ASHEVILLE, N.C. — App State Wrestling needed a reversal of fortune, and true freshman
Stephan Monchery came through in the most clutch way imaginable.
With the Mountaineers shut out of championship round victories heading into the heavyweight finale but still in position to win the SoCon Championship tournament with one timely triumph, Monchery's deficit-erasing, trophy-clinching reversal with 14 seconds left gave him a 6-5 decision against The Citadel's Jonathan Chesser and lifted coach
JohnMark Bentley's program to its third straight tournament title.
App State, which was ahead of The Citadel by 3.0 points going into the head-to-head showdown with the Bulldogs, totaled 79.5 team points. With a 3-2 record in championship finals, including two head-to-head wins over the Mountaineers, The Citadel finished with 73.5 points to place second in a tight team race that included third-place Campbell (71.5 points) and Chattanooga (66.0 points) entering the final day with a chance to win.
Eight of App State's 10 starters earned a top-three finish, with finalists
Kaden Keiser (149),
Will Miller (165) and
Luke Uliano (174) being runners-up in their weight classes.
Chad Bellis (133),
Jeremiah Price (157),
Logan Eller (184) and
Carson Floyd (197) all had hands raised to conclude third-place matches.
Aldo Hernandez (141) pulled an upset in his opening-round match Friday, and
Bryson Terrell (125) collected a pin on the first day.
Of the Mountaineers' four finals matches, the first three were App State losses with the only takedown of each match breaking a 1-1 tie in the final minute of the third period or overtime. The second-seeded Monchery didn't know the team stakes when he took the mat against the fifth-seeded Chesser, who returned from injury to make his season debut in mid-February and beat the top-seeded heavyweight in the semifinal round.
After a scoreless first period, Monchery quickly followed an escape to open the second period with a takedown for a 4-0 lead. Chesser executed his second escape of the match early in the third period from the down position and took a 5-4 lead on a takedown with 49 seconds remaining, but Monchery's clutch two-point reversal 35 seconds later (with him being close to near fall points) flipped the match.
A go-ahead, pop-out reversal from Chesser occurred just after time expired, and the Mountaineers were able to start celebrating once a lengthy review concluded with no point awarded to him.
Displaced from its flooded locker room leading up to the season because of damage from Hurricane Helene, a group that started freshmen at five of 10 weights after losing two top-16 NCAA finishers to P4 programs via the transfer portal and having two other SoCon champions with NCAA experience suffer season-ending injuries in the first dual delivered the program's 11th SoCon tournament title and 26th overall SoCon title.
Under Bentley, the Mountaineers have won their fifth SoCon tournament title after earning a share of an eighth regular season title in his 16 seasons. For several wrestlers, the next step is hoping for an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, as Monchery clinched the only automatic bid.
Keiser and top-seeded Carson DesRosier entered overtime of the 149 final tied at 1-all, and DesRosier won on a takedown 16 seconds into the Sudden Victory period.
Miller and second-seeded Thomas Snipes were also tied at 1-all late in the third period of the 165 final, and Snipes finished off a takedown in the final seconds of his 4-1 victory against the seventh-ranked Mountaineer.
After Uliano recorded an escape early in the third period to create a 1-all tie in the 174 final, second-seeded Sergio Desiante from Chattanooga broke the tie on a takedown with 49 seconds left in his 4-2 victory.
Bellis suffered a hard-to-swallow upset loss in a quarterfinal shortly after competition began Friday in Asheville but stormed back to take third with three straight wins: a first-period fall, an 8-6 decision to avenge a regular season loss to Campbell's Logan Heil and a 5-0 shutout of The Citadel's George Rosas. Wrestling against No. 2 seed Blake Boarman from Chattanooga in a true second place match for a second NCAA berth at 133 pounds, Boarman won 4-1 on an overtime takedown of the fourth-seeded Bellis.
App State collected bonus points in the other three third-place matches, as Price had five takedowns in a 17-4 major decision against Gardner-Webb's Drew Pepin, Eller won by a medical forfeit and Floyd posted a 13-3 major decision against Bellarmine's Andrew Liber. Because The Citadel's Patrick Brophy was the runner-up at 197 pounds, after he had defeated Floyd in the semifinal round, there was no true second place match for the second automatic berth at 197 pounds.
The 2024-25 season is presented by Hungry Howie's and Penn Station.
Team standings
1. App State – 79.5
2. The Citadel – 73.5
3. Campbell – 71.5
4. Chattanooga – 66.0
5. Gardner-Webb – 50.0
6. Bellarmine – 45.5
7. VMI – 10.5
8. Davidson – 6.0
9. Presbyterian – 5.0
Individual champions/NCAA qualifiers
125 – Gylon Sims, The Citadel
133 – T.K. Davis, Garnder-Webb
141 – Todd Carter, Gardner-Webb
149 – Carson DesRosier, The Citadel
157 – Noah Castillo, Chattanooga
165 – Thomas Snipes, The Citadel
174 – Sergio Desiante, Chattanooga
184 – Devan Hendricks, Bellarmine
197 – Levi Hopkins, Campbell
HWT –
Stephan Monchery, App State
Additional NCAA allocations
133 – Blake Boarman, Chattanooga
141 – Shannon Hanna, Campbell
197- Patrick Brophy, The Citadel
Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Ryan LeBlanc, The Citadel
Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler
Thomas Snipes, The Citadel
Pinnacle Award (student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team)
Chad Bellis, App State
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 (3rd place)
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: W (Dec, 5-0) vs. #6 George Rosas, The Citadel
True second: L (Dec, 4-1 in OT) vs. #2 Blake Boarman, Chattanooga
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 (2nd place)
QF: W (Dec, 4-1) vs. #6 Dayne Dalrymple, Chattanooga
SF: W (Dec, 4-2) vs. #7 Tyler-Xavier McKnight, Davidson
Final: L (Dec, 4-1 in OT) vs. #1 Carson DesRosier, The Citadel
157: #2 Jeremiah Price, App State (3rd place)
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: W (MD, 17-4) vs. #4 Drew Pepin, Gardner-Webb
165: #1 Will Miller, App State (2nd place)
QF: W (TF, 19-4) vs. #8 Tyler Brignola, Gardner-Webb
SF: W (MD, 12-2) vs. #5 Bryce Griffin, Davidson
Final: L (Dec, 4-1) vs. #2 Thomas Snipes, The Citadel
174: #1 Luke Uliano, App State (2nd place)
QF: W (Fall, 2:22) vs. #8 Luke Hart, VMI
SF: W (Dec, 4-1) vs. #4 Benjy Haubert, The Citadel
Final: L (Dec, 4-2) vs. #2 Sergio Desiante, Chattanooga
184: #4 Logan Eller, App State (3rd place)
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: W (Med. Forfeit) vs. #2 Braxton Lewis, VMI
197: #2 Carson Floyd, App State (3rd place)
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: W (MD, 13-3) vs. #4 Andrew Liber, Bellarmine
Hwt: #2 Stephan Monchery, App State (1st place)
QF: W (MD, 16-4) vs. #7 Peyton McComas, Gardner-Webb
SF: W (Dec, 4-2) vs. #3 Josh Evans, VMI
Final: W (Dec, 6-5) vs. #5 Jonathan Chesser, The Citadel
DAY 1 RECAP
Tournament-leading App State advanced four wrestlers to the finals of the SoCon Championship, as semifinal wins 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 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.
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.
The Citadel's Patrick Brophy edged Floyd by an 8-7 score in their semifinal matchup. Brophy trailed 7-5 before winning the match on a takedown with seven seconds left.
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.
