BOONE, N.C. — With identical 3-0 league records, App State and Chattanooga will continue the pursuit of another Southern Conference regular season title when they meet Sunday at 2 p.m. in Tennessee.
The dual will be available to watch on ESPN+ by
clicking HERE.
The Mountaineers (6-2) and Mocs (5-7) were part of a three-way tie for first place last season, with App State earning its share thanks to a 21-14 home victory against Chattanooga. Unofficially No. 28 in this week's NWCA Coaches Poll, App State has won 37 of its last 40 duals against SoCon teams, including victories by scores of 40-9, 48-0 and 41-3 against Gardner-Webb, Presbyterian and Davidson this season.
The Mocs' three conference wins to date in 2020 have come against Davidson (47-0), Gardner-Webb (34-5) and VMI (29-9).
App State, like Chattanooga, has three wrestlers in the top 25 of the rankings from FloWrestling: No. 18
Matt Zovistoski (157 pounds), No. 21
Jonathan Millner (149) and No. 24
Cary Miller (285). The Mocs' three ranked wrestlers from FloWrestling are No. 19 Fabian Gutierrez (125 pounds), No. 20 Matthew Waddell (184) and No. 24 Tanner Smith (149).
Millner and Smith faced off at the Southern Scuffle, with Millner prevailing by a 6-2 decision, and last weekend's Appalachian Open included three matchups between starters from the two schools. App State won two of those, as Miller (285) and
Will Formato (165) came out on top in Boone.
Additionally, the Mountaineers have three wrestlers ranked by other national outlets:
Sean Carter (125 pounds),
Codi Russell (133) and
Thomas Flitz (174). Starting with a Dec. 18 dual at Little Rock, Flitz has won 13 of his last 15 matches, included high-profile victories against Lock Haven's Jared Siegrist and Duke's Mason Eaglin in App State's last two duals.
Below are Sunday's probable lineups. The 2019-20 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies.
App State
125:
Sean Carter (Fr., 22-12, 3-0 SoCon)
133:
Codi Russell (R-Jr., 21-8, 2-1 SoCon)
141:
Bradley Irwin (R-Sr., 17-11, 3-0 SoCon)
149: #21
Jonathan Millner (R-So., 24-4, 3-0 SoCon)
157: #18
Matt Zovistoski (R-Sr., 22-7, 3-0 SoCon)
165:
Will Formato (R-Fr., 19-12, 1-2 SoCon)
174:
Thomas Flitz (Jr., 24-10, 3-0 SoCon)
184:
Julian Gorring (Fr., 17-12, 1-0 SoCon)
197:
Paul Carson (R-So. 16-10, 3-0 SoCon)
285: #24
Cary Miller (R-Sr, 25-4, 3-0 SoCon)
Chattanooga
125: No. 19 Fabian Gutierrez (Jr. – 13-7, 3-0 SoCon)
133: Colton Landers (So. – 10-5, 1-0 SoCon) or Wade Cummings (Jr. – 6-7, 1-0 SoCon)
141: Mason Wallace (So. – 6-6, 1-0 SoCon) or Aiden Murphy (So. – 4-12, 1-1 SoCon)
149: No. 24 Tanner Smith (So. – 20-6, 3-0 SoCon)
157: Tyler Shilson (So. – 8-10, 2-1 SoCon)
165: Drew Nicholson (So. – 13-12, 2-1 SoCon)
174: Hunter Fortner (So. – 8-13, 2-1 SoCon)
184: No. 20 Matthew Waddell (So. – 18-7, 3-0 SoCon)
197: Rodney Jones (Sr. – 13-9, 3-0 SoCon)
285: Grayson Walthall (So. – 6-16, 2-1 SoCon)
