SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Appalachian State heavyweight Denzel Dejournette has been named the Arby's Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week for all competition from Dec. 23 to Jan. 5. The selection is made by the league office.
Dejournette went 4-1 and finished second in his weight class at the Defense Soap & Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Jan. 1-2, topping a pair of ranked wrestlers along the way. He helped the Mountaineers to a 13th-place finish in the 31-team field, which was the best of the five SoCon squads in the tournament.
After earning a first-round bye, Dejournette topped Navy’s Nicholas Mabry with a 9-0 major decision Friday. In the next round, the redshirt junior picked up a 7-1 victory over Lehigh’s Doug Vollaro in SV-1.
Dejournette faced three ranked wrestlers on the second day of competition, advancing to the championship semifinals with a 2-0 win over No. 14 Jared Johnson of Chattanooga. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native followed that up with a 6-3 win over sixth-ranked Michael Kroells of Minnesota to reach the title bout, where he fell to No. 4 Austin Marsden of Oklahoma, 4-0.
His impressive showing improved Dejournette’s season record to 19-2, while he advanced seven spots in the latest InterMat rankings to No. 6 nationally.
Dejournettes’ weekly award is his third this season and the fifth of his career, making him one of just eight wrestlers in SoCon history to earn the honor at least five times.
Appalachian State (6-2, 1-0 SoCon) returns to the mats Wednesday as it returns to SoCon dual action at Campbell (0-6, 0-1 SoCon). The match is set for 5 p.m. in Buies Creek, N.C.
Also nominated: Nathan Kraisser (Campbell), Jared Johnson (Chattanooga) and Neal Richards II (VMI).
2015-16 Arby's SoCon Wrestlers of the Week
Nov. 4 Paul Duggan, Campbell
Nov. 11 John Fahy, SIUE
Nov. 18 Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State
Nov. 25 Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State
Dec. 9 Nick Kee, Appalachian State
Dec. 16 Forrest Przybysz, Appalachian State
Dec. 23 Marshall Haas, The Citadel
Jan. 6 Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State
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