ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Tournament-leading App State advanced four wrestlers to Saturday's finals of the SoCon Championship, as semifinal wins Friday from
Kaden Keiser (149 pounds),
Will Miller (165 pounds),
Luke Uliano (174 pounds) and
Stephan Monchery (heavyweight) were part of 17 opening-day victories for the Mountaineers.
Chad Bellis (133 pounds),
Jeremiah Price (157 pounds),
Logan Eller (184 pounds) and
Carson Floyd (197 pounds) will participate in third-place matches Saturday. That round begins at noon, and the championship finals are scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
In an extremely tight and deep team race, App State totaled 52.5 points on Friday to hold a slim lead on Campbell (49.5 points), The Citadel (49.5 points) and Chattanooga (49.0 points) going into Saturday.
App State and Campbell were tied for first after the first session, and Chattanooga took the lead with a strong showing in the opening round of consolation matches. The Citadel surged from fourth to first after the semifinal round by advancing a league-high five wrestlers to finals.
App State and Chattanooga have four finalists apiece, followed by Campbell and Gardner-Webb with three apiece.
The tournament champion in each of the 10 weight classes earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia. Bellis and Floyd are both in weight classes with two automatic NCAA berths allocated, meaning they could potentially earn berths by placing third and then beating the runner-up in a "true second place" match.
No matter who loses in the 133 final, that scenario would be in play if a third-place finish is secured by Bellis, who lost his quarterfinal match before going 2-0 in his two other Friday matches, capped by an 8-6 win against Campbell's Logan Heil.
The 32nd-ranked Floyd, one of three ranked wrestlers at 197 pounds, would need to place third and have 24th-ranked Patrick Brophy from The Citadel beat 27th-ranked Caleb Hopkins in the final in order to set up a "true second place" match because Brophy edged Floyd by an 8-7 score in their semifinal matchup — a "true second place" match can only involve wrestlers that haven't met already in the tournament. Brophy trailed 7-5 before winning the match on a takedown with seven seconds left.
With eight wrestlers still competing in the double-elimination event, App State leads the field, ahead of the seven apiece for Campbell and The Citadel. Chattanooga has six wrestlers left.
Miller and Uliano advanced to the championship round as No. 1 seeds, with Miller using a 12-2 major decision against Davidson's Bryce Griffin to reach a final opposite No. 2 seed Thomas Snipes from The Citadel.
Tied at 1-all in the final minute of his 174 semifinal, Uliano turned defense to offense for a tiebreaking takedown with 37 seconds left in a 4-1 decision. He will face No. 2 seed Sergio Desiante of Chattanooga in a ranked showdown Saturday.
The third-seeded Keiser reached the 149 final thanks to a tiebreaking takedown with one second left in a 4-1 quarterfinal victory against Chattanooga's Dayne Dalrymple and a 4-2 semifinal decision against Davidson's Tyler-Xavier McKnight. A first-period takedown from a defensive position made the difference there, propelling Keiser to a championship matchup against top-seeded Carson DesRosier from The Citadel.
A true freshman, the second-seeded Monchery had a 16-4 major decision against Gardner-Webb's Peyton McComas in the quarterfinal round, then a 4-2 semifinal decision in which he recorded a first-period takedown against VMI's Josh Evans. Monchery's finals opponent is fifth-seeded Jonathan Chesser, who didn't make his season debut for The Citadel until mid-February, with three duals remaining. Chesser beat top-seeded pin machine Daulton Mayer from Bellarmine in the other semifinal.
Despite dropping its first two matches of the day, App State arrived at Friday's semifinal round with a 10-2 record thanks to an 8-2 quarterfinal mark and a 2-0 record (both pins) in the first consolation round.
The Mountaineers' first two wins of the day were among their most dramatic, as
Aldo Hernandez won a 10-6 decision against fourth-seeded AJ Rallo from Bellarmine at 141 pounds before Keiser posted his last-second win against the sixth-seeded Dalrymple.
During a wild first period, Hernandez used a takedown and four-point near fall to jump ahead 7-0 before Rallo responded with a reversal and two near fall points. Each wrestler was close to a fall during that sequence, and Hernandez clinched the win on a takedown with 12 seconds left against an opponent who had gone 6-2 in SoCon duals.
