ASU 36, Campbell 12
BOONE--On senior night in Varsity Gym, Appalachian State fell behind early, but roared back with 36 straight points to defeat visiting Campbell, 36-12.
The Mountaineers (8-15, 2-3) have won four straight matches heading into the Southern Conference Mat Jam in Raleigh, N.C. on March 3. However, Appalachian once again found a way to make it interesting.
Campbell (2-18), which entered the match having lost eleven straight, drew first blood when C.J. Gittens scored a riding-time decision over Dustin Smith at 125 pounds, 7-6.
In a battle of freshmen at 133 pounds, Camel David Wise got the best of Frank Celorrio and walked away with an 8-1 decision. The win made it 6-0 Camels.
Making his first start of the season, at 141 pounds, Garrett Minor found himself up against one of three Camels with a winning record on the season, Kelin Bidelspach, who entered at 10-7. Bidelspach made his move quickly on the freshman from Concord, N.C., pinning Minor 1:52 into the first period. The pin gave Campbell a 12-0 advantage in the Mountaineers’ final home match of the year.
However, Appalachian knew their best wrestlers had yet to take the mat. One of those was Scott Ervin, 22-3 and the No. 8 wrestler in the 149-pound weight class in the Intermat/NWCA poll. After jumping out to a quick points advantage over the Camel’s Caleb Lesnopf, Ervin scored a pin 2:10 into the first period. The fall halved the deficit for ASU, making the score 12-6, Campbell. With the pin, his ninth of 2006-07, the redshirt junior ended the regular season 16-1 in duals. Ervin has lost two duals in the past two seasons combined.
As quickly as the Mountaineers fell behind, they came back just as fast. In the next match, at 157 pounds, Eddie Hutchinson earned his fourth pin of the year with a victory in 1:50 over Chris Mazzatta. With that, the Mountaineers had evened the score 12-12. The junior from Brandon, Fla. has won his past two matches each by fall.
ASU took the lead 15-12 with Tommy Hutchinson’s win in the 165-pound weight class by a 6-4 decision and never looked back.
In the next weight class, at 174 pounds, Neal Martin continued his personal winning streak, earning a fall 1:23 into his showdown with Campbell’s Nick Amato to extend his run to eight straight. The pin was Martin’s first of the streak, which also includes five decisions, one major decision and a technical fall and a combined 30 team points contributed during the span. Martin has not lost since Jan. 21 at the Wendy’s Duals.
Dan Carrasco’s victory by forfeit at 184 pounds put it away for the Mountaineers, who led 27-12.
Two Mountaineer seniors put the finishing touches on their last match at Varsity Gym. In a 197-pound bout, senior Aaron Barnette stayed unbeaten on the season (3-0) with an 11-5 decision against junior Rob Yoder. At heavyweight, Dave Hazell won his 21st of the year and scored his seventh pin (moving him out of a tie for second on the team) at 4:22 to end the dual.
Appalachian finished the season 4-2 at home.
At the halfway point of the match, ASU recognized its three graduating seniors: Barnette, Josh Carroll and Dave Hazell, to applause from the crowd.
The win wrapped up an unbeaten February for Appalachian State. The Mountaineers went 4-0 in the month (2-0 SoCon) after exiting January on a seven-dual losing streak.
ASU will hope to ride the momentum to a good finish at the SoCon Mat Jam championships on March 3. The Mountaineers finished fourth in the conference regular season at 2-3.
Appalachian State 36, Campbell 12
125 C.J. Gittens (CU) def. Dustin Smith (ASU), D 7-6 (0-3)
133 David Wise (CU) def. Frank Celorrio (ASU), D 8-1 (0-6)
141 Kelin Bidelspach (CU) pinned Garrett Minor (ASU), F 1:52 (0-12)
149 Scott Ervin (ASU) pinned Caleb Lesnopf (CU), F 2:10 (6-12)
157 Eddie Hutchinson (ASU) pinned Chris Mazzatta (CU), F 1:50 (12-12)
165 Tommy Hutchinson (ASU) def. Brent Poynter (CU), D 6-4 (15-12)
174 Neal Martin (ASU) pinned Nick Amato (CU), F 1:23 (21-12)
184 Dan Carrasco (ASU) wins by forfeit, FFT (27-12)
197 Aaron Barnette (ASU) def. Rob Yoder (CU), D 11-5 (30-12)
HWT Dave Hazell (ASU) pinned Jeremiah Fennell (CU), F 4:22 (36-12)