BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State Wrestling will attempt to secure a fourth straight Southern Conference regular season championship when it faces The Citadel on Sunday at Varsity Gym.
The Senior Day dual will begin at 3 p.m., after
Randall Diabe,
Irvin Enriquez,
Angel Najar,
Michael Elliott and
Thierry Washington are recognized. Tickets at $7 (adult) and $3 (youth) can be purchased by
clicking HERE.
Diabe, Enriquez, Najar and Elliott were freshmen when App State's streak of consecutive SoCon titles began in 2016. With a win Sunday, a 5-1 conference record would allow the Mountaineers to share the 2019 title with Chattanooga and likely Campbell.
Each of those three teams went 1-1 against the other two during the regular season, as App State's current winning streak began with a 21-14 victory against Chattanooga. The Mountaineers (7-6, 4-1) then won 21-17 at Duke and posted a 43-0 shutout at Davidson earlier this week. They are unofficially No. 28 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll with four voting points heading into their showdown with The Citadel (1-8, 1-2).
In the Davidson dual, redshirt junior heavyweight
Cary Miller recorded his 50th career win. He is 5-0 in SoCon duals with bonus points in four of the wins, leading to an average of 4.4 points scored per conference dual. Diabe is at 4.0 thanks to his 5-0 SoCon record that's part of a 22-5 overall record at 197 pounds.
Diabe is ranked No. 13 in his weight class via the NCAA's RPI, and senior Sawyer Root of The Citadel is No. 28 at 197 pounds with a 30-13 overall record that also includes a 5-0 conference record. The two NCAA qualifiers from 2018 could meet for the seventh time overall and third time this season.
App State sophomore
Alan Clothier enters the weekend with a 10-3 record at 184 pounds since the Jan. 1 start of the Southern Scuffle, where he placed seventh, while sophomore
Codi Russell (133) and redshirt junior
Matt Zovistoski (149) are both 6-1 in their last seven matches. Najar is 5-1 at 157 pounds in App State's last six duals, and Elliott is 4-1 at 165 pounds in the last five duals.
PROBABLE LINEUPS
125:
De'Andre Swinson-Barr (APP) vs. Anthony New (CIT)
133:
Codi Russell (APP) vs. Paddy Kearney (CIT)
141:
Irvin Enriquez (APP) vs. Keegan Connolly (CIT)
149:
Matt Zovistoski (APP) vs. Chon Porter (CIT)
157:
Angel Najar (APP) vs. Rian Burris or Cole Buke (CIT)
165:
Michael Elliott (APP) vs. Dazjon "Cheez" Casto (CIT)
174:
Thomas Flitz (APP) vs. Jared Zenie or Cooper Youngblood (CIT)
184:
Alan Clothier (APP) vs. Martin Duane or Michael Lopouchanski (CIT)
197:
Randall Diabe (APP) vs. Sawyer Root (CIT)
HWT:
Cary Miller (APP) vs. Michael McAleavey or Brennan Hunt (CIT)
