BOONE, N.C. — With a breakout performance from
Caleb Smith and major decision from
Jonathan Millner in a matchup of top-12 wrestlers at 149 pounds, App State Wrestling finished with six Invitational finalists and two Open champions at the Mountaineer Invitational on Sunday.
The event included 24 ranked individuals with wrestlers from teams representing the Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC, Big 12, MAC and Southern conferences.
Smith (125 pounds),
Anthony Brito (141), Millner (149),
Cody Bond (157),
Will Formato (165) and
Mason Fiscella (197) were all runners-up, with five of the six finals losses coming against Arizona State wrestlers with top-seven national rankings.
Smith, who went 22-10 as an unattached true freshman in 2019-20 and 10-1 during a 2020-21 season that didn't count against his eligibility, posted a second-period pin against Duke's Logan Agin before advancing to Sunday's 125 final with a second-period pin of Kent State's Jake Ferri, a returning NCAA qualifier who is ranked No. 21 nationally.
In a final matchup with Arizona State's Brandon Courtney, who is ranked No. 4 after being the 2021 NCAA runner-up at 125 pounds, Smith took a 4-2 lead in a 6-5 loss. The tiebreaking point came on an escape early in the third period.
A reigning NCAA All-American, Millner had a first-period pin before collecting a 15-5 major decision against 12th-ranked Josh Finesilver of Duke — Millner clinched a top-eight finish at the 2021 NCAAs thanks to a win against Finesilver in St. Louis. Millner lost to another returning All-American, Kyle Parco of Arizona State, in Sunday's final.
Brito, Bond and Formato are also returning NCAA qualifiers, and Fiscella began his 2021-22 season with back-to-back wins against Kent State's Tyler Bates (11-1 major decision) and Indiana's Nich Wilham (3-1 decision with a sudden victory takedown).
Thomas Flitz (174) and
Michael Burchell (heavyweight) placed third in their weight classes, while
Codi Russell (133),
Brett Mordecai (174) and
Barrett Blakely (184) had fifth-place showings. Russell went 1-1 against top-25 opponents, losing a quarterfinal matchup but posting a 3-1 record that included an 8-3 decision against 17th-ranked Jared Van Vleet from Air Force.
The other highlights included
Heath Gonyer's pin of Gardner-Webb's Trevon Majette in the 141-pound bracket.
In the Open division, unattached underclassmen
Ethan Oakley (133) and
Jaekus Hines (true freshman at 141) won titles. True freshmen
Riley Edwards (141),
Cayleb Atkins (157),
Joe Zovistoski (184) and
Triston Norris (197) were runners-up.
The 2021-22 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies and Penn Station.
