Wrestling Southern Conference

App?s Dylan Cottrell Named Wrestler of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Appalachian State 149-pounder Dylan Cottrell has been named the Southern Conference wrestler of the week for all competition from Nov. 13-19. The selection is made by the league office.

Cottrell went 7-0 on the week as the Mountaineers competed in a pair of duals and an open tournament in California.

In a tri-dual against Grand Canyon and Bakersfield on Friday in Bakersfield, Calif., Cottrell topped Mike Hamel of Grand Canyon and Dalton Kelly of the host Roadrunners as Appalachian State dropped both matches. Cottrell earned a 4-3 decision over Hamel and pinned Kelly in 1:28.

Bakersfield, which wrestles in the Pac-12, hosted the Roadrunner Open in Fresno, Calif., two days later, and Cottrell went 5-0 there to take the title at 149 pounds. The redshirt freshman from Spencer, W.Va., cruised to technical falls in each of his first two matches, downing Alex Abono, an unattached wrestler from Bakersfield, 15-0, and Embry-Riddle’s Robby Workman 21-4.

Cottrell followed that with three straight decisions to take the title. He picked up an 8-2 win over Kyle Chene of Cal Poly, which also wrestles in the Pac-12, before topping Maryland’s Frank Goodwin 8-1. In the title bout, Cottrell shut out Blake Kastl of Cal Poly, 7-0. Kastl is ranked 20th nationally at 149 in the latest Amateur Wrestling News rankings.

For the season, Cottrell is off to a 9-0 start and is ranked 16th nationally at 149 by AWN and WrestlingReport.com and 20th by InterMat.

Appalachian State (2-2) returns to the mats at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, Pa., on Sunday.

Also nominated: Eloheim Palma (Campbell), Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (The Citadel), Kevin Birmingham (Davidson), Austin Trott (Gardner-Webb), Deshoun White (SIUE), Michael Hooker (Chattanooga) and Andrew Embree (VMI).

2013-14 SoCon wrestlers of the week
Nov. 13    Corey Mock, Chattanooga
Nov. 20    Dylan Cottrell, Appalachian State

-www.SoConSports.com-