The 16th-ranked Mountaineers (12-2, 6-0 Southern Conference) were tied with the Mocs (5-9, 3-2 SoCon) at the end of the match, 16-all. The first tiebreaker is the total amount of weight classes won, but even then, the two teams were tied at five apiece. The tie-breaking rules then dictated that the winner is whoever has the most match points when all individual weight classes are added up.
Appalachian finished with 55. Chattanooga finished with 54.
The Sunday matinée action began at the heavyweight class as two nationally ranked wrestlers squared off. Senior Denzel Dejournette (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds) ranked No. 9 in TrackWrestling's polls, while UTC's Jared Johnson ranked No. 9 in InterMat. Both wrestlers battled hard, but Dejournette would bring the attack early on, taking a lead and never giving it up to outlast Johnson, 10-4.
At the 125-pound weight class, No. 22 senior Vito Pasone (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./E.L. Meyers) took on Alonzo Allen and got the lone bonus point match for the Mountaineers on the day. Pasone downed Allen 15-4 in a major decision to put App State up 7-0.
Chattanooga fought back hard though at the 133- and 141-pound matches, crawling within one point, 7-6, by winning them back-to-back. Chris Debien downed No. 21 freshman Colby Smith (Wentzville, Mo./Holt) in a barn-burner, 2-1 decision, while Chase Zemenak defeated sophomore Irvin Enriquez (Aberdeen, N.C./Pinecrest) in another close 8-5 decision.
The Mountaineers, however, would answer strong back, rattling off three-straight weight class victories beginning at 149 pounds. No. 15 sophomore Matt Zovistoski (Paramus, N.J./St. Joseph Regional) took down Roman Boylen in a 7-3 decision before freshman Gavin Londoff (St. Louis, Mo./Holt) won out a tight contest at 157 over Dylanger Potter, 3-1. No. 28 junior Forrest Przybysz (Jefferson, Ga./Jefferson) also had to edge out the victory, but did so without allowing a point himself, winning 2-0.
The Mocs, however, would come back to tie the match by winning the final three weight classes of the day. Sean Mappes downed No. 17 junior Nick Kee (Laurinburg, N.C./Scotland) in UTC's lone major decision of the day, 17-7. No. 19 Bryce Carr took down No. 30 junior David Peters-Logue (Hillsborough, N.C./Scotland) in a close 9-4 decision. And sophomore Randall Diabe (Greensboro, N.C./James B. Dudley) was unable to defeat Clay Dent, 5-1, as Chattanooga tied the match up 16-16 and forced the tie-breaking scenario.
The Mountaineers will go on to wrestle in their last SoCon match at VMI on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. Looking to remain perfect through league play for the first time since 2011-12 and win the conference regular season championship outright, a win on Wednesday will allow Appalachian State to host the 2017 NWCA Division I Dual Championship Series presented by The United States Marine Corps and Theraworx.
That match would be held on Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. against a to-be-determined Big Ten Conference team. For updates, keep to appstatesports.com.
Results:
125: #22 Vito Pasone (APP) def. Alonzo Allen (UTC), 15-4 maj. dec. - 7-0
133: Chris Debien (UTC) def. #21 Colby Smith (APP), 2-1 dec. - 7-3
141: Chase Zemenak (UTC) def. Irvin Enriquez (APP), 9-5 dec. - 7-6
149: #15 Matt Zovistoski (APP) def. Roman Boylen (UTC), 7-3 dec. - 10-6
157: Gavin Londoff (APP) def. Dylanger Potter (UTC), 3-1 dec. - 13-6
165: #28 Forrest Przybysz (APP) def. Justin Lampe (UTC), 2-0 dec. - 16-6
174: Sean Mappes (UTC) def. #17 Nick Kee (APP), 17-7 maj. dec. - 16-10
184: #19 Bryce Carr (UTC) def. #30 David Peters-Logue (APP), 9-4 dec. - 16-13
197: Clay Dent (UTC) def. Randall Diabe (APP), 5-1 dec. - 16-16
285: #9 Denzel Dejournette (APP) def. #9 Jared Johnson (UTC), 10-4 dec. - 3-0
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