SALEM, Va. — Tomas Brooker's runner-up finish at the Southeast Open, highlighted by an overtime victory in a semifinal match against a top-15 opponent from Virginia Tech, led the way for App State Wrestling as it opened the 2026-27 season Sunday.
Brooker's 4-0 run to the Open Division final at 184 pounds included two tech falls, a 3-0 quarterfinal shutout of North Carolina's Aidan Schlett and an 8-5 overtime victory against No. 15 Jaden Bullock, a 2026 ACC champion who reached the final 16 of the NCAA Championships last season.
The two wrestlers traded second-period takedowns, with Brooker striking first, and he broke a 5-all tie on a takedown a little over a minute into the Sudden Victory period. Brooker lost by tech fall to another top-20 opponent, West Virginia's Ian Bush, in the 184 final.
App State had four third-place finishers in
Cooper Foster (2-1 at 125 pounds),
Joe Fongaro (3-1 at 133 pounds),
Kaden Keiser (3-1 at 157 pounds) and
Stephan Monchery (3-1 at heavyweight).
Jeremiah Price took fourth at 149 pounds, while there were a pair of fifth-place finishes via
Jarvis Little (133) and
Brayden Fahrbach (141). Fahrbach's day included a 2-1 overtime win against No. 29 Nick O'Neill from North Carolina.
Fongaro lost a 4-2 semifinal decision against returning NCAA qualifier Gunner Andrick from West Virginia, as a takedown with 13 seconds left was the difference, and a first-period takedown decided Monchery's 5-1 semifinal loss to West Virginia's Max Vanadia, a 2026 NCAA qualifier at Michigan State. Ty Watters, a two-time All-American from West Virginia, beat Keiser in a 157 semifinal.
In the Freshman/Sophomore Division, App State had a trio of third-place finishers in freshmen
Ty Murray (133),
Brady Hand (149) and
Bentley Sly (157).
Peter Rincan (125) and
Kenneth Pritz (157) took fourth, while
Dalton Weber (133) placed fifth.
App State's 2026-27 season is presented by Hungry Howie's and Penn Station. The Mountaineers' first two duals of the season are Saturday against Hofstra and Lock Haven in Bethlehem, Pa., as part of the Journeymen's WrangleMania event.
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