BOONE, N.C. — With victories in six of the first nine matches, the Gold team led by co-head assistant coach
Ryan LeBlanc claimed a 24-14 victory in Appalachian State's Black and Gold wrestling exhibition Tuesday night.
The public debut of a 2018-19 team that has six preseason all-conference selections and is the preseason favorite to win another Southern Conference title attracted a large crowd to Varsity Gym, where LeBlanc and fellow co-head assistant coach
Josh Roosa directed opposing instrasquad groups.
App State has 10 returning wrestlers with dual meet starting experience in the last two seasons, and six of the team's 11 newcomers were among the 22 team members who wrestled Tuesday.
"Overall, I saw some good things," said head coach
JohnMark Bentley, who enters his 10th season with an 88-59-1 record. "I saw some young guys that were battling and finding a way to be competitive. Most importantly, I saw we have a lot of experience back.
"A lot of our returners were out there wrestling well, and it makes it hard for a lot of our new guys to shine because we have so much depth in our returners. There were some good, hard-fought battles that showed me some areas where we're doing well and also showed me some areas where we really need to focus in on at practice."
The winners for the Gold team were
Andy Richard (9-4 decision at 125 pounds),
Codi Russell (18-4 major decision at 133 pounds),
Irvin Enriquez (6-2 decision at 141 pounds),
Carl Guess (3-1 decision by a sudden victory takedown at 165 pounds),
Barrett Blakely (11-1 major decision at 184 pounds),
Randall Diabe (5-3 decision via a tiebreaker 1 win at 197 pounds) and
Cary Miller (9-0 major decision in the heavyweight division).
Alan Clothier (17-2 technical fall at 184 pounds),
Matt Zovistoski (7-4 decision at 141 pounds),
Angel Najar (8-3 decision at 157 pounds) and
Demazio Samuel (8-1 decision at 197 pounds) earned wins for Roosa's team.
LeBlanc's team trailed 11-10 before Guess started a streak of three straight Gold victories with his overtime win in a competitive match with
Michael Elliott, and
Paul Carson went through a scoreless sudden victory period after forcing overtime against one of the preseason all-conference picks in Diabe. Additionally,
Bradley Irwin and
Jonathan Millner also performed well in close losses to returning starters who have qualified for the NCAA Championships during their careers.
The Mountaineers compete next on Nov. 4 at the Southeast Open in Salem, Va., and they will appear again at Varsity Gym on Nov. 25 for a nonconference dual meet against North Carolina.
Season tickets for App State Wrestling are available for $35 (adults) and $15 (youth) by
clicking HERE for an online purchase, contacting the ticket office at
828-262-2079 or going to the App State athletics ticket office located at the Holmes Center. It is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
Single-match tickets are $7 (adult) and $3 (youth), with the visits from UNC, Oklahoma and Chattanooga set as premium matches with a price of $10 for adults and $5 for youth.
Gold 24, Black 14
184: Alan Clothier (B) def.
Garrett Church (G), 17-2 tech. fall (0-5)
125: Andy Richard (G) def.
Jett Steckline (B), 9-4 dec. (3-5)
133: Codi Russell (G) def.
Thierry Washington (B), 18-4 maj. dec. (7-5)
141: Irvin Enriquez (G) def.
Bradley Irwin (B), 6-2 dec. (10-5)
149: Matt Zovistoski (B) def.
Jonathan Millner (G), 7-4 dec. (10-8)
157: Angel Najar (B) def.
Will Formato (G), 8-3 dec. (10-11)
165: Carl Guess (G) def.
Michael Elliott (B), 3-1 dec. (SV) (13-11)
184: Barrett Blakely (G) def.
Ramon Rodriguez (B), 11-1 maj. dec. (17-11)
197: Randall Diabe (G) def.
Paul Carson (B), 5-3 dec. (TB-1) (20-11)
197: Demazio Samuel (B) def.
Mason Fiscella (G), 8-1 dec. (20-14)
HWT: Cary Miller (G) def.
Michael Burchell (B), 9-0 maj. dec. (24-14)
