By Bret Stelow. PHILADELPHIA — App State Wrestling’s Will Miller advanced to Day 2 of the NCAA Championships with a 1-1 opening day that began with his first pin of the season.
The second-period win by fall Thursday afternoon against Southern Scuffle champion Gunner Filipowicz, the No. 20 seed from Army, and an 11-1 loss to No. 4 seed Terrell Barraclough, who transferred to Utah Valley after spending four seasons at Penn State, mean that Miller is one of 24 wrestlers left in the 165-pound bracket.
The 13th-seeded Miller will face No. 30 seed Aiden Riggins from Iowa State on Friday, with the winner earning a spot in the final 16 of that weight class. Consolation bracket wrestlers can clinch a spot in the final 12 with two wins Friday and All-America recognition as a top-eight finisher with three straight victories.
The quarterfinals at 165 include seven of the top eight seeds, with only a 12-5 “upset” disrupting that. Of the 80 quarterfinalists across 10 weights, only six have a higher seed than 13th.
Miller, the SoCon Wrestler of the Year, arrived in Philadelphia with a 21-2 record this season but no pins. He picked a fine time to change that, completing a takedown of Filipowicz with six seconds left in the second period for a 3-1 lead and beating the clock by finishing off a pin one second before the period ended.
It was App State’s first win by fall at the NCAA Championships since Codi Russell produced one in 2019.
Barraclough improved to 30-2 this season by turning competitive exchanges into takedowns late in the first and second periods against Miller. Barraclough was 12-2 last season as Penn State’s backup to national runner-up Mitchell Mesenbrink.
A pair of first-time NCAA qualifiers from App State, junior Carson Floyd (No. 33 seed at 197 pounds) and true freshman Stephan Monchery (No. 32 seed at heavyweight) both went 0-2 from their pigtail paths.
Floyd wrapped up his junior season with a 28-10 record, raising his total to 66 career victories, while Monchery went 19-11 this season and qualified for the NCAAs as the SoCon champion despite starting the year with a 6-6 record.
Floyd trailed 11-3 on Thursday before he recorded a takedown and two near fall points in the final 10 seconds of a 12-8 loss against Army’s Wolfgang Frable (No. 32 seed) in their pigtail opener. Floyd put Frable on his back after attempting to cut and then quickly re-engage with his opponent, but he ran out of time to do more damage.
Floyd cut his second-period deficit against West Virginia’s Ian Bush (No. 30 seed) to 4-3 in the next round with a second-period takedown and trailed by one again following a third-period escape, but Floyd was unable to secure a go-ahead takedown late in Bush’s 5-4 decision.
Monchery opened the event with a 9-0 loss to Purdue’s Hayden Filipovich and went through a scoreless first period in his next match against Wyoming’s Sam Mitchell, who rode out the second period. An escape, takedown and rideout for Mitchell in the third period resulted in a 5-0 decision.
The 2024-25 season is presented by Hungry Howie’s and Penn Station.
APP STATE Results at NCAA Nationals
165: #13 Will Miller (22-3)
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- W, Fall (4:59) vs. #20 Gunner Filipowicz, Army
- L, MD (11-1) vs. #4 Terrell Barraclough, Utah Valley
- Next: vs. #30 Aiden Riggins, Iowa State
197: #33 Carson Floyd (28-10)
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- L, Dec (12-8) vs. #32 Wolfgang Frable, Army
- L, Dec (5-4) vs. #30 Ian Bush, West Virginia
Hwt: #32 Stephan Monchery (19-11)
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- L, MD (9-0) vs. #33 Hayden Filipovich, Purdue
- L, Dec (5-0) vs. #30 Sam Mitchell, Wyoming
