BOONE, N.C. — Moving forward from a record-breaking spring, App State wrestling coach
JohnMark Bentley officially announced the Mountaineers' newcomers for the 2021-22 season.
Last season, Bentley oversaw an App State program that went 7-2 overall, tied for first in Division I wrestling with five conference champions and had an All-American among its school-record seven NCAA qualifiers, including all three NCAA qualifiers who were products of North Carolina high schools.
The 2021 newcomer class of 12 wrestlers includes two transfers and 10 high school recruits who combined for 10 individual state championships and 22 state finals appearances in their prep careers. Five members of the class are homegrown talents from North Carolina, while the staff of Bentley,
Ian Miller and
Randall Diabe also secured commitments from wrestlers who hail from Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, California, Kansas, Florida and Alabama.
"I'm very excited about this group of newcomers," said Bentley, who is 113-71-1 as App State's head coach. "They're extremely talented. As always, their development and success at the college level will be connected to hard work and buying into the core values that are vital to our culture here at App State."
FULL CLASS
Cayleb Atkins (Goddard, Kan./Goddard HS)
Dalton Battle (Gainesville, Ga./North Hall HS)
Chad Bellis (Dubuque, Iowa/Dubuque Hempstead HS)
Oren Bost (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan HS)
Riley Edwards (Colfax, N.C./Northwest Guilford HS)
Jaekus Hines (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola HS)
Triston Norris (Hendersonville, N.C./North Henderson HS)
Will Miller (Helena, Ala./Thompson HS)
Wyatt Miller (Graytown, Ohio/Oak Harbor HS)
Diavantaé Reddick (Chapel Hill, N.C./Ben L. Smith HS/Campbell)
Jacob Sartorio (Concord, Calif./Clayton Valley Charter HS/Fresno City College)
Joe Zovistoski (Waxhaw, N.C./Weddington HS)
FULL BIOS
Cayleb Atkins (Goddard, Kan./Goddard HS)
BIO: Four-time medalist at the state championships in Kansas and two-time regional champion for Goddard … Fifth place at 160 pounds in the Cadet Freestyle bracket at the 2019 USMC/USAW 16U Nationals in Fargo, N.D. ... In four years, helped Goddard extend run to seven straight state 5-A titles as a team ... Despite dealing with an injury that threatened to keep him out of competition as a senior, went 6-2 in limited action and finished as state runner-up at 160 pounds during the 5-A championships … Regional champion and state runner-up as a junior to cap a 45-3 season in 2020 … Went 38-10 and placed fourth at 145 pounds at the state championships as a sophomore … As a freshman, took fifth in the state championships at 138 pounds and posted a 36-18 record … Wrestled for coach Brett Means at Goddard.
Dalton Battle (Gainesville, Ga./North Hall HS)
BIO: State champion and two-time state finalist for North Hall in Georgia … Helped North Hall win three state dual team titles and posted more than 200 career wins … Runner-up at 170 pounds as a senior at the state 3-A championships and finished with a 34-1 record … As a junior, captured 3-A state title at 152 pounds and posted a 63-10 record … Won a 6-5 decision in the state final in 2020 … Sixth place at 145 pounds during the state championships as a sophomore, when he posted a 26-18 record.
Chad Bellis (Dubuque, Iowa/Dubuque Hempstead HS)
BIO: State runner-up in Iowa as a senior after winning a state title in Illinois as a sophomore in 2019 … Posted a 120-18 record over his final three prep seasons and went 142-30 overall … In 2021, placed second at the 3-A championships in Iowa to cap a 24-2 season at Dubuque Hempstead … As a junior, placed fifth in the 2-A bracket of the 113-pound division at the Illinois state championships and finished the season with a 52-5 record while wrestling for Bloomington High … Won the state 2-A title at 106 pounds as a sophomore and went 44-11 that season … A 9-1 decision in the 2019 state final gave Bloomington just its fourth state champion … Was also on the all-area team as a freshman wrestling at 106 pounds and going 22-12.
Oren Bost (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan HS)
BIO: Completed 26-1 senior season at East Rowan with 3-A state title at 160 pounds … Three-time state qualifier placed third at 152 pounds as a junior and made an appearance at 145 as a sophomore … Won a 7-1 decision in the 2021 final against Chapel Hill's Alexander Gunning after taking a 7-1 decision against previously unbeaten Tony Torres of Enka in the semifinal round .. Placed eighth in the Fall Grappler Classic in October 2020 … Posted a 39-5 record and claimed a regional title as a junior at East Rowan … Midwest Regional champion as a sophomore, when he posted 49 victories … Competed for the Darkhorse Wrestling Club coached by Jim Avola.
Riley Edwards (Colfax, N.C./Northwest Guilford HS)
BIO: Completed 33-0 senior season at Northwest Guilford with 4-A state title at 145 pounds … Career record of 168-11 in high school … Four-time state qualifier and a top-four finisher at the state championships in each of his final three seasons … Two-time regional champion and two-time runner-up … Claimed 2021 state title with a 4-3 decision against Grimsley's Toure Moore … State runner-up at 126 pounds as a junior, capping a 53-1 season with a close loss to 2021 App State freshman
Kobe Early … Went 45-4 and placed fourth at the state championships at 113 pounds as a sophomore … As a sophomore, posted a 7-0 decision in the last match to help Northwest Guilford win 33-27 against Wilmington Laney in the dual team state final … Went 37-6 as a freshman at 106 pounds and won his first match at the state championships.
