BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State returned to the mats of the Varsity Gym on Sunday to host a tri-meet with visiting Campbell and Binghamton. The Mountaineers cruised to a 50-3 victory over Southern Conference foe Campbell and beat Binghamton 22-15.
The Mountaineers improved to 5-6 on the season and 2-0 in the Southern Conference.
Campbell (0-2, 0-2 SoCon) forfeited the first four matches, which put the Mountaineers out to a big advantage. Zack Strickland was the first Mountaineer to wrestle when he earned a 16-5 major decision victory over Daniel Luty at 157 pounds. Nick Kee made it back-to-back major decisions when he defeated Grarrison Matthews 17-6 at 165.
Forrest Przybysz recorded his second pin of the season against Monte Britton at 174 to stretch the Appalachian lead to 38-0. Campbell’s lone win came at 184 pounds, when App’s Nick Vetell dropped a 4-0 decision to Ville Heino.
After Campbell forfeited at 197, it was heavyweight Denzel Dejournette with his eighth pin of the year that closed the match out for the Mountaineers.
In the second matchup of the day, Appalachian took on Binghamton. Dominic Parisi got the Mountaineers off to a solid start with a 4-2 decision win over David White, a 2014 NCAA qualifer. Vito Pasone continued to wrestle well and earned a technical fall over Joe Nelson to put the Apps up 8-0.
At 141 pounds, Michael Longo lost a close 4-3 decision to Dylan Caruana. The Bearcats took the lead when Colton Perry pinned Javon Johnson 2:48 into the bout at 149.
As they did in the first match, Strickland and Kee had back-to-back major decision victories at 157 pounds and 165 pounds, respectively. With Appalachian up 16-9, Przybysz fought hard for a sudden-victory take down against Steven Schneider.
The Bearcats would earn decision wins at 184 pounds and 197 pounds before Dejournette defeated Tyler Deuel in an 8-4 decision to seal the 22-15 win.
Appalachian will be back in action Jan. 18 in the Varsity Gym to take on The Citadel in a Southern Conference matchup.
The Camels host VMI on Friday at 7 p.m. in their first home match of 2015.
Appalachian 50, Campbell 3
125: Dominic Parisi W, FF (6-0, App)
133: Vito Pasone W, FF (12-0, App)
141: Michael Longo W, FF (18-0, App)
149: Javon Johnson W, FF (24-0, App)
157: Zack Strickland (A) def Daniel Luty (C) MD 16-5 (28-0, App)
165: Nick Kee (A) def Garrison Matthews (C) MD 17-6 (32-0, App)
174: Forrest Przybysz (A) def Monte Britton (C) Pin (2:40) (38-0, App)
184: Ville Heino (C) def Nick Vetell (A) D 4-0 (38-3, App)
197: Tyler Radford W, FF (44-3, App)
Hwt: Denzel Dejournette (A) def Cody Ryba (C) Pin (1:13) (50-3, App)
Appalachian 22, Binghamton 15
125: Dominic Parisi (A) def David White (B) D 4-2 (3-0, App)
133: Vito Pasone (A) def Joe Nelson (B) TF 15-0 (8-0, App)
141: Dylan Caruana (B) def Michael Longo (A) D 4-3 (8-3, App)
149: Colton Perry (B) def Javon Johnson (A) Pin (2:48) (8-9, Bing)
157: Zack Strickland (A) def Vincent DePrez (B) MD 10-1 (12-9, App)
165: Nick Kee (A) def Zack Zupan (B) MD 12-4 (16-9, App)
174: Forrest Przybysz (A) def Steven Schneider (B) D 4-2 SV-1 (19-9, App)
184: Jack McKeever (B) def Nick Vetell (A) D 4-0 (19-12, App)
197: Caleb Wallace (B) def Tyler Radford (A) D 8-0 (19-15, App)
Hwt: Denzel Dejournette (A) def Tyler Deuel (B) D 8-4 (22-15, App)
VMI drops pair of duals
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Shabaka Johns went 2-0 on the day for the Virginia Military Institute wrestling team, but the Keydets fell to a pair of nonconference foes Sunday at American University. The Keydets dropped a 31-12 decision against Harvard University, followed by a 31-13 loss against host American University at the Eagles’ Bender Arena.
Johns improved to 15-7 on the season.
