BOONE,
N.C. – Propelled by a Dominic Parisi pin and key decisions by Zack Strickland,
Colin Hedash and Paul Weiss, Appalachian State’s wrestling team captured its
first Southern Conference victory of the season, defeating Gardner-Webb, 21-19,
Tuesday evening at Varsity Gym.
The narrow victory kept the Mountaineers perfect at 4-0 on the young
season and 15-0 against the Runnin' Bulldogs all-time. Gardner-Webb dropped its
second straight conference match and moved to 2-5 overall.
The experienced on the Appalachian State roster showed as Parisi,
Strickland, Hedash and Weiss have combined for 42 wins this season. Parisi,
Strickland and Hedash all remained perfect in dual meets this season.
Parisi picked up the fall at 125 pounds and an early 6-0 advantage for
Appalachian State, but Gardner-Webb would tie the match at 6 with wins in the 133-
and 141-pound bouts.
Redshirt sophomore Robbie Golde earned a 6-3 decision over Brett Boston
at 133 pounds to put the Runnin’ Bulldogs on the scoreboard for the match,
while sophomore Davante Andujar followed with a 5-4 win over William Johnson at
141 pounds to tie the match score up at 6-6.
After a GWU forfeit at 149 pounds pushed the Mountaineers back on top at 12-6
in the match, redshirt senior Alex Medved dominated at 157 pounds, recording a
15-5 major decision win over Aaron Scott to cut the Appalachian State lead to
two at 12-10.
Wins by Strickland and Hedash at 165 and 174 pounds, respectively,
allowed the Mountaineers to extend their lead to eight at 18-10.
GWU freshman Gray Jones registered a 6-3 win at 184 pounds over Jesse
Johnson to put GWU down five at 18-13, yet a Weiss win at 197 pounds allowed
the Mountaineers to pull out in front by eight at 21-13 and secure the dual-match
win.
With the dual match victory out of reach, Gardner-Webb redshirt senior
Travis Porter wrapped up the contest with a fall over Joe Cummings at 6:22 in
the heavyweight spot to put the final match score at 21-19 in favor of Appalachian
State.
The focus for the Mountaineers shifts toward this weekend, as Appalachian
State hosts Ohio on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Varsity Gym. GWU will next be in
action on Dec. 15, as a number of Runnin’ Bulldog wrestlers will travel to
Cleveland, Ohio, to compete at the Cleveland State Open.
Appalachian
State 21, Gardner-Webb 19
125:
Dominic Parisi (APP) pinned Tyler Ziegler (GWU) (4:09) (APP 6-0)
133: Robbie Golde (GWU) dec. Brett Boston (APP), 6-3 (APP 6-3)
141: Davante Andujar (GWU) dec. Chris Johnson (APP), 5-4 (Tied 6-6)
149: Zach Kechter (APP) won by forfeit (APP 12-6)
157: Alex Medved (GWU) maj. dec. Aaron Scott (APP), 15-5 (APP 12-10)
165: Zack Strickland (APP) dec. Justin Guthrie (GWU), 5-3 (APP 15-10)
174: Colin Hedash (APP) dec. Aaron Rabin (GWU), 10-6 (APP 18-10)
184: Gary Jones (GWU) dec. Jesse Johnson (APP), 6-3 (APP 18-13)
197: Paul Weiss (APP) dec. Blake Salyer (GWU), 8-2 (APP 21-13)
HWT: Travis Porter (GWU) pinned Joe Cummings (APP) (6:22) (APP 21-19)