ST. LOUIS, Mo. — App State's
Jonathan Millner received congratulatory hand slaps, hugs and pats on the head from staff members
Ian Miller,
DJ Fehlman and
Bill Dixon.
Head coach
JohnMark Bentley's embrace outlasted all that, as he pulled Millner close and then buried the victorious wrestler's head into his chest.
An in-state recruit who considered walking away from the sport as a struggling freshman, "Jon Jon" is now officially an NCAA Division I All-American.
Millner clinched that honor by winning a 10-7 decision against Duke's Josh Finesilver as the 149-pound bracket shrunk from 12 wrestlers to eight Friday night.
After dropping a 9-5 decision later in the night against Fresno State's Kyle Parco, Millner will face eighth-seeded Jaden Abas of Stanford in the seventh-place match Saturday.
"To keep putting App on the map, just to represent the program and my coaching staff, it means the world to them and me," Millner said.
A Greensboro native who won one state championship as a high school wrestler at Ben L. Smith, Millner (16-3) jumped out to a 7-0 lead with two-plus minutes of riding time in the podium-worthy win against Finesilver.
Millner produced a takedown 21 seconds into the match, stayed on top and then added two near-fall points late in the first period for a 4-0 lead. He opened the second period with an escape, delivered another takedown midway through that period and survived three takedowns from Finesilver over the final 2:45 of the match.
With App State accounting for all three North Carolina-based qualifiers in this year's NCAA Championships, Millner is the fourth All-American under Bentley's watch, and three of those wrestlers were in-state products.
The other NCAA All-Americans in program history are Charles Parks (1941), Al Crawford (1941), Donnell Rawls (1992), Mark Fee (2002, 2003), Kyle Blevins (2012), Austin Trotman (2012) and Denzel Dejournette (2017).
"I'm just really proud of Jon Jon and having another All-American in this rich tradition of App State Wrestling," Bentley said. "I couldn't be more proud of him, our program and our coaching staff and all of our alumni and supporters. It's tough when you get out here and you're wrestling against the best guys in the country, and your emotions are going up and down throughout the tournament with different wrestlers participating."
Seeded seventh, Millner went 2-0 on the opening day of competition Thursday and dropped a 5-2 decision against unbeaten No. 2 seed and finalist Austin O'Connor of North Carolina. Seeded 27th, Finesilver dropped his Thursday opener and stayed alive Thursday night before advancing Friday with two more victories against fifth-seeded Ridge Lovett of Nebraska (win by fall) and 20th-seeded Joshua Heil of Campbell (8-5 decision).
Millner redshirted as an App State freshman and showed his potential the following year in a cameo as a starter before multi-time NCAA qualifier
Matt Zovistoski, who finished his career with 100 wins, returned to the lineup. In Millner's two seasons as a full-time starter, he's 47-7 overall with two SoCon titles.
App State's
Codi Russell (125 pounds) and
Sean Carter (133), who both went 1-1 on Thursday, also competed Friday morning. Minnesota's Patrick McKee moved forward in the 125 bracket with a first-period pin, and Lehigh's Malyke Hines advanced at 133 by a 10-2 score.
App State had a school-record seven wrestlers qualify for this week's championships, as
Anthony Brito (141 pounds),
Cody Bond (157),
Will Formato (165) and
Thomas Flitz (174) participated in two matches apiece Thursday.
Russell went 14-3 this season in his first year at 125 — he also won an NCAA match at 133 pounds in 2019 — and Carter finished his first season at 133 pounds with a 13-8 record.
