BOONE, N.C – Appalachian State University wrestling completed the Appalachian Open on Saturday in the Varsity Gymnasium. Appalachian saw three Mountaineers place in their weight classes.
Jacob Grigg and Marcus Johnson both took home third place. Grigg, in the 133 pound bracket, started strong with two pins in the first two rounds. Grigg pinned Stephen Corasaniti of Shorter University 53 seconds into the match before pinning Ohio State's Mike Manuche in 46 seconds. In the semi-final, Grigg dropped an 11-3 major decision to Shorter's Aldon Isenberg, who finished in second place. In the Consolation semi-final, Grigg defeated Bailey Jack of Duke to advance to the third place match. Grigg earned his spot on the podium by defeating Chattanooga's Radley Gillis 6-3.
Johnson received an opening round bye in the 184 pound bracket. In his first match, Johnson defeated Mitchell Thomas of UNC via a 13-1 major decision. In the semi-final, Johnson dropped a 2-1 decision to Chattanooga's DeVaunje Franklin-Smith in overtime. Johnson only needed 49 seconds to pin Alec Schenk of Duke to move onto the third place match. Johnson made it back-to-back pins en route to a third place finish when he pinned Duke's Tyler Patrick.
Colton Jackson was the final Mountaineer to place at the tournament. Jackson finished in fourth place in the 165 weight class bracket. Jackson received an opening round bye before pinning Shorter University's Tristan Catterton 2:33 into the bout. Jackson met NC State's Tommy Gantt in the next round and dropped a 8-1 decision. In the consolation semi-final, Jackson defeated Lee Davis of NC State and advanced into the third place match. David Bergida of Virginia Tech pinned Jackson 2:20 into the match, leaving Jackson in fourth place.
Three other Mountaineers picked up multiple wins today in tournament action. David Peters-Logue won three matches in the 174 pound bracket and was one round away from placing. Dain Steffeny won two consolation matches in the 164 pound bracket. Freshman Payton Shuford won his first two matches in the 141 pound bracket.
The Mountaineers will be back in action on Jan. 30th at home for a Southern Conference match-up versus Gardner-Webb at 6:30 p.m.