In the opening match of the day, the Keydets dropped a 31-12 decision to Harvard in a neutral-site match. Despite the final outcome, VMI held its own in the first-ever meeting with Harvard. Of the 10 matches, four were decided by four points or fewer.
Derek Thurman won his third straight match at 184 pounds with an 8-7 decision over Harvard’s Michael Mocco, pulling VMI back within seven points of the lead, 19-12. Thurman scored a bulk of his points in the third round, hitting a reversal and an escape and sealing the win with a takedown with four seconds on the board. Mocco had built over a minute of riding time and held a virtual 7-6 lead before Thurman’s final takedown.
Prior to Thurman’s win, Shabaka Johns logged his 14th win of the year as he bested Tyler Grimaldi by a decisive 11-4 decision at 165 pounds. Johns nearly stuck Grimaldi at the tail end of the second period but settled for three near-fall points. A trio of takedowns and over a minute of riding time added to Johns’ point total and helped him to his third straight win.
The Keydets kicked off the day with a win by forfeit at 125 pounds, accepted by Dalton Henderson.
It was a slow start for the Keydets (3-5) against host American, as the Eagles jumped out to a 24-0 lead through the first five matches behind three technical falls, a win by fall and a decision.
But VMI bounced back in the upper weights, winning three of the final five bouts. Johns went 2-0 on the day after blanking Brad Mutchnick 6-0 at 165 pounds, followed by a win by fall for Mark Darr at 174 pounds, sticking Nick Carey in 4:54.
Thurman saw his three-match winning streak come to an end by just two points as Jason Grimes edged the redshirt sophomore 2-0 at 184 pounds. Grimes scored a takedown 35 seconds into the bout and those two points proved invaluable as neither grappler scored for the remaining six and a half minutes.
VMI, which is on the road for nearly a month before hosting The Citadel on Feb. 5, bounced back at heavyweight as Juan Adams logged his 13th win this season and second by major decision. The big Texan scored four takedowns, including three in the third period, while also adding three near-fall points in the final minute to cap VMI’s afternoon with a win.
The Keydets return to league action on Jan. 16 as VMI heads to Buies Creek, N.C., for a Southern Conference match at Campbell University, site of last season’s SoCon Championship. Action is set to begin at 7 p.m. in the Camels’ Gore Arena.
Harvard 31, VMI 12
125: Dalton Henderson (VMI) Wins by Forfeit (0-6)
133: Ryan Osleeb (Harvard) DEC Hunter Starner (VMI) 6-2 (3-6)
141: No. 16 Todd Preston (Harvard) DEC Emmitt Kelly 6-2 (6-6)
149: Nick Stager (Harvard) MAJ DEC Jack Krall 13-5 (10-6)
157: Tyler Tarsi (Harvard) WBF Sam Paulay (VMI) 0:49 (16-6)
165: Shabaka Johns (VMI) DEC Tyler Grimaldi (Harvard) 11-4 (16-9)
174: Josef Johnson (Harvard) DEC Mark Darr (VMI) 7-5 (19-9)
184: Derek Thurman (VMI) DEC Michael Mocco (Harvard) 8-7 (19-12)
197: Josh Popple (Harvard) WBF Urayoan Garcia (VMI) 5:31 (25-12)
285: David Ng (Harvard) WBF Juan Adams (VMI) 1:31 (31-12)
American 31, VMI 13
125: No. 18 David Terao (AU) TECH FALL Dalton Henderson (VMI) 16-1 (5:00) (5-0)
133: Josh Terao (AU) TECH FALL Hunter Starner (VMI) 16-0 (4:51) (10-0)
141: Michael Sprague (AU) DEC Emmitt Kelly (VMI) 2-0 (13-0)
149: Tom Page (AU) WBF Jack Krall (VMI) 1:08 (19-0)
157: John Boyle (AU) TECH FALL Sam Paulay (VMI) 20-3 (2:24) (24-0)
165: Shabaka Johns (VMI) DEC Brad Mutchnick (AU) 6-0 (24-3)
174: Mark Darr (VMI) WBF Nick Carey (AU) 4:54 (24-9)
184: Jason Grimes (AU) DEC Derek Thurman (VMI) 2-0 (27-9)
197: Brett Dempsey (AU) MAJ DEC Urayoan Garcia (VMI) 9-1 (31-9)
285: Juan Adams (VMI) MAJ DEC Scot Augustine (AU) 14-3 (31-13)