BOONE, N.C. — The 2019-20 regular season is over, and App State Wrestling led Division I teams with four shutouts.
That total topped the second-place number of three apiece from No. 1 Iowa and No. 10 Pittsburgh. Michigan State had two as the only other team with more than one shutout.
In all, App State accounted for four of the 28 shutouts this season in duals involving two Division I teams.
All four of the shutouts by App State (9-3) occurred over its last eight duals, and three of them involved an opponent that had a top-30 wrestler in its lineup. The Mountaineers won 48-0 against Presbyterian on Jan. 12, 45-0 against Duke on Jan. 23, 44-0 at The Citadel on Feb. 8 and 43-0 against VMI on Sunday.
Thomas Flitz beat a top-25 opponent against Duke,
Will Formato had a third-period comeback to force overtime in a win against a top-30 opponent to end the dual at The Citadel and Flitz won a 12-11 decision against VMI's Neal Richards, the reigning SoCon Wrestler of the Year who arrived in Boone with a national ranking of No. 16 and a 35-6 record this season.
For App State, it set a single-season school record for shutouts since it began competing at the Division I level. It posted its highest number of shutouts since the 1958-59 team began that season with seven consecutive shutouts.
The Mountaineers rank in the top five in several other team categories, notably in tech falls with 32 (No. 4 nationally) and falls with 52 (tied for No. 5 nationally).
App State will be back in action March 8, when App State hosts the SoCon Championships in the Holmes Center. The 2019-20 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies, and tickets to the conference championships can be purchased by
clicking HERE.
