BOONE, N.C. ­— In front of a packed Varsity Gym, Appalachian State University wrestling squared off with Chattanooga on Senior Day. The Mountaineers (7-8, 4-1 SoCon) fell to the Mocs (11-5, 6-0 SoCon) 19-17 in a highly contested match that came down to the wire.

Prior to the match, seniors Dominic Parisi and Nick Vetell were recognized for all their hard work in their five years with App state's wrestling program.

The match began at the 125 pound weight class with Parisi taking on No. 11 Sean Boyle. Boyle jumped out to an early lead with two first round take downs. Parisi fought back to get within one point, but time ran out on his comeback, and Parisi fell 8-6.

Vito Pasone was up next at 133 pounds to face No. 13 Nick Soto. Pasone nearly pinned Soto in the first period, but trailed 10-7 going into the third period. Soto would hold his advantage and win the match 11-7 to give UTC a 6-0 lead.

At 141, Michael Longo took on Michael Pongracz. The match was scoreless through the first two periods before Longo scored a two point takedown in the third period to break the deadlock. Longo got the Mountaineers on the board with a 3-1 decision victory.

With the score 6-3 in favor of UTC, Javon Johnson jumped out to a quick 9-1 lead after two first-period near falls against Shawn Greevy. Greevy led 17-9 after a big second period. Johnson was defeated by technical fall to give the Mocs an 11-3 advantage.

At 157, Zack Strickland led 1-0 over Austin Sams after two periods. Strickland had a late third round take down that sealed his 4-3 decision win. UTC led 11-6 going into the intermission.

Reigning Southern Conference wrestler of the week Nick Kee faced Justin Lampe at 165 pounds. Kee led 6-2 after three first-period takedowns. With a 10-4 advantage going into the third period, Kee won the Mountaineers their first bonus points of the match with a 16-5 major decision.

The 174 match began with UTC leading 11-10. Forrest Przybysz trailed 2-1 to Sean Mappes after the first period. Late in the third period Przybysz was down one, but then took Mappes down and held him the rest of the way to earn a 4-3 decision win. The victory pushed App State into the lead for the first time, 13-11.

Vetell gave up a technical fall to McCoy Newberg at 184 pounds. With UTC up 16-13, Tyler Radford got out to an early 5-0 lead over Scottie Boykin. With the score tied 10-10 late in the third round, Boykin took down Radford to earn a 15-10 decision win.

Appalachian was down six headed into the final match and needed a pin to tie the score. Denzel Dejournette was up against Clay Dent. Dejournette took a 7-0 lead into the third round, but was unable to stick Dent leaving the Mountaineers just shy of the Mocs.

With the loss the Mountaineers are still in second place in the Southern Conference standings. Appalachian will be back in action against Virgina Military Institute in Lexington, Va. Feb. 16th at 7:30 p.m.

Appalachian State 17, Chattanooga 19

125: Sean Boyle def. Dominic Parisi D, 9-6 (3-0, UTC)

133: Nick Soto def. Vito Pasone D, 11-7 (6-0, UTC)

141: Michael Longo def. Michael Pongracz D, 3-1 (6-3, UTC)

149: Shawn Greevy def. Javon Johnson TF, 26-9 (11-3, UTC)

157: Zack Strickland def. Austin Sams D, 4-3 (11-6, UTC)

165: Nick Kee def. Justin Lampe MD, 16-5 (11-10, UTC)

174: Forrest Przybysz def. Sean Mappes D, 4-3 (13-11, App)

184: McCoy Newburg def. Nick Vetell TF, 15-0 (16-13, UTC)

 197: Scottie Boykin def. Tyler Radford D, 15-10 (19-13, UTC)

Hwt: Denzel Dejournette def. Clay Dent MD, 15-2 (19-17, UTC)