By Bret Strelow. KANSAS CITY, Mo. — App State Wrestling enjoyed record-breaking success in Round 1 of the NCAA Championships on Thursday, resulting in challenging Round of 16 matchups against top-five opponents to end the day.
BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article
The takeaway from an impressive opening day for coach JohnMark Bentley’s bunch: four of the Mountaineers’ five NCAA qualifiers advanced to Friday’s second day of competition in the double-elimination portion of the event at the T-Mobile Center.
Ethan Oakley (133 pounds), Cody Bond (149 pounds), Tommy Askey (157 pounds) and Will Miller (165 pounds) all won first-round matches in exciting fashion before dropping Thursday night matches against opponents ranked No. 5, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 1 in the country.
App State’s most improbable qualifier, 33rd-seeded true freshman Tomas Brooker, dropped a 10-8 decision in a pigtail match Thursday morning at 184 pounds before losing by fall in his second match.
Ethan Oakley, Cody Bond, Tommy Askey, and Will Miller all won first round matches.
With App State’s four other qualifiers all making their second career NCAA appearances and looking for their first main-draw wins — Oakley won a pigtail match last year — the veterans went a combined 4-0 in Session 1, including three wins against higher-seeded opponents.
The Mountaineers’ four Session 1 wins set a record for the best opening-round performance in program history, topping the 3-2 mark from 2022.
The 21st-seeded Oakley delivered a tiebreaking takedown with 1:18 left in an 8-7 decision against Virginia Tech’s Sam Latona, a 12th-seeded senior who is a two-time All-American, before the 18th-seeded Bond used a takedown and four near-fall points to lead 8-0 in the second period of an 11-4 decision against 15th-seeded Corbyn Munson from Central Michigan. The 19th-seeded Askey had five takedowns in a 17-6 major decision against 14th-seeded Cody Chittum from Iowa State, and a second-period takedown provided separation for the 16th-seeded Miller in a 5-0 shutout of 17th-seeded Tyler Lillard from Indiana.
Oakley erased a 6-5 deficit on his takedown with 1:18 remaining and managed to stay on top until the closing seconds before finally giving up an escape (to avoid a stalling penalty) with three seconds remaining.
Oakley began the second period with a takedown to cut his deficit to 4-3, but Latona answered with a reversal to move ahead 6-3. An escape from there, plus an escape early in the third, put Oakley in position to claim control with a takedown.
The success on Thursday afternoon meant Round of 16 matchups with some of the nation’s highest-ranked wrestlers. Oakley did record a takedown in the third period of an 11-5 loss to fifth-seeded Michigan standout Dylan Ragusin, who has lost only two matches this season.
Bond hung tough in a 4-2 loss to second-seeded Arizona State star Kyle Parco, a three-time All-American who recorded a first-period takedown, and Askey lost by tech fall (17-2 score) against third-seeded Meyer Shapiro from Cornell.
Top-seeded Keegan O’Toole, a two-time national champion from Missouri, remained unbeaten this season by recording a tech fall pin in the third period against Miller, who had a second-period reversal to score two of his points on the three-time All-American.
The four advancing App State wrestlers will wrestle again Friday in a session that begins at 11 a.m. CT (noon ET). At that stage, a loss eliminates a wrestler from the tournament, and a win leaves them as one of 16 wrestlers left in their bracket.
App State Wrestling’s 2023-24 season is presented by Hungry Howie’s and Penn Station.
133: No. 21 Ethan Oakley (26-7)
W, Dec (8-7) vs. #12 Sam Latona, Virginia Tech
L, Dec (11-5) vs. #5 Dylan Ragusin, Michigan
vs. #27 Gable Strickland, Lock Haven
149: No. 18 Cody Bond (24-6)
W, Dec (11-4) vs. #15 Corbyn Munson, Central Michigan
L, Dec (4-2) vs #2 Kyle Parco, Arizona State
vs. #33 Michael Cetta, Rutgers
157: No. 19 Tommy Askey (22-5)
W, MD (17-6) vs. #14 Cody Chittum, Iowa State
L, TF (17-2) vs. #3 Meyer Shapiro, Cornell
vs. #29 Legend Lamar, Cal Poly
165: No. 16 Will Miller (24-6)
W, Dec (5-0) vs. #17 Tyler Lillard, Indiana
L, Fall (5:58) vs. #1 Keegan O’Toole, Missouri
vs. #31 Maxx Mayfield, Northwestern
184: No. 33 Tomas Brooker (21-13)
L, Dec (10-8) vs. #32 Anthony D’Alesio, Long Island U. (pigtail match)
L, Fall (1:22) vs. #30 Malachi DuVall, George Mason
SELECTED IMAGES, all by Taylor Newton, Courtesy of App State Athletics
