BOONE, N.C. — Preparing for its fourth dual of the season, App State Wrestling will be facing an in-state ACC foe for the third time when it travels to Duke on Thursday.
The dual between the Mountaineers (1-2) and Blue Devils (6-4) in Card Gym (adjacent to Cameron Indoor Stadium) will begin at 7 p.m. and be streamed on ACC Network Extra, which is available if you subscribe to a provider that carries the ACC Network.
Duke's winning record to date includes victories against SoCon teams Bellarmine (35-10), The Citadel (30-10) and Presbyterian (30-7).
App State has six wrestlers ranked in the top 33 of their weight class by Intermat, while Duke has two: No. 8 Josh Finesilver (21-1 at 149 pounds) and No. 13 Matt Finesilver (21-2 at 174 pounds).
App State's
Jonathan Millner is ranked No. 6 at 149 pounds, with two head-to-head matchups against the 149-pound Finesilver in the last year. Millner clinched an All-America honor with a 10-7 decision at the 2021 NCAA Championships and posted a 15-5 major decision on Nov. 14 at the Mountaineer Invitational.
The Mountaineers' other ranked wrestlers are
Will Formato (No. 21 at 165),
Codi Russell (No. 26 at 133),
Caleb Smith (No. 28 at 125),
Cody Bond (No. 32 at 157) and
Thomas Flitz (No. 32 at 174).
The 2021-22 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies and Penn Station.
Projected App State lineup (Rankings from Intermat)
| #27 Caleb Smith (13-4) |
125 |
R-So. |
High Point, N.C./SW Guilford |
| #28 Codi Russell (11-6) |
133 |
Super Sr. |
Atlanta, Ga./Collins Hill (NC State) |
| Heath Gonyer (13-7) |
141 |
So. |
Greensboro, N.C./Northern Guilford |
| #5 Jonathan Millner (8-1) |
149 |
R-Sr. |
Greensboro, N.C./Ben L. Smith |
| #32 Cody Bond (9-7) |
157 |
R-Sr. |
Danielsville, Ga./Madison County |
| #21 Will Formato (12-4) |
165 |
R-Jr. |
Acworth, Ga./Allatoona |
| #33 Thomas Flitz (7-4) |
174 |
Super Sr. |
Monroe, N.C./Piedmont |
| Barrett Blakely (8-5) |
184 |
R-Jr. |
Birmingham, Ala./Oak Mountain |
Wyatt Miller (6-6)
or Triston Norris (5-8) |
197 |
Fr.
Fr. |
Graytown, Ohio/Oak Harbor
Hendersonville, N.C./North Henderson |
| Michael Burchell (7-5) |
285 |
R-Jr. |
Madison, Conn./Hand |
