By Bret Strelow. BOONE, N.C. — The opening home dual of App State Wrestling’s 2024-25 season featured more significant firsts.
The Mountaineers won two matches and held late leads in two other high-profile battles during a 37-8 loss to No. 19 West Virginia on a cold, snowy Friday that didn’t deter an enthusiastic crowd. It was the debut for a new-look Varsity Gym, highlighted by the unveiling of a C. Philip Byers Scoreboard with video capabilities and a Barker Arena display. Spectators filled new premium bleacher seats on the main floor of Varsity, putting groups of fans on three sides of a new competition mat.
“It was a really awesome atmosphere tonight, and I’m really thankful for our fans and all of App Nation that showed up,” App State head coach JohnMark Bentley said. “It was a great atmosphere to compete in. Obviously, I wish we would have performed a little better, but the venue was awesome.”
Carson Floyd’s overtime takedown gave him a 4-1 decision over Rune Lawrence at 197 pounds, and Kaden Keiser’s 21-5 tech fall of Blake Boyers at 149 pounds produced five team points for the Mountaineers (0-2 with a pair of losses to top-20 opponents).
West Virginia (3-0) earned bonus points in six of its eight wins.
Finishing the first period on top, eighth-ranked Will Miller held a 3-1 lead with 1:41 in riding time entering the third period at 165 pounds against third-ranked Peyton Hall, a two-time All-American. Miller went up 4-1 on an escape early in the third and nearly followed that with a takedown, but Hall prevented a score and produced a tying takedown with 43 seconds left.
With Miller’s riding time falling under a minute, he was unable to record a tiebreaking escape. Instead, Hall put Miller in a compromised position that led to a signal for back points before ending the match by fall with 11 seconds left.
The other dramatic match started the dual, as App State’s Chad Bellis jumped out to a 7-1 lead on No. 25 Jett Strickenberger at 133 pounds thanks to a takedown in both the first and second periods. Strickenberger cut his deficit to 7-5 on a takedown with 1:11 left in the third period and tied the match at 8-all on a takedown with 20 seconds remaining. He forced overtime by staying on top for the remainder of regulation and capped an 11-8 comeback win with a Sudden Victory takedown.
The 2024-25 season is presented by Hungry Howie’s and Penn Station. App State returns to action Dec. 6 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
West Virginia 37, App State 8
- 133: #25 Jett Strickenberger (WVU) def. Chad Bellis (APP). 11-8 dec. (SV)
- 141: #11 Jordan Titus (WVU) def. Riley Edwards (APP), 17-2 tech fall
- 149: Kaden Keiser (APP) def. Blake Boyers (WVU), 21-5 tech fall
- 157: Sasha Gavronsky (WVU) def. Jeremiah Price (APP), fall (1:06)
- 165: #3 Peyton Hall (WVU) def. #8 Will Miller (APP), fall (6:49)
- 174: #30 Brody Conley (WVU) def. Luke Uliano (APP), 4-0 dec.
- 184: Dennis Robin (WVU) def. Logan Eller (APP), 14-6 maj. dec.
- 197: Carson Floyd (APP) def. Rune Lawrence (WVU), 4-1 dec. (SV)
- Hwt: #29 Michael Wolfgram (WVU) def. Stephan Monchery (APP), 11-1 maj. dec.
- 125: Jace Schafer (WVU) def. Noah Luna (APP), fall (5:42)
Attendance: 897
