BOONE, N.C. — In front of another impressive home crowd Sunday, App State Wrestling produced several moments that raised the volume in a packed Varsity Gym during a 30-11 loss to No. 11 Virginia Tech.
Redshirt junior
Luke Uliano posted the best victory of his career, recording a takedown in the first 10 seconds of a 19-3 tech fall against 20th-ranked Lennox Wolak, a returning All-American at 174 pounds.
Will Miller delivered another ranked win, prevailing 2-1 against 20th-ranked Mac Church thanks to a point penalty for stalling in the second overtime Tiebreaker period at 165 pounds, while
Kaden Keiser erased an 8-3 deficit by finishing a 15-10 decision with two takedowns in the final 90 seconds against Hunter Mason at 149 pounds.
App State dropped to 2-3 overall with nonconference losses to ranked Power Four programs NC State, West Virginia and Virginia Tech (4-2) in advance of Duke's visit to Varsity Gym on Monday night for a 7 p.m. dual.
Virginia Tech's roster includes five All-Americans and ranked wrestlers at all 10 weights, including seven top-20 wrestlers who were in the lineup Sunday despite the absence of reigning national champion Caleb Henson (149).
It was a signature victory for Uliano, who has wrestled tough against highly ranked opponents in the past but had yet to have his hand raised against someone with Wolak's credentials.
After his quick takedown to open the match, Uliano added four near fall points and nearly rode out the final 2:51 of the period in building a 7-1 advantage. Uliano had another takedown with 1:23 left in the second and finished that period on top, then followed a third-period reversal by Wolak with another takedown and near fall points.
The seventh-ranked Miller beat a top-20 opponent for the third time this season, with the only points in regulation being Miller's second-period escape and Church's third-period escape. Miller appeared to win in the Sudden Victory period of overtime with the call of a takedown, but an official's review overturned the premature whistle of three match-ending points, with the unfortunate consequence being that Miller was in position to likely finish a clear-cut takedown if action had continued instead of being stopped.
Instead, they resumed wrestling from a neutral position, and no takedowns pushed the match to a pair of 30-second Tiebreaker periods. From the top position, Church didn't allow a Miller escape in the first 30-second segment, creating a scenario in which Miller would need to ride out the next 30-second segment to win (if there were matching rideouts with no escapes, Miller would have prevailed based on scoring first in regulation).
Given Miller's talents on top, Church chose neutral for the second Tiebreaker period, meaning Miller would need to score from his feet to break a 1-1 tie, with a 1-1 finish getting Church's hand raised because of his riding time advantage from the previous 30-second segment. Seeking a takedown, Miller got the next-best thing with an offensive shot that forced Church out of bounds, leading to a second call for stalling and a one-point penalty with seven seconds remaining. Miller was able to avoid being scored on once wrestling resumed.
Keiser scored the first takedown in his match, but Mason followed an escape with a takedown and four near fall points for an 8-3 lead after one period. An escape and takedown enabled Keiser to cut his deficit to 8-7 entering the third, which began with a Mason escape for a 9-7 margin.
Keiser took a 10-9 lead on a takedown with 90 seconds left, and the App State redshirt sophomore conceded an escape with 56 seconds left because he had more than a minute in riding time on his side. Twelve seconds later, Keiser added another takedown that helped seal the outcome.
The other matches not decided with bonus points occurred at 197 pounds, where
Carson Floyd lost a 6-1 decision to Sam Fisher after going all out in an attempt to record a takedown while facing a 3-1 deficit in the closing seconds, and at 141 pounds, where two-time All-American Sam Latona won a 5-1 decision against App State redshirt freshman
Aldo Hernandez.
At 133 pounds,
Chad Bellis nearly recorded a second-period takedown to tie his match with No. 14 Connor McGonagle at 5-all. Instead, McGonagle turned that sequence into three points for an 8-2 lead en route to a 13-3 major decision.
No. 11 Virginia Tech 30, App State 11
125: #5 Eddie Ventresca (VT) def. Bryson Terrell (APP), fall (2:27)
133: #14 Connor McGonagle (VT) def. Chad Bellis (APP), 13-3 maj. dec.
141: #10 Sam Latona (VT) def. Aldo Hernandez (APP), 5-1 dec.
149: Kaden Keiser (APP) def. Hunter Mason (VT), 15-10 dec.
157: #11 Rafael Hipolito Jr. (VT) def. Jeremiah Price (APP), 14-5 maj. dec.
165: #7 Will Miller (APP) def. #20 Mac Church (VT), 2-1 (TB-2)
174: Luke Uliano (APP) def. #20 Lennox Wolak (VT), 19-3 tech fall
184: #26 TJ Stewart (VT) def. Logan Eller (APP), 21-6 tech fall
197: Sam Fisher (VT) def. #32 Carson Floyd (APP), 6-1 dec.
Hwt: #15 Jimmy Mullen (VT) def. Stephan Monchery (APP), 26-9 tech fall
Attendance: 912
MONDAY PREVIEW
The 2024-25 season is presented by Hungry Howie's and Penn Station, and the Mountaineers are back in action quickly with Duke on the schedule for Monday night. The high school dual scheduled for 5:30 p.m., before the App State-Duke dual, has been postponed.
Duke had in-state matches last week against Gardner-Webb (23-19 loss) and North Carolina (40-3 loss). The Blue Devils have two ranked wrestlers in Aidan Wallace at 165 (No. 29 Intermat/No. 32 Flo) and heavyweight Connor Barket (No. 30 Intermat/No. 30 Flo).
Tickets for Monday's dual are $10 for general admission seats (plus service charge) and $15 (plus service charge) for a seat in the Premium Black section (general admission with a seatback in the Black areas of the new Premium section, surrounding the reserved Premium Gold seats). On match day, the cost to buy at the door is $15 for general admission and $20 for Premium Black tickets.
Home duals are streamed live on FloWrestling, which has a subscription model. If you don't have a FloWrestling account, you can purchase a monthly or annual subscription.
The Rivers Street Deck across from Varsity Gym is the most popular parking option for wrestling events, with fans entering the corner of the gym adjacent to the loading dock area off Rivers Street.
Fans attending wrestling events should be aware that Varsity Gym has a clear bag policy for visitors. According to App State's clear bag policies:
- Approved bags include clear plastic bags that do not exceed 12" x 6" x 12" and small clutch purses no larger than 4.5" x 6.5".
- Bags that are not approved include diaper bags, backpacks, binocular cases, camera cases, tinted or printed pattern plastic bags, fanny packs, oversized tote bags & mesh bags, and purses exceeding 4.5" x 6.5".
