By Bret Strelow for App State Sports. CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two days after hosting a top-10 team, App State Wrestling hit the road to face an unbeaten conference opponent.
Short on rest — and with two wrestlers making only their second dual starts of the season — the 22nd-ranked Mountaineers were up to the task in a 34-6 win at The Citadel on Sunday afternoon.
Squaring off against the Bulldogs, who were 4-0 overall and 3-0 at home, App State (5-2, 2-0 SoCon) won nine of 10 matches. Luke Uliano’s six-point pin in the second match produced the first of four bonus-point victories, with the other three coming in the final three matches from Jon Jon Millner (18-7 major decision), Tommy Askey (15-7 major decision) and Will Formato (19-0 tech fall).
App State’s five decisions (worth three team points each) came from Will Miller (9-4 win), Carson Floyd (11-9), Caleb Smith (6-3), Ethan Oakley (4-3 in his second career dual start) and Heath Gonyer (6-0).
App State returned to action after putting up a strong fight Friday night in a 23-11 loss to No. 9 Virginia Tech and improved to 53-5 in its last 58 conference duals.
Two takedowns, plus back points, gave Miller an 8-1 lead after one period of his dual-opening win against Benjamin Haubert, who took third place at last year’s SoCon Championships.
Uliano followed that with a second-period pin of Will Rogers, and Floyd jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first period of his tight win against Mark Chaid, who made six starts for North Carolina last season. Chaid had one reversal and three takedowns over the final two periods, but Floyd’s four escapes and a riding time point were enough to prevail.
After The Citadel picked up its lone win with a pin in the heavyweight matchup, Smith overcame a 2-0 deficit by finishing all three periods in strong fashion against Penn transfer Blair Orr. Smith totaled five of his six points in the last seven seconds of periods, with an escape late in the first period and a takedown late in each of the final two periods. His takedown to end the second period broke a 2-all tie, and he led 4-3 before his last-second takedown in the third.
Oakley produced an early takedown against George Rosas and technically trailed 3-2 entering the third — although Oakley had more than two minutes in riding time at that point and would be starting the final period on bottom with a chance for an escape. He got one in less than 15 seconds, and the one point for riding time exceeding a minute made the difference.
Gonyer had a takedown in each of the first two periods against Dillon Roman, and Millner only allowed points on conceded escapes as he totaled eight takedowns in his win.
Askey gave up the first takedown to Thomas Snipes but delivered the next two to lead 6-3 entering the third period. Chasing bonus points, Askey conceded an escape that allowed Snipes to briefly pull within 6-4, but Askey used four takedowns to win by eight points and claim a major decision.
Formato’s takedown and two four-point near falls in the opening period propelled him to a tech fall in the final match.
The Mountaineers return to action Friday night with a SoCon dual at VMI and are back in Varsity Gym for a Jan. 24 home dual against Duke on that Tuesday night. The 2022-23 season is presented by Hungry Howie’s and Penn Station.
No. 22 App State 34, The Citadel 6
174: #32 Will Miller (APP) def. Benjamin Haubert (CIT), 9-4 dec.
184: Luke Uliano (APP) def. Will Rogers (CIT), fall (3:43)
197: Carson Floyd (APP) def. Mark Chaid (CIT), 11-9 dec.
Hwt: Jonathan Chesser (CIT) def. Jacob Sartorio (APP), fall (6:13)
125: #21 Caleb Smith (APP) def. Blair Orr (CIT), 6-3 dec.
133: Ethan Oakley (APP) def. George Rosas (CIT), 4-3 dec.
141: Heath Gonyer (APP) def. Dillon Roman (CIT), 6-0 dec.
149: #8 Jon Jon Millner (APP) def. Ethan Willis (CIT), 18-7 maj. dec.
157: #31 Tommy Askey (APP) def. Thomas Snipes (CIT), 15-7 maj. dec.
165: #26 Will Formato (APP) def. Brodie Porter (CIT), 19-0 tech fall
