BOONE, N.C. — App State Wrestling leaves the state Friday for a second straight road dual against a SoCon opponent.
The Mountaineers (5-2, 2-0) will face VMI at Cormack Hall in Lexington, Va., at 7 p.m. App State is tied for No. 21 in this week's NWCA Coaches Poll, along with rankings of No. 20 from InterMat and No. 18 from Win Magazine.
The dual is not scheduled to be streamed, although live scoring should be available by
clicking HERE. VMI's campus is about a 3-hour, 40-minute drive from Boone, and admission is free. Fans can also follow the action on our Twitter account at: https://twitter.com/AppWrestling
The NCAA released the first coaches' rankings of the 2022-23 season on Thursday. The coaches' rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class, with two head coaches from each of the seven conferences. Six wrestlers are ranked from App State.
#11
Caleb Smith | 125 pounds
#23
Sean Carter | 133 pounds
#9
Jon Jon Millner | 149 pounds
#28
Tommy Askey | 157 pounds
#26
Will Formato | 165 pounds
#27
Will Miller | 174 pounds
For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one within the last 30 days.
The coaches' ranking is one of several criteria that will be evaluated by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.
App State has won 19 of the 20 contested matches in its league victories to date against Bellarmine (39-0) and The Citadel (34-6). Overall, Smith and Formato are both unbeaten in duals this season with 7-0 and 6-0 records, respectively.
With wins last Friday and on Sunday, including an 8-3 decision against 20th-ranked Eddie Vantresca of Virginia Tech, Smith has climbed in the rankings.
With Carter sidelined by the knee injury he suffered in overtime against a top-10 opponent from Virginia Tech,
Ethan Oakley is set to make his second straight dual start and third dual start this season at 133. Oakley took eighth at the Southern Scuffle during an 18-9 unattached season last year and is 9-4 overall with a 2-0 dual record in his last 13 matches.
Heath Gonyer (141),
Luke Uliano (184) and
Carson Floyd (197) are also among the starters with 2-0 records in SoCon duals.
VMI's 6-3 overall record includes Division I wins against Duke (28-9), Franklin & Marshall (24-15) and Sacred Heart (28-3). The Keydets lost 30-9 to Chattanooga in their SoCon opener on Jan. 6.
VMI's top performers this season have been Braxton Lewis (18-7 overall and 8-1 in duals at 165), Tyler Mousaw (17-7 overall with nine pins and a 5-2 record in duals at 197) and Zach Brown (7-5 overall and 5-3 in duals at 184). At 157 pounds, Job Chishko (12-6 overall) and Josh Yost (4-3 overall) are a combined 7-2 in duals.
The 2022-23 season is presented by Hungry Howie's and Penn Station. After facing the Keydets, the Mountaineers are back in Varsity Gym on Tuesday for a home dual against Duke at 7 p.m.
App State probables
125: No. 11
Caleb Smith
133:
Ethan Oakley
141:
Heath Gonyer
149: No. 9
Jon Jon Millner
157: No. 28
Tommy Askey
165: No. 26
Will Formato
174: No. 27
Will Miller
184:
Luke Uliano
197:
Carson Floyd
Hwt:
Jacob Sartorio or
Triston Norris
VMI probables
125: Tony Burke
133: Dyson Dunham
141: Freddy Junko
149: Noah Roulo or Ryan Vigil
157: Job Chishko or Josh Yost
165: Braxton Lewis
174: River Carroll
184: Isaac Dolph or Zach Brown
197: Tyler Mousaw
285: Josh Evans
