LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Four App State wrestlers picked up their first career dual wins, and the Mountaineers earned their first team win of the season with a 36-6 road victory against Little Rock on Wednesday night.
App State (1-2) followed season-opening losses to two ranked ACC opponents with a dominant effort against the Trojans, a Division I newcomer.
One of the Mountaineers' college newcomers, true freshman
Julian Gorring, won by fall just 1 minute, 55 seconds into his match against Matthew Muller at 184 pounds. Redshirt freshman
Will Formato opened the dual with a 12-2 major decision against Will Edgar at 165 pounds, first-year starter
Paul Carson clamed an 8-4 decision against Dylan Johnson at 197 pounds and another first-year starter,
Bradley Irwin, won an 8-0 major decision against Conner Ward at 141 pounds.
That result pushed App State's lead to 33-0 against Little Rock (1-1).
Thomas Flitz followed Formato's dual-opening win with a second straight major decision, as he won 15-5 against Cash Jones, and heavyweight
Cary Miller's win by forfeit gave the Mountaineers a 23-0 lead heading into the halfway point intermission.
After wrestling resumed, true freshman
Sean Carter trailed 5-1 late in the second period of his 10-7 decision against Jayden Carson at 125 pounds. Tied in the final 30 seconds, Carter took the lead with an escape and quickly followed that up with a takedown.
Codi Russell trailed 8-5 entering the third period against Paul Bianchi, who had reached the NCAA Championships earlier in his career as a North Dakota State freshman, but Russell erased the deficit with a dominant period and won a 12-8 decision.
Little Rock posted a pin at 149 pounds, and App State's
Matt Zovistoski wrapped up the dual with a 4-3 decision against Jose Champagne at 157 pounds. A late takedown from Champagne briefly tied the match, but Zovistoski responded with an escape to pull out the victory.
App State's 2019-20 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies. The Mountaineers return to action at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Jan. 1-2.
App State 36, Little Rock 6
165:
Will Formato (APP) def. Will Edgar (LR), 12-2 maj. dec.
174:
Thomas Flitz (APP) def. Cash Jones (LR), 15-5 maj. dec.
184:
Julian Gorring (APP) def. Matthew Muller (LR), fall, 1:55
197:
Paul Carson (APP) def. Dylan Johnson (LR), 8-4 dec.
HWT:
Cary Miller (APP) wins by forfeit
125:
Sean Carter (APP) def. Jayden Carson (LR), 10-7 dec.
133:
Codi Russell (APP) def. Paul Bianchi (LR), 12-8 dec.
141:
Bradley Irwin (APP) def. Conner Ward (LR), 8-0 maj. dec.
149: Tyler Brennan (LR) def.
Jonathan Millner (APP), fall, 1:47
157:
Matt Zovistoski (APP) def. Jose Champagne (LR), 4-3 dec.
