ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Similar drama. Same satisfying result.
With the SoCon Championships tournament being decided in the heavyweight finale for the second straight year, App State Wrestling standout
Stephan Monchery came through again to produce a thrilling team title in Kimmel Arena.
App State won its fourth straight SoCon tournament title to top the program's three-peat from 1995-97. After earning a share of a 16th regular season title and securing the 12th tournament title in program history, the Mountaineers now have 28 league championships, including 15 under the direction of head coach
JohnMark Bentley
Monchery had plenty of help this weekend, with the work of nine teammates putting him in position to finish the deal in convincing and unsurprising fashion, a year after he had taken the mat as a true freshman with no championship experience or pedigree as a clutch closer.
Monchery,
Tomas Brooker and
Aldo Hernandez clinched automatic NCAA Championships berths in Cleveland via individual SoCon titles as the Mountaineers totaled five finalists and six top-three finishes en route to a tournament-best 94.5 team points. Chattanooga finished with 93.0, after taking a 2.5-point lead into the App State-UTC final at heavyweight.
Monchery's dramatic, 6-5 comeback win in the 2025 heavyweight final propelled App State in front of The Citadel in a tight team race. With a victory Saturday with a minimum of 3.5 points, he entered the third period with a 3-0 lead against Chattanooga's Ethan Vergara and added two more takedowns in an 11-1 major decision.
Consider it a Power Double — not just the way he took down Vergara early in the third, but a fitting moniker for how he clinched consecutive team championships for the Mountaineers.
The first six individual champions Saturday came from six different schools to cap a wide-open year in which App State replaced five starters and earned a share of the regular season title before coming out on top at the tournament, despite being picked No. 3 in the preseason.
The Mountaineers were actually in third place with 86.5 team points, behind Chattanooga (89.0) and Bellarmine (88.5), after the Knights' last finalist won the championship at 174 pounds, meaning they couldn't score any more points. Brooker's 12-3 major decision at 184 pounds against Presbyterian's Reed Douglass briefly put App State back in front, but Chattanooga reclaimed the edge when top-seeded Kade Rule defeated
Logan Eller from App State in the 197 final.
With Monchery's victory meaning that the championship was decided by only 1.5 points, every result and takedown mattered, including big moments like true freshmen
Cooper Foster and
Colt Campbell recording a pin and tech fall, respectively, in the consolation semifinals to start Saturday's action.
Eller and
Anthony Conetta (165 pounds) accounted for two of App State's five finalists, and Foster placed third at 125 pounds by winning 2-0 against reigning champion Gylon Sims from The Citadel. Campbell and
Kaden Keiser (149 pounds) won two matches apiece in Asheville, while
Jeremiah Price (157) and
Jarvis Little (133) each posted one victory.
Hernandez's run to a title as the No. 5 seed involved a 5-1 quarterfinal win against 2024 national qualifier Dyson Dunham (No. 4 seed from VMI), a 19-4 tech fall against top-seeded Hunter Mason from Chattanooga and an 8-1 decision against 2025 NCAA qualifier AJ Rallo (No. 3 seed from Bellarmine).
Hernandez recorded a takedown with 43 seconds left in the first against Rallo and finished the period on top. He built riding time over a minute and held a 4-1 lead before sealing the win with a takedown in the closing seconds.
Brooker made it 2-for-2 as a SoCon champion at 184. He missed almost all of last season with an injury after capturing the title in improbable fashion as a true freshman.
Conetta reached the final with two wins before dropping a 7-2 finals decision to eighth-seeded Ryan Vigil from VMI. Vigil, who upset top-seeded Thomas Snipes with an overtime takedown in the quarterfinals and won his semifinal match with a takedown in the final 30 seconds, followed a second-period reversal against Conetta with back points to take control. Eller, meanwhile, won his first two matches before falling 14-4 against Rule.
