Appalachian State 125 lber Caleb Smith (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)Hey y’all, it’s another week, another fun weekend full of #SoConWR action. We started off on Friday with The Citadel posting a 22-15 win over Davidson College. Davidson’s four wins, including a 6:58 pin at 184 by Cameo Blankenship over Miach Dicarlo weren’t enough for the Bulldog’s six wins on the evening. Jonathan Chesser (HWT, CIT) put some bonus points on the board, with a 9-0 major decision over Jake Fernicola (DC), and Blair Orr (125, CIT) posted a 3:26 fall against Hale Robinson (DC). T
The Wildcats also celebrated Senior Day, hosting VMI. The Keydets picked up an impressive 39-3 win, dropping their lone loss at 157 to Davidson’s Tanner Peake. VMI bounced back after a 20-14 loss to Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs the day prior. Bonus-point wins came in for the Keydets at 157 (Chishko maj dec Brignola) and at 149 (Vigil maj dec Dion). The Runnin’ Bulldogs proved to be victorious, after securing the win with six total wins for the evening, Drew West (125) and Zach Price (141) plastered some bonus points on the team score in the form of major decisions.
“Sunday Funday” rolled around - Campbell at The Citadel and App State hosted Chattanooga. Campbell remains undefeated in-conference (5-0) following a 27-9 victory over The Citadel. The dual started off with a 15-4 major decision victory served by Campbell’s Dom Baker (165) over Aidan Lenz. 174 was an electric match, Ben Haubert (CIT) won in sudden victory overtime against Cole Rees. The Camels put up more bonus point victories at 184 and 133. #28 Caleb Hopkins (184, CU) scored a strong 12-0 victory over Micah DiCarlo (CIT), while Gabe Hixenbaugh (133, CU) defeated Caelan Riley (CIT) 12-3. Anthony Allen (157, CIT) picked up the final win of the evening via forfeit.
I was able to head up the mountain to Boone for a #SoConShowdown - the App State/Chattanooga rivalry has been alive for over 50 years! This weekend was no different - Varsity Gym, described by many as a “hostile environment” was rocking and rolling all afternoon long.
#20 App State defeated Chattanooga 25-6. The dual started off at 149 - #9 Jon Jon Millner kicked it off with a 4-0 win over Noah Castillo. #28 Tommy Askey (157) and #26 Will Formato (165) followed up with wins, and then #11 Rocky Jordan (UTC) took the mat against #27 Will Miller (174). Jordan was victorious with an 11-5 win, setting up #26 Matthew Waddell for a 5-2 win over Luke Uliano. The momentum shifted back in the Mountaineer’s favor - securing wins for the rest of the dual. True freshman Carson Floyd (197, APP) won by decision over Jake Boyd, and heavyweight Jacob Sartorio secured a 6-0 decision over Logan Andrew (UTC). #14 Caleb Smith continues to have a strong showing this season, he won over Logan Ashton (8-5). The 133 bout was the most exciting match of the evening - Ethan Oakley (APP) defeated #13 Brayden Palmer (UTC) 5-2. Following Sean Carter’s injury during the Virginia Tech dual, Ethan Oakley stepped up to the plate and has filled in that gap very well for the Mountaineers. To finish off the dual, Heath Gonyer (141) defeated Franco Valdes 4-0. This match was so exciting - this rivalry is truly one of my favorites in college wrestling (and yes I am biased because I love this conference). I will say that matches like this NEED two officials. Thankfully, video review has become more common in Southern Conference duals; however, this conference definitely needs two officials at least at the three most competitive duals. UTC vs App, Campbell vs UTC, and App vs Campbell. These duals usually determine regular season conference champions, it’s too important to not have this. Maybe there’s a supply-chain shortage of college officials too (LOL my jokes are awful I know).
With each passing week, we’re one moment closer to the conference tournament, and better yet - Tulsa! I really hope to see more bids for the SoCon, this conference continues to get tougher with each season. It’s been so rewarding to watch all these student-athletes and programs grow. Soon we’ll be adding Bellarmine to the mix, as they still aren’t eligible to wrestle in the conference championship tournament. My mind keeps running to Queens University of Charlotte too, they just made the transition to Division I and haven’t been named to a conference yet…but maybe we’ll keep adding to our Sweet SoCon Family.
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