CLEVELAND — Wins from App State wrestlers bookended Day 1 of the NCAA Championships.
Aldo Hernandez began competition Thursday, shortly after noon, with a pigtail-round victory at 141 pounds. Roughly 11 hours later, heavyweight
Stephan Monchery advanced to Day 2 thanks to a 4-1 victory against four-time NCAA qualifier Luke Luffman from Illinois in the final match held in an emptying Rocket Arena.
The 23rd-seeded Monchery (24-7) had his hand raised a few minutes before 11 p.m. on the strength of a takedown with seven seconds left in the second period. After a 1-1 opening day in the double-elimination event, he will face No. 9 seed Cole Mirasola (18-7) from Penn State on Friday afternoon. Wrestling resumes at noon, starting with matches at 125 pounds and working through the order to the heavyweight division.
Hernandez went 1-2 on Thursday, and
Tomas Brooker had an 0-2 day at 184 pounds. All three NCAA qualifiers were sophomore starters on the 2026 team that won SoCon regular season and tournament titles under the direction of head coach
JohnMark Bentley.
The 33rd-seeded Hernandez earned a Round of 32 matchup against two-time national champion Jesse Mendez of Ohio State thanks to his 8-5 decision against 32nd-seeded Matthew Martino from Princeton. A takedown with 1:24 left in the first period, a second-period escape and near fall points from the top position with 1:24 left in the third period enabled Hernandez to build a 7-1 lead.
Hernandez was pinned in the first period by Mendez, who improved to 23-0 with the victory, before ending a 20-win season with a 14-3 loss against No. 16 Ryan Jack, an NC State standout who earned All-America recognition in 2024.
The 21st-seeded Brooker rallied in the opening round before falling short in an 8-6 loss against 12th-seeded Dylan Fishback, who transferred to Ohio State after making the final 12 as an NC State each of the previous two seasons. Fishback, who won by first-period fall against Brooker during the 2023-24 season and was his opponent when Brooker suffering a season-ending knee injury in Raleigh early in 2024-25, held off a late push from Brooker on Thursday to advance.
Fishback led 7-2 entering the third period thanks to a pair of first-period takedowns, but Brooker pulled within 7-6 on a takedown with 50 seconds left. Seeking go-ahead back points, Bentley threw his challenge brick, but a lengthy review resulted in none, and Brooker wasn't able to finish a takedown after getting in on a shot with 15 seconds left.
Brooker then lost by tech fall (17-1) against No. 28 Abraham Wojcikiewicz from Stanford in the night session.
Making his second straight NCAA Championships appearance, Monchery showed impressive potential in an 11-1 loss to No. 10 David Szuba from Arizona State before bouncing back to beat Luffman, a seventh-year senior.
All three of Szuba's takedowns resulted from turning defense to offense after Monchery had moved into position for potential takedowns, only to have the talented Szuba withstand that pressure and use his flexibility to score points of his own.
App State's 2025-26 season is presented by Hungry Howie's and Penn Station.
NCAA RESULTS
141: #33 Aldo Hernandez
W, Dec (8-5) vs. #32 Matthew Martino, Princeton
L, Fall (2:14) vs. #1 Jesse Mendez, Ohio State
L, MD (14-3) vs. #16 Ryan Jack, NC State
184: #21 Tomas Brooker
L, Dec (8-6) vs. #12 Dylan Fishback, Ohio State
L, TF (17-1) vs. #28 Abraham Wojcikiewicz, Stanford
Hwt: #23 Stephan Monchery
L, MD (11-1) vs. #10 David Szuba, Arizona State
W, Dec (4-1) vs. #26 Luke Luffman, Illinois
Friday: vs. No. 9 Cole Mirasola, Penn State