THIRD-PLACE MATCHES RECAP
Chattanooga moved from third in the team standings to first heading into the championship finals by going 3-0 with a pin, tech fall and decision in its third-place matches. With 84.0 points, the Mocs led App State by half a point and Bellarmine by 1.5 points.
Foster went 3-1 in the tournament, following a 12-4 quarterfinal loss to Sims with back-to-back pins and then the 2-0 shutout of Sims in their rematch. A second-period rideout made the difference.
Keiser finished 2-2 in Asheville, earning wins by tech fall and major decision to go along with a pair of one-point losses, capped by Nate Higley's 4-3 decision in the third-place match at 149.
Campbell's 2-2 debut as a true freshman included the 19-4 tech fall against top-seeded Kamdyn Munro from Chattanooga to reach the third-place match, before he dropped a 4-0 decision to Davidson's Marc Koch.
CONSOLATION SEMIS RECAP
App State had 81.5 points entering the third-place matches, giving the Mountaineers leads over Bellarmine (75.5) and Chattanooga (74.5). They went 3-2 in the consolation semis, boosted by three bonus-point victories, as Bellarmine posted a 4-2 record and Chattanooga had a 3-3 mark in the same round.
The Mountaineers' two true freshmen came up big, starting with Foster pinning No. 2 seed Tyson Lane to collect his second straight win by fall. An injury prevented Campbell from taking the mat against Chattanooga in the final match of a tight dual loss to the Mocs, but he came through with his decisive victory against Munro, turning a major decision into a tech fall thanks to a late takedown and back points.
Keiser also had a head-to-head victory against the Mocs, winning a 12-2 major decision against Yuta Otera, after he had dropped a 6-5 decision against Carson DesRosier in Friday's semifinal round. Little lost a 5-3 decision against Bellarmine's Trayce Eckman at 133, and Price lost 2-1 against Joseph Giordano of Gardner-Webb in an overtime match decided in the 30-second tiebreaker periods.
App State's 2025-26 season is presented by Hungry Howie's and Penn Station.
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) vs. #8 Fernando Dominguez, Presbyterian
Conso: W (Fall, 1:45) vs. #2 Tyson Lane, Gardner-Webb
Third-place match: W (Dec, 2-0) vs. #4 Gylon Sims, The Citadel
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: L (Dec, 5-3) 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: W (Dec, 8-1) 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 DesRosier, The Citadel
Conso: W (MD, 12-2) vs. #4 Yuta Otera, Chattanooga
Third-place match: L (Dec, 4-3) vs. #5 Nate Higley, Bellarmine
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: L (Dec, 2-1 TB-2) vs. #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: L (Dec, 8-2) 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: W (TF, 19-4) vs. #1 Kamdyn Munro, Chattanooga
Third-place match: L (Dec, 4-0) vs. #5 Marc Koch, Davidson
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: W (MD, 12-3) 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: L (MD, 14-4) 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: W (MD, 11-1) vs. #3 Ethan Vergara, Chattanooga
Team Scores
1. App State (94.5)
2. Chattanooga (93.0)
3. Bellarmine (88.5)
4. The Citadel (53.5)
5. Davidson (42.5)
6. Gardner-Webb (39.5)
7. VMI (36.0)
8. Campbell (19.0)
9. Presbyterian (18.5)
Most Outstanding Wrestler
165: Ryan Vigil, Sr., VMI (Westminster, CO / Broomfield HS)
Coach of the Year
Ned Shuck, Bellarmine
Individual Champions
125: #1 Cooper Flynn, Chattanooga
133: #1 T.K. Davis, Gardner-Webb
141: #5 Aldo Hernandez, App State
149: #1 Anderson Heap, Davidson
157: #6 Jeb Prechtel, Bellarmine
165: #8 Ryan Vigil, VMI
174: #4 Grant O'Dell, Bellarmine
184: #1 Tomas Brooker, App State
197: #1 Kade Rule, Chattanooga
285: #1 Stephan Monchery, App State