Jaekus Hines (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola HS)
BIO: Two-time state champion and four-time state finalist at Osceola in Florida … Career record of 159-17 for the Kowboys … Won a 3-A state title at 138 pounds as a senior and a 3-A state title at 132 pounds as a junior … Four-time regional, district and conference champion … Completed 42-1 senior season with an 18-5 major decision in the state final, as he went 4-0 in the event with two other wins by tech fall and another by fall … Went 40-4 as a junior, going 4-0 at the state tournament with a win by tech fall and then three straight wins by fall … Second place in the state at 120 pounds as a sophomore to cap a 36-6 season … Also state runner-up at 106 pounds as a freshman to cap a 41-6 season … Wrestled for coach Jim Bird at Osceola … As a senior, reached the final of the Knockout Christmas Classic, posting a notable win against a state champion from Oklahoma.
Triston Norris (Hendersonville, N.C./North Henderson HS)
BIO: Completed 27-0 senior season at North Henderson with 3-A state title at 220 pounds … Finished prep career with 152 victories … In 2021 state final, won a 9-1 major decision against Elijah Hurt of North Iredell to cap a tourney in which he had three major decisions and one pin … Went 10-0 to take the title in his weight class at the NUWAY Nationals in Chattanooga, Tenn., as he was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler and earned All-America honors for a Strong and Courageous Wrestling program founded and coached by Norman Osteen … Won the 220-pound title at the Coach Carr Category 5 Chaos event in Georgia, beating Noah Pettigrew 5-3 in the final … Earned third place in the Preseason Nationals held in Des Moines, Iowa, and also claimed an All-America honor by placing fourth at the Super 32 event in Myrtle Beach, S.C. … As a high school junior, finished as a state runner-up at 220 pounds and went 59-4 to set the school's single-season wins record … Had 49 pins during his 59-win season as a junior … Junior Olympics bronze medalist in 2019 … Fifth place at state championships as a sophomore while competing at 182 pounds.
Will Miller (Helena, Ala./Thompson HS)
BIO: Two-time state champion placed in the top three all four years as a prep standout in Alabama … Runner-up in 2021 at the NHSCA Senior Nationals while wrestling at 152 pounds in Virginia Beach, Va., where he went 4-0 before dropping a close match in the final … Closed high school career with back-to-back 7-A titles at Thompson High School and finished with a career record of 189-19 … As a senior, went 34-0 and won state title at 160 pounds with a 6-5 decision that followed wins by fall, tech fall and fall … Capped 46-4 junior season with a 5-3 decision in the state final at 152 pounds … As a sophomore at Helena High, finished second at 126 pounds in the state 6-A championships and posted a 50-6 record … Wrestled at 106 pounds as a freshman and closed a 59-9 season with a third-place finish at the 6-A state championships.
Wyatt Miller (Graytown, Ohio/Oak Harbor HS)
BIO: Completed 48-0 senior season at Oak Harbor with a first-period pin to win the Division III state title at 195 pounds in Ohio … Region Wrestler of the Year didn't allow an offensive point to be scored against him during his senior season … Two-time sectional and district champion … Won a district title as a junior but didn't get to wrestle in a state championship tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic … Coached by George Bergman at Oak Harbor … Miller's father, Tait, was a state champion in Ohio and Miller's cousin, Ian, is App State's head assistant coach … Also a standout in track and field, running for a 4x400 relay team that won a conference championship.
Diavantaé Reddick (Chapel Hill, N.C./Ben L. Smith HS/Campbell)
BIO: Prior to App State, wrestled at Campbell and defeated Ohio's Kamal Adewumi in a 6-4 decision at 165 pounds in his only outing of the 2020-21 season…SoCon Academic Honor Roll in 2019-20 and 2018-19 … Won against VMI in a SoCon dual appearance in 2019-20 after missing the 2018-19 season due to injury … As a freshman in 2017-18, competed unattached and won three matches … High school teammate of App State All-American Jon Jon Millner at Ben L. Smith in Greensboro, went 133-28 overall while making one state final and being a two-time state placer … … Three-time Super 32 qualifier and a two-time 4-A Midwest Regional champion … Named team's most outstanding wrestler as a junior … Went 53-3 as a senior … Four-time member of the 4.0+ honor roll…Member of the National Honor Society, where he served as vice president as a senior…Graduated summa cum laude.
Jacob Sartorio (Concord, Calif./Clayton Valley Charter HS/Fresno City College)
BIO: In 2019-20, Fresno City College's last competitive season due to COVID-19, posted 20-plus wins … Placed second at 285 pounds during Coast Conference tournament as Fresno City won the team title … Third place at the Meathead Mover tournament earlier that season … Top eight placer at the California State Championships as a prep standout at Clayton Valley Charter High School … First place in the Junior Freestyle and Junior Greco divisions at the MDWA Championships in 2019.
Joe Zovistoski (Waxhaw, N.C./Weddington HS)
BIO: State runner-up in the 3-A bracket at 182 pounds during his prep career at Weddington … Went 22-1 as a senior … Conference champion as a junior who went 9-1 in the league … Posted a 36-3 record as a sophomore, advancing to the state final with a 7-6 decision … Football standout had a team-high 9.5 sacks for Weddington's state championship football team in 2019 … Younger brother of Matthew Zovistoski, who wrestled at App State from 2015-20 and posted 100 career wins.
