BETHLEHEM, Pa. — App State Wrestling swept a pair of Wranglemania Duals on Saturday, taking eight of 10 matches in a 33-6 victory against Hofstra before rallying to beat a highly regarded Lock Haven team 20-12 behind an incredible comeback from
Kaden Keiser at 157 pounds, clutch overtime wins in consecutive matches and two dual-closing decisions.
A busy weekend continues Sunday with the Mountaineers participating in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic tournament.
Cooper Foster earned a 10-4 decision to open the dual against Lock Haven, which received top-25 consideration in the preseason and lost 24-14 against No. 25 Indiana to start the day. The Bald Eagles won the next three matches to move ahead 9-3, and Keiser delivered a 27-11 tech fall in the next match after overcoming an early 11-0 deficit.
Lock Haven held a 12-8 lead thanks to a decision from a ranked wrestler at 165, but App State closed the dual with consecutive victories from
Colt Campbell (overtime takedown in a 7-4 decision at 174),
Tomas Brooker (overtime takedown in a 10-7 decision at 184),
Logan Eller (second-period escape before a third-period rideout in a 2-0 decision at 197) and
Stephan Monchery (5-0 shutout in the heavyweight finale).
In the 157 match, Jonny O'Brien combined a quick takedown with consecutive four-point near falls to take an 11-0 lead on Keiser in less than 90 seconds.
When O'Brien wasn't able to keep a foot inbounds after the second near fall, a center restart gave Keiser a chance for an escape that hadn't been possible from his compromised position, and he recorded an important takedown as the first period ended to cut his deficit to 11-4. After a second-period escape, he earned another takedown and then took a 12-11 lead with four near-fall points. He added four more near-fall points from on top in the second period.
The two wrestlers started neutral in the third, and Keiser capitalized with another 11-point run from a takedown and two four-point near falls. Instead of App State being on the wrong end of a tech fall and trailing 14-3 in the team score at the halfway point of the dual, the Mountaineers were down only 9-8.
App State freshman
Bentley Sly wrestled up a weight class in his first dual appearance and lost 6-3 against No. 23 Nick Stampoulos before Campbell and Brooker came through in Sudden Victory periods.
Campbell's takedown with 33 seconds left, followed by Conner Wetzel's escape 10 seconds later, sent the match to overtime at 4-all, and Campbell won it on a takedown 17 seconds into overtime.
Brooker gave up two first-period takedowns against Cole Bartram to fall behind 6-1. Points for a Lock Haven technical violation and an escape cut the deficit to 6-3 before an escape and takedown in the second period gave Brooker a 7-6 lead. Tied at 7-all after three periods, Brooker finished off a winning takedown 41 seconds into overtime.
Those overtime triumphs occurred after Lock Haven had used a tying escape as time expired in the third period and a takedown in overtime to prevail at 133 pounds in the match between
Joe Fongaro and Patrick O'Keefe. The Bald Eagles also had narrow victories at 141 (Hunter Gould won 4-2 over
Aldo Hernandez) and 149 (No. 16 Lucas Kapusta won 5-2 over
Brayden Fahrbach).
Foster, Keiser, Campbell, Brooker, Eller and Monchery all went 2-0 on Saturday. Of App State's eight wins against Hofstra, six were bonus-point victories, including an opening-minute pin from Monchery.
Fongaro followed Foster's 8-2 decision at 125 with an 18-6 major decision in his first start at 133 for the Mountaineers. Making his season debut, Hernandez had a tiebreaking takedown with 21 seconds left in a 4-1 decision against Laudan Henry at 141.
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App State 33, Hofstra 6
125:
Cooper Foster (APP) def. Teague Strobel (HOF), 8-2 dec.
133:
Joe Fongaro (APP) def. Gauge Shipp (HOF), 18-6 maj. dec.
141: #33
Aldo Hernandez (APP) def. Laudan Henry (HOF), 4-1 dec.
149: #32 Noah Tapia (HOF) def.
Brayden Fahrbach (APP), 10-3 dec.
157: #31
Kaden Keiser (APP) def. Chase Hontz (HOF), 13-3 maj. dec.
165: Jake Slotnick (HOF) def.
Dawson Bond (APP), 8-2 dec.
174:
Colt Campbell (APP) def. Frank Volpe (HOF), 12-2 maj. dec.
184: #19
Tomas Brooker (APP) def. Jaden Simpson (HOF), 15-0 tech fall
197:
Logan Eller (APP) def. Will Conlon (HOF), 12-1 maj. dec.
Hwt: #15
Stephan Monchery (APP) def. Grayson Robinson (HOF), fall (0:50)
App State 20, Lock Haven 12
125:
Cooper Foster (APP) def. Curtis Nelson (LH), 10-4 dec.
133: Patrick O'Keefe (LH) def.
Joe Fongaro (APP), 8-5 dec. (SV)
141: Hunter Gould (LH) def. #33
Aldo Hernandez (APP), 4-2 dec.
149: #16 Lucas Kapusta (LH) def.
Brayden Fahrbach (APP), 5-2 dec.
157: #31
Kaden Keiser (APP) def. Jonny O'Brien (LH), 27-11 tech fall
165: #23 Nick Stampoulos (LH) def.
Bentley Sly (APP), 6-3 dec.
174:
Colt Campbell (APP) def. Connor Wetzel (LH), 7-4 dec. (SV)
184: #19
Tomas Brooker (APP) def. Cole Bartram (LH), 10-7 dec (SV)
197:
Logan Eller (APP) def. Tucker Hogan (LH), 2-0 dec.
Hwt: #15
Stephan Monchery (APP) def. Kade Sottolano (LH), 5-0 dec.