Matching escapes accounted for the only points of the 149 quarterfinal before Keiser got in on a shot with about 20 seconds left. He finally secured the takedown as an official flashed three fingers with just one second remaining.
Price used a first-period takedown and a reversal in each of the final two periods of a 7-3 decision against Jeb Prechtel from Bellarmine, and Miller posted the first bonus-point win of the day with a 19-4 tech fall against Gardner-Webb's Tyler Brignola.
Uliano and Floyd recorded first-period pins at 174 and 197, respectively, sandwiched around Eller's 4-1 decision against Presbyterian's Caleb Roe at 184. Eller's early takedown was the difference in a match that included rideouts in the final two periods.
App State (eight semifinalists) and Campbell (seven semifinalists) were tied at 14.5 after the quarterfinal round and 19.5 points leading up to the semifinals, as
Bryson Terrell (125 pounds) and Bellis (133) combined for 5.0 team points with a pair of consolation pins. Chattanooga, with four semifinalists, held the team lead at 21.0 points by going 5-1 in the first round of consolation matches.
APP STATE RESULTS
125: #4 Bryson Terrell, App State
QF: L (Dec, 9-7) vs. #5 Tyson Lane, Gardner-Webb
Conso: W (Fall, 4:47) vs. #9 Waylon Rogers, VMI
Conso SF: L (Dec, 6-2) vs. #3 Jack Parker, Bellarmine
133: #4 Chad Bellis, App State
QF: L (Dec, 5-1) vs. #5 Trayce Eckman, Bellarmine
Conso: W (Fall, 2:53) vs. #9 Kyle Gibson, VMI
Conso SF: W (Dec, 8-6) vs. #3 Logan Heil, Campbell
Third-place match: vs. #6 George Rosas, The Citadel
141: #5 Aldo Hernandez, App State
QF: W (Dec, 10-6) vs. #4 AJ Rallo, Bellarmine
SF: L (MD, 13-4) vs. #1 Shannon Hanna, Campbell
Conso SF: L (Dec, 12-6) vs. #3 Eli Knight, Chattanooga
149: #3 Kaden Keiser, App State
QF: W (Dec, 4-1) vs. #6 Dayne Dalrymple, Chattanooga
SF: W (Dec, 4-2) vs. #7 Tyler-Xavier McKnight, Davidson
Final: vs. #1 Carson DesRosier, The Citadel
157: #2 Jeremiah Price, App State
QF: W (Dec, 7-3) vs. #7 Jeb Prechtel, Bellarmine
SF: L (Dec, 6-1) vs. #3 Chris Earnest, Campbell
Conso SF: W (Dec, 8-3) vs. #5 Tyler Badgett, The Citadel
Third-place match: vs. #4 Drew Pepin, Gardner-Webb
165: #1 Will Miller, App State
QF: W (TF, 19-4) vs. #8 Tyler Brignola, Gardner-Webb
SF: W (MD, 12-2) vs. #5 Bryce Griffin, Davidson
Final: vs. #2 Thomas Snipes, The Citadel
174: #1 Luke Uliano, App State
QF: W (Fall, 2:22) vs. #8 Luke Hart, VMI
SF: W (Dec, 4-1) vs. #4 Benjy Haubert, The Citadel
Final: vs. #2 Sergio Desiante, Chattanooga
184: #4 Logan Eller, App State
QF: W (Dec, 4-1) vs. #5 Caleb Roe, Presbyterian
SF: L (TF, 20-2) vs. #1 Devan Hendricks, Bellarmine
Conso SF: W (Dec, 4-1) vs. #6 Micah Dicarlo, The Citadel
Third-place match: vs. #2 Braxton Lewis, VMI
197: #2 Carson Floyd, App State
QF: W (Fall, 0:51) vs. #7 Logan Webster, Chattanooga
SF: L (Dec, 8-7) vs. #3 Patrick Brophy, The Citadel
Conso SF: W (Fall, 3:33) vs. #5 Toby Schoffstall, VMI
Third-place match: vs. #4 Andrew Liber, Bellarmine
Hwt: #2 Stephan Monchery, App State
QF: W (MD, 16-4) vs. #7 Peyton McComas, Gardner-Webb
SF: W (Dec, 4-2) vs. #3 Josh Evans, VMI
Final: vs. #5 Jonathan Chesser, The Citadel
