Anthony DiLonardo (Penn) by decision 9-3 and Kevin Innis (Boston University) by major decision 9-1 to reach the consolation semis. Innis was ranked 18th by InterMat coming into Sunday. In the semifinal match, Dejournette fell to Eloheim Palma (Campbell) by a decision of 12-5. In the fifth place match, Dejournette lost to Mike Gregory (Pittsburgh) by fall to take sixth place.

At 125 pounds, Dominic Parisi and Vito Pasone both lost their first matches and faced off against each other in the second round of the consolation bracket. Parisi would defeat Pasone in the battle of Mountaineers by a decision of 8-3.

Also receiving wins on the day was Jake Smith at 141 pounds, defeating Matt Greene (Northwestern) by fall and won by decision against Tom Page (American), 8-3. Zack Strickland earned two wins on Sunday at 165 pounds defeating Marcos Peralta (American) by a major decision 15-3 and a sudden victory decision over Geno Morelli (Pittsburgh), SV-2, 4-2. Also at 165 pounds, true freshman Adrian Soto-Perez picked up a win in the consolation bracket winning by decision over Matthew Rubin (Boston University), 11-4. Colin Hedash picked up a victory at 174 pounds defeating Colin Saunders (Boston University) by decision, 10-8.

Appalachian finished with 31 points on the afternoon to take 12th place. The Mountaineers will return to the mats on Dec. 15 when they travel for a dual with Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

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