BOONE, N.C. — Before he had an opportunity to embrace double-overtime winner
Cody Bond, teary-eyed App State Wrestling coach
JohnMark Bentley jumped high into the air to celebrate an individual conference title that was as dramatic as it was unlikely.
The Mountaineers put on a crowd-stirring show to start the final round of the SoCon Championship tournament at the Holmes Center, with their first five finalists all clinching NCAA Championships berths by securing league titles.
App State rallied to take a late lead in the team standings during that inspired run, but Campbell ended up as the first-place squad with 92 points and three individual champs among the 10 weight classes.
The Mountaineers totaled 87 points, followed by Chattanooga in third with 64.
Matching the school record of five SoCon champions set previously in 2003, App State benefited from individual titles by
Jonathan Millner (149 pounds),
Codi Russell (125 pounds),
Sean Carter (133 pounds),
Anthony Brito (141 pounds) and Bond (157 pounds). Through five of seven conference tournaments at the Division I level, the only teams with five league champions are App State, Arizona State and NC State.
With top-20 NCAA Coaches rankings for third-place finisher
Will Formato (No. 16 at 165 pounds) and runner-up
Thomas Flitz (No. 13 at 174 pounds), App State has hopes of sending a whopping seven out of its 10 starters to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.
Aside from Carter's win over Jake Rotunda of The Citadel, App State's finals victories from Millner, Russell, Brito and Bond all came in head-to-head matchups with Campbell to trim away at the Camels' lead, which stood at 21 points following the semifinal round.
Bond, a first-year starter who left the team for a stretch earlier in his career and entered this season with a 9-9 career record, used an improbable four-point near fall to break a second-overtime tie in a 10-5 decision against Benjamin Barton, who had won the regular season meeting.
Bond forced overtime at 5-all by producing a takedown in the final minute of the third period, and neither wrestler scored in the one-minute Sudden Victory period because Bond was able to avoid a takedown after Barton had moved into a scoring position. After that, there are two 30-second TB-1 periods with each wrestler getting a positional choice, and Barton was looking for an escape with Bond starting on top.
Instead, Bond executed a tilt that put Barton on his back for four points. Barton started the next 30-second period on top, and Bond avoided any trouble after using an escape to pull ahead 10-5.
In a matchup of top-15 wrestlers at 149, Millner rode out the second period to build a two-minute advantage in riding time against Joshua Heil. Millner officially took a 1-0 lead with an escape early in the third period, then added the bonus point for a 2-0 decision that allowed him to repeat as the 149 champion and improved his career record in SoCon duals/tournaments to 20-0.
Russell followed a 2019 title at 133 pounds with a second championship in his first year at 125, as he rolled to an 11-4 decision against Zurich Storm, and Brito stretched his lead to 6-2 by the end of the second period in a 7-3 decision against Campbell's Shannon Hanna. Brito reached the final with a 3-2 decision that went to the TB-1 overtime period against Gardner-Webb's Trevon Majette, who conceded an escape after failing to produce one of his own with Brito on top to start the first 30-second period.
A newcomer at 133 this season, Carter used a takedown with 12 seconds left in the first period to move ahead in a 3-1 decision against the top-seeded Rotunda.
The unbeaten top seed in a tough 165 weight class that includes four nationally ranked wrestlers, Formato overcame a last-minute semifinal loss to The Citadel's Dazjon Casto to fight back for third place. He won 5-3 against 21
st-ranked RJ Mosley of Gardner-Webb in the third-place match.
Flitz reached the 174 final for the second straight year before dropping a 9-3 decision against top-seeded Austin Murphy of Campbell, while
Michael Burchell went 2-2 in the heavyweight division.
Julian Gorring was involved in a pair of tight matches decided by two points and one point at 184 pounds, and
Mason Fiscella's day began with a two-point quarterfinal loss.
The 2020-21 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies and Penn Station.
Final Team Scores
1. Campbell, 92
2. App State, 87
3. Chattanooga, 64
4. Gardner-Webb, 50
5. The Citadel, 43.5
6. VMI, 18
7. Presbyterian, 6.5
Individual champions
125 – Codi Russell, App State
133 – Sean Carter, App State
141 – Anthony Brito, App State
149 – Jonathan Millner, App State
157 – Cody Bond, App State
165 – Andrew Nicholson, Chattanooga
174 – Austin Murphy, Campbell
184 – Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
197 – Chris Kober, Campbell
HWT – Michael McAleavey, The Citadel
Additional NCAA allocations
149 – Joshua Heil, Campbell
184 –Matthew Waddell, Chattanooga
HWT – Taye Ghadiali, Campbell
| 125: (1) Codi Russell |
|
|
| Bye |
|
|
| SF: Benny Gomez, Presbyterian |
W, MD |
14-4 |
| Final: Zurich Storm, Campbell |
W, Dec |
11-4 |
|
|
|
| 133: (2) Sean Carter |
|
|
| Cameron Chicella, VMI |
W, TF |
16-1 (7:00) |
| SF: Todd Carter, Gardner-Webb |
W, Dec |
10-6 |
| Final: Jake Rotunda, The Citadel |
W, Dec |
3-1 |
|
|
|
| 141: (2) Anthony Brito |
|
|
| Freddy Junko, VMI |
W, MD |
10-2 |
| SF: Trevon Majette, Gardner-Webb |
W, Dec |
3-2 (TB-1) |
| Final: Shannon Hanna, Campbell |
W, Dec |
7-3 |
|
|
|
| 149: (1) Jonathan Millner |
|
|
| Bye |
|
|
| SF: Selwyn Porter, The Citadel |
W, MD |
10-2 |
| Final: Josh Heil, Campbell |
W, Dec |
2-0 |
|
|
|
| 157: (2) Cody Bond |
|
|
| Grant Speer, The Citadel |
W, MD |
14-2 |
| SF: Zachary Phillips, Presbyterian |
W, Dec |
8-5 |
| Final: Benjamin Barton, Campbell |
W, Dec |
10-5 (TB-1) |
|
|
|
| 165: (1) Will Formato |
|
|
| Bye |
|
|
| SF: Dazjon Casto, The Citadel |
L, Dec |
6-3 |
| Consolation: Jon Hoover, VMI |
W, MD |
13-0 |
| 3rd place: RJ Mosley, Gardner-Webb |
W, Dec |
5-3 |
|
|
|
| 174: (2) Thomas Flitz |
|
|
| Ethan Carpenter, VMI |
W, TF |
16-0 (5:42) |
| SF: Evan Schenk, Gardner-Webb |
W, Dec |
6-3 |
| Final: Austin Murphy, Campbell |
L, Dec |
9-3 |
|
|
|
| 184: (5) Julian Gorring |
|
|
| Zach Brown, VMI |
L, Dec |
8-6 |
| Jha'Quan Anderson, GWU |
L, Dec |
3-2 |
|
|
|
| 197: (4) Mason Fiscella |
|
|
| Samuel Mora, Gardner-Webb |
L, Dec |
7-5 |
| Consolation: Tyler Mousaw, VMI |
L, Fall |
3:38 |
|
|
|
| 285: (4) Michael Burchell |
|
|
| Grayson Walthall, Chattanooga |
W, Dec |
7-5 |
| SF: Michael McAleavey, The Citadel |
L, Fall |
1:32 |
| Consolation: Giomar Ramos, VMI |
W, DQ |
Stalls |
| 3rd place: Anthony Perrine, Gardner-Webb |
L, Fall |
3:13 |
