BOONE, N.C. — With tournaments and nonconference duals in the rearview mirror, App State Wrestling closes the regular season with six straight SoCon duals, starting with two big ones scheduled for Friday and Sunday.
The Mountaineers (5-5, 2-0 SoCon) travel to Buies Creek on Friday to face Campbell at 7 p.m., then play host to Bellarmine on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Varsity Gym. That's the annual Old Timers Match in Boone, with program alums being recognized during intermission, and "Takedown" foam fingers will be handed out free to fans.
APP STATE-CAMPBELL PREVIEW
This has been an intense rivalry during the last decade, and it will at least look different this season with new faces on the other side.
App State and Campbell (2-15, 1-2 SoCon) went a combined 119-12 in SoCon duals from the start of the 2016-17 season to the end of the 2024-25 season, with App State holding a 61-5 record in that span.
During the previous nine seasons, the Mountaineers won four outright SoCon regular season titles, and the Camels won three. They shared titles the other two years: 2019 and 2025.
Campbell had a large group of talented seniors exit the 2024-25 team, and there have been a lot of other changes to the program since the Camels earned a share of the 2025 regular season title by winning in Boone. They have a new head coach after promoting assistant TJ Dudley to replace Scotti Sentes, and the 2025-26 roster has one wrestler in the top 33 of the NCAA Coaches' Rankings: redshirt freshman Anthony Ferrari at 165 pounds.
App State, which has a pair of ranked wrestlers in
Kaden Keiser at 149 pounds and
Tomas Brooker at 184 pounds, will be attempting to win in Buies Creek for the first time since 2018, with losses in 2020 (20-13), 2021 (21-17) and 2024 (22-16).
In the previous eight duals between the Mountaineers and Camels, with 80 individual matches contested, App State has won 41 of them, compared to 39 by Campbell.
APP STATE-BELLARMINE PREVIEW
At 5-4 overall and 2-0 in the SoCon heading into a Friday appearance at Davidson, Bellarmine has been a program on the rise, with last year being its first with eligibility to compete at the SoCon Championship tournament.
It went 5-3 in league duals last season, falling 23-19 against App State, and the Knights took 17 of 20 matches in league victories this year against Presbyterian and VMI.
The Knights' top wrestlers have been Trayce Eckman at 133 (14-7 overall, 6-2 in duals), AJ Rallo at 141 (17-6 overall, 7-2 in duals), Grant O'Dell at 174 (18-6 overall, 6-2 in duals) and Daulton Meyer at heavyweight (14-8 overall, 5-4 in duals). Mayer has seven pins this season and recording 17 a year ago.
For fans attending Sunday, tickets in advance of match day
are available online at $10 for general admission, with a $5 order charge. Tickets purchased on match day are $15 at the door.
Home duals are
streamed live on FloWrestling, which has a subscription model.
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 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".
App State's 2025-26 season is presented by Hungry Howie's and Penn Station.
