BOONE, N.C — Cody Bond,
Tommy Askey and
Jacob Sartorio all won individual titles Saturday as App State Wrestling had 11 top-three finishers in the top division of the Mountaineer Invitational.
Bond, who suffered a season-ending injury last year, earned a well-earned title with a 5-4 decision against 31st-ranked Michael Gioffre from Virginia in the 149 final. Bond trailed 4-1 entering the third period before getting an escape, delivering a three-point takedown with 33 seconds left and riding out the remainder of the match.
Askey went 4-0 in his 157-pound bracket, ending his run with a 4-2 finals decision over Virginia's Dylan Cedeno. A takedown with 1:29 left in the second period made the difference.
Sartorio went 3-0 in the heavyweight division, winning by fall and an 18-2 tech fall before claiming a 15-4 major decision against Air Force's Antonio Ramos in the final match.
App State's runners-up were
Ethan Oakley (133),
Will Miller (165) and
Luke Uliano (174).
The third-place finishes came from
Ike Byers (141),
Jeremiah Price (149),
Anthony Conetta (157),
Drake Acklin (165) and
Joe Zovistoski (184). A true freshman, Price won a 9-6 decision in his opening match against 33rd-ranked Zach Price (a Gardner-Webb standout who reached the SoCon final at 141 last year) and went to overtime against the 31st-ranked Gioffre before an escape in the 30-second Tiebreaker periods that follow Sudden Victory gave Gioffre a 2-1 win.
Conetta trailed 5-3 in his third-place match before delivering a takedown with six seconds left and earning a point for riding time against Virginia's Gavin Cagle.
In the Open division, App State had three runners-up in
Nicholas Grizales (165),
Gunnar Pool (197) and
James Bankston (heavyweight).
The 2023-24 season is presented by Hungry Howie's and Penn Station.
