BOONE, N.C. — App State Wrestling won its first 15 matches in a two-dual night at Varsity Gym, posting a 42-0 shutout of SoCon foe VMI before closing the tripleheader with a 28-3 victory against Little Rock.
The Mountaineers (4-2, 2-0 SoCon) accounted for 53 of the 56 takedowns in their two matches, although the dual with Little Rock had plenty of tight showdowns. App State picked up only one bonus point (via
Barrett Blakely) against the Trojans, a Pac-12 member that had begun the afternoon with a 33-7 win against VMI.
Caleb Smith (125 pounds),
Sean Carter (133),
Heath Gonyer (141),
Jonathan Millner (149),
Cody Bond (157),
Will Formato (165), Blakely (184),
Wyatt Miller (197) and
Michael Burchell (HWT) all went 2-0 on Friday, while
Thomas Flitz posted a major decision against VMI.
App State earned bonus points in its first seven wins against VMI, starting with back-to-back pins from Smith and Carter — Smith's came in the final seconds to turn five points into six.
Gonyer's 12-1 major decision preceded a 19-4 tech fall from Millner, and Bond followed that with a 9-0 major decision. Major decisions from Formato (11-1) and Flitz (10-2) set the stage for Blakely's matchup with Zach Brown, whose 2-0 record against the Mountaineers last season included a win at the SoCon Championship.
Brown delivered the first takedown, but Blakely answered with one and didn't allow an escape before the period ended with him leading 3-2. The only points the rest of the way were a second-period escape from Brown and a third-period escape from Blakely.
In his first Varsity Gym dual appearance, Miller built his riding time to 1:23 in the second period before allowing an escape to trail 1-0 entering the third. VMI's Isaac Dolph stayed on top long enough to drop Miller's riding time under a minute, but shortly thereafter, Miller delivered a two-point reversal and followed an escape with an important takedown. With riding time, he claimed a 5-3 decision.
Burchell's 6-3 decision capped App State's eighth overall shutout and seventh shutout of a SoCon opponent in the last three seasons.
The Mountaineers won nine of 10 matches against Little Rock, with Blakely taking a 3-0 lead into the third period and using a strong finish to claim a 10-2 major decision.
Every other match resulted in a decision, beginning with Smith's 5-1 win against Jayden Carson in a showdown that was scoreless entering the final period, after Smith had built riding time by staying on top for the entire second period. Carter then posted a 9-3 decision.
In a 3-0 decision against Conner Ward, Gonyer also rode out the second period in a match that had no score through two periods. His riding time had shrunk from 2:00 to 1:02 when he finished off a reversal move initiated by a cartwheel from the bottom position. Gonyer stayed on top for the remainder of the match.
At 149, Millner faced Joseph Bianchi, who entered the match with a team-best record of 12-5. For the third time in the first four matches against Little Rock, the Mountaineers entered a scoreless third period with a two-minute riding time advantage after not allowing an escape in the second period.
Millner executed a third-period escape, produced a takedown 20 seconds later and stayed on top to close out a 4-0 decision.
Bond won a 10-3 decision before Formato participated in the most dramatic match of the night against Tyler Brennan, who used a takedown and a pair of two-point near falls to take a 6-0 lead in the first period.
An escape and takedown enabled Formato to cut the deficit in half by the end of the first period, and a second-period reversal left him trailing 6-5 entering the third period. Formato started the third period on top, facing a scenario in which riding out the full period could force overtime with him earning a point for riding time and Brennan missing out on a point for an escape.
That approach seemed less precarious when Formato appeared to secure near fall points, but those weren't awarded, so Formato hung tough enough to stay on top for the entire two minutes. About 90 seconds into the two-minute Sudden Victory-1 period, he produced a takedown that gave him an 8-6 victory.
A tiebreaking takedown in the final 30 seconds supplied Little Rock with a win at 174 pounds, but Blakely followed that with his bonus-point win and Miller rode out the second period while leading 2-0 thanks to a first-period takedown against Brooks Sacharczyk in a 6-0 victory.
Burchell and Josiah Hill were tied at 2-all entering the third period in the heavyweight finale, with Burchell holding a 1:06 riding time advantage. Burchell needed only five seconds to record an escape, and saving those critical two seconds in riding time turned out to be the difference in a 4-3 decision after Hill received a penalty point.
The 2021-22 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies and Penn Station. App State is back in Varsity Gym on Tuesday night for another SoCon dual against Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.
App State 42, VMI 0
125: #22
Caleb Smith (APP) def. Cameron Chicella (VMI), fall (6:57)
133:
Sean Carter (APP) def. Patrick Maglathlin (VMI), fall (3:19)
141:
Heath Gonyer (APP) def. Freddy Junko (VMI), 12-1 maj. dec.
149: #5
Jonathan Millner (APP) def. Luke Hart (VMI), 19-4 tech fall
157: #33
Cody Bond (APP) def. Seth Fillers (VMI), 9-0 maj. dec.
165: #16
Will Formato (APP) def. Blake Showers (VMI), 11-1 maj. dec.
174: #26
Thomas Flitz (APP) def. Jon Hoover (VMI), 10-2 maj. dec.
184:
Barrett Blakely (APP) def. Zach Brown (VMI), 4-3 dec.
197:
Wyatt Miller (APP) def. Isaac Dolph (VMI), 5-3 dec.
285:
Michael Burchell (APP) def. Josh Evans (VMI), 6-3 dec.
App State 28, Little Rock 3
125: #22
Caleb Smith (APP) def.
Jayden Carson (LR), 5-1 dec.
133:
Sean Carter (APP) def.
Jaylen Carson (LR), 9-3 dec.
141:
Heath Gonyer (APP) def.
Conner Ward (LR), 3-0 dec.
149: #5
Jonathan Millner (APP) def.
Joseph Bianchi (LR), 4-0 dec.
157: #33
Cody Bond (APP) def.
Austin Keal (LR), 10-3 dec.
165: #16
Will Formato (APP) def.
Tyler Brennan (LR), 8-6 dec. (SV-1)
174:
Triston Wills (LR) def. #26
Thomas Flitz (APP), 4-3 dec.
184:
Barrett Blakely (APP) def. Brayden Dillow (LR), 10-2 maj. dec.
197:
Wyatt Miller (APP) def.
Brooks Sacharczyk (LR), 6-0 dec.
285:
Michael Burchell (APP) def.
Josiah Hill (LR), 4-3 dec.
Extra match
174:
Brett Mordecai (APP) def. Will Edgar (LR), fall (1:35)
