LEXINGTON, Va. — App State Wrestling wraps up the regular season Friday with a tri-meet at VMI against the host Keydets and another Southern Conference opponent in The Citadel.
ESPN+ will show both the 3:30 p.m. opener between the Mountaineers (5-2, 5-1 SoCon) and Keydets (3-4, 2-3) as well as App State's dual against The Citadel (4-4, 3-3) starting at approximately 5:15 p.m.
With a 42-5 league record since the start of the 2014-15 season — the fifth-best mark in Division I wrestling during that time — App State has either gone undefeated or lost just one SoCon match in each of the previous six seasons. The Mountaineers will attempt to reach 7-1 as Campbell (5-0 SoCon) and Chattanooga (5-1 SoCon) end their regular seasons with a Friday tri-meet that includes a 3 p.m. showdown between the Camels and Mocs in Chattanooga.
The Mountaineers, meanwhile, will meet up with a familiar face in first-year head coach Ryan LeBlanc, who was on App State head coach
JohnMark Bentley's staff for four seasons before taking over the Bulldogs' program. Their season includes a 17-15 loss to Chattanooga, which was undefeated in the league prior to a 20-13 loss against the Mountaineers in Varsity Gym last weekend, as well as decisive wins against Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian.
App State's
Codi Russell (125 pounds),
Jonathan Millner (149),
Will Formato (165) and
Thomas Flitz (174) are all in the top 20 of Intermat's national weight class rankings, as the Mountaineers, Northern Iowa and Wyoming are the only non-Power Five schools in the country with at least four wrestlers in Intermat's rankings.
The Citadel's top performers so far this season have been heavyweight Michael McAleavey (11-1 overall, 6-0 SoCon), Selwyn Porter (10-1 overall and 5-1 in SoCon duals at 149), Jake Rotunda (9-2 overall and 5-2 in SoCon duals at 133), Kyle Kretzer (4-2 in SoCon matches at 184) and Cole Burke (4-2 in SoCon matches at 174). At 165 pounds, Dazjon Casto is a returning NCAA qualifier.
VMI has been led by Job Chishko, who is 8-1 overall and 3-1 in SoCon matches at 149 pounds, and Tyler Mousaw (8-1 overall and 4-1 in SoCon matches at 197).
The 2020-21 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies and Penn Station.
App State probables
125: #20
Codi Russell, R-Sr. (9-1, 6-0 SoCon)
133:
Sean Carter, So. (5-5, 4-1 SoCon)
141:
Anthony Brito, R-Jr. (9-3, 5-1 SoCon)
149: #19
Jonathan Millner, R-Jr. (9-1, 6-0 SoCon)
157:
Cody Bond, R-Jr. (8-4, 5-1 SoCon)
165: #12
Will Formato, R-So. (11-1, 6-0 SoCon)
174: #15
Thomas Flitz, R-Sr. (10-2, 5-1 SoCon)
184:
Julian Gorring, So. (7-5, 3-3 SoCon)
197:
Mason Fiscella, R-So. (7-5, 4-2 SoCon)
285:
Michael Burchell, R-So. (5-4, 4-2 SoCon)
*Rankings from FloWrestling
Intermat rankings: Formato 14, Millner 15, Flitz 18, Russell 20
Track: Flitz 9, Formato 13, Millner 15, Russell 22
WrestleStat: Millner 13, Flitz 14, Russell 18, Formato 20, Bond 24, Brito 33
