ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Producing a tournament-leading five finalists on Day 1, App State Wrestling holds a lead over Chattanooga and Bellarmine heading into Saturday's final day of the SoCon Championships at UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena.
With
Aldo Hernandez (141 pounds),
Anthony Conetta (165),
Tomas Brooker (184),
Logan Eller (197) and
Stephan Monchery (heavyweight) going 2-0 on Friday to reach weight-class finals, the Mountaineers have totaled 69.5 team points. Chattanooga and Bellarmine have four finalists apiece, with Day 1 totals of 63.0 and 62.5 points, respectively.
All three of those title contenders have all 10 wrestlers still alive in the double-elimination event that concludes with another consolation round (10 a.m.), third-place matches (1 p.m.) and championship finals (3 p.m.).
Avenging a 6-4 regular season loss at Chattanooga to top-seeded Hunter Mason, who won that match thanks to a go-ahead takedown in the final 30 seconds, the fifth-seeded Hernandez had three takedowns and a four-point near fall in a 16-4 major decision to reach a finals showdown against Bellarmine's AJ Rallo.
Hernandez finished the first period on top after recording a takedown with 40 seconds left, then gave up a takedown early in the second period and took a 7-3 lead on a takedown right before the buzzer sounded. After Hernandez opened the third with an escape, he countered a Mason shot to record a takedown with 1:21 left, then produced four back points during a lengthy ride.
An officials review changed a 3-2 deficit (UTC takedown/App State reversal) to a 3-0 lead for Conetta (no UTC takedown/App State takedown) in his 10-4 semifinal win against Chattanooga's Mason Reiniche at 165 pounds, with Conetta using a late takedown to seal the outcome. He will next face VMI's Ryan Vigil, an eighth-seeded wrestler who upset top-seeded reigning SoCon champion Thomas Snipes in the quarterfinal round and beat No. 4 seeded Bryce Griffin from Davidson in the semifinal round.
In a 184-pound semifinal between nationally ranked wrestlers, Brooker built an 11-0 lead in his 17-5 major decision against Chattanooga's Landon Jones, and Eller built an 11-3 lead in an 11-8 semifinal decision against Bellarmine's Andrew Liber at 197. Monchery won a 14-4 major decision against Campbell's Sawyer Van Rider in the last semifinal of the day.
That sets up finals showdowns with Brooker facing No. 2 seed Reed Douglass from Presbyterian, Eller meeting top-seeded Kade Rule from Chattanooga and Monchery taking on third-seeded Ethan Vergara from Chattanooga.
The Mountaineers went 3-1 in head-to-head semifinal matches against Chattanooga, and App State's only head-to-head match against Bellarmine on Day 1 was the 197 semifinal victory by Eller. Bellarmine's big push Friday included improbable runs to weight-class finals from seventh-seeded Jeb Prechtel, who pinned Chattanooga's CJ Liddle in a 157 semifinal, and seventh-seeded Joe Calvin, who beat the No. 3 seed from Davidson and No. 2 seed from Gardner-Webb to reach a Bellarmine-Chattanooga final at 125 pounds.
App State's 5-3 record in the semifinal round included a pair of heartbreaking defeats that came down to a matter of seconds.
Ethan Uhorchuk from Chattanooga finished with four more seconds of riding time than
Jarvis Little through a pair of 30-second overtime tiebreakers in a 133-pound match with a combined four escapes, after Little stayed on top for 25 seconds in the first 30-second period, and App State's
Kaden Keiser lost 6-5 against The Citadel's Carson DesRosier in a rematch of the 2025 final at 149 pounds. With DesRosier essentially leading 6-2 in the closing seconds because of riding time, Keiser put DesRosier on his back with a takedown, but time ran out before any back points could tie the match or give Keiser the win.
Jeremiah Price also advanced to the semifinal round, using an overtime takedown of Davidson's Tanner Peake to win a 4-1 decision at 157 pounds. Top-seeded Kyrel Leavell from The Citadel beat Price by a major decision in the semifinal.
App State's two true freshman starters,
Cooper Foster (125 pounds) and
Colt Campbell (174), went 1-1 by following quarterfinal losses with consolation victories. Foster won his second match by fall in the first period, and Campbell earned a 10-6 decision.
APP STATE RESULTS
125: #5
Cooper Foster, App State
QF: L (MD, 12-4) vs. #4 Gylon Sims, The Citadel
Conso: W (Fall, 1:44) #8 Fernando Dominguez, Presbyterian
Conso: vs. #2 Tyson Lane, Gardner-Webb
133: #3
Jarvis Little, App State
QF: W (Dec, 8-1) vs. #6 Teegan Vasquez, The Citadel
SF: L (Dec, 2-2 TB-2) vs. #2 Ethan Uhorchuk, Chattanooga
Conso: vs. #4 Trayce Eckman, Bellarmine
141: #5
Aldo Hernandez, App State
QF: W (Dec, 5-1) vs. #4 Dyson Dunham, VMI
SF: W (MD, 16-4) vs. #1 Hunter Mason, Chattanooga
Final: vs. #3 AJ Rallo, Bellarmine
149: #2
Kaden Keiser, App State
QF: W (TF, 17-2) vs. #7 Phoenix Alyea, VMI
SF: L (Dec, 6-5) vs. #3 Carson DeRosier, The Citadel
Conso: vs. #4 Yuta Otera, Chattanooga
157: #5
Jeremiah Price, App State
QF: W (Dec, 4-1 in SV) vs. #4 Tanner Peake, Davidson
SF: L (MD, 14-5) vs. #1 Kyrel Leavell, The Citadel
Conso: #3 Joseph Giordano, Gardner-Webb
165: #2
Anthony Conetta, App State
QF: W (Inj. Def with 5-3 lead) vs. #7 Tucker Cell, Gardner-Webb
SF: W (Dec, 10-4) vs. #3 Mason Reiniche, Chattanooga
Final: vs. #8 Ryan Vigil, VMI
174: #3
Colt Campbell, App State
QF: L (Dec, 7-2) vs. #6 Isaiah Guerrero, Gardner-Webb
Conso: W (Dec, 10-6) vs. #7 Beau Lewis, VMI
Conso: vs. #1 Kamdyn Munro, Chattanooga
184: #1
Tomas Brooker, App State
QF: W (TF, 17-0) vs. #9 Andrew Wilson, Gardner-Webb
SF: W (MD, 17-5) vs. #4 Landon Jones, Chattanooga
Final: vs. #2 Reed Douglass, Presbyterian
197: #2
Logan Eller, App State
QF: W (Dec, 9-3) vs. #7 Dylan Smith, Davidson
SF: W (Dec, 11-8) vs. #6 Andrew Liber, Bellarmine
Final: vs. #1 Kade Rule, Chattanooga
HWT: #1
Stephan Monchery, App State
QF: W (TF, 18-3) vs. #8 Cole Will, VMI
SF: W (MD, 14-4) vs. #5 Sawyer Van Rider, Campbell
Final: vs. #3 Ethan Vergara, Chattanooga
