The Chattanooga Mocs took an early lead but couldn’t hold off Appalachian State in Southern Conference wrestling Sunday afternoon in Maclellan Gym. The 28-13 loss came after a big start.
The Mountaineers pulled out a win at 125 in a Southern Scuffle rematch between No. 30 Brayden Palmer and Chad Bellis. That early deficit was flipped in a big way. No. 31 Blake Boarman and 23rd-ranked Ethan Oakley had a spirited tussle at 133. Boarman fell behind but battled had and caught Oakley on the mat and locked him down for a pin at 4:37.
“Good things happen when you wrestle for seven minutes,” Coach Kyle Ruschell explained.
“He continued to move forward and continued to wrestle and didn’t give up on positions. Their guy got him a couple of times, but he kept wrestling, and it made all the difference.”
Isaiah Powe continued his impressive work at 141. He turned a close match into a major decision with two near falls in the third. App took the next three bouts before Sergio Desiante went to work.
He got the early lead but gave it up in the third on a Luke Uliano takedown going down 5-4. Uliano tried to ride the period out but got called for stalling as Desiante stood with Uliano draped around his waist. Right after the stall point, Desiante completed the escape to get the 6-5 triumph. App claimed the final three classes.
“Disappointed in a loss, but we’re showing improvement in a key area,” Ruschell noted. “It shouldn’t take App State for us to fight like that. I think we have a lot more in us, and it’s a good step towards the conference tournament. We’ll need even more next weekend at Campbell, they’re the best in the conference right now.
"Even in some of the losses, our guys continued to try and fight. So, we just need to do better in our positions. The x's and o's we can fix. We need to continue to build off the type of fight that we had."
The Mocs start a 3-match road swing to complete the regular season next Saturday at Campbell.
RESULTS
App State 28, Chattanooga 13
Feb. 11, 2024 – Chattanooga, Tenn. – Att.: 385
125: Chad Bellis (App) 10-0 maj. dec. over #30 Brayden Palmer (Chatt) – 0-4
133: #31 Blake Boarman (Chatt) Fall (4:37) over #23 Ethan Oakley (App) – 6-4
141: Isaiah Powe (Chatt) 9-1 maj. dec. over Ike Byers (App) – 10-4
149: #18 Cody Bond (App) 12-2 maj. dec. over Matthew Williams (Chatt) – 10-8
157: #21 Tommy Askey (App) 6-3 dec. over Austin Paradice (Chatt) – 10-11
165: #21 Will Miller (App) 12-4 maj. dec. over Kamdyn Munro (Chatt) – 10-15
174: Sergio Desiante (Chatt) 6-5 dec. over Luke Uliano (App) – 13-15
184: Tomas Brooker (App) 15-0 TF (2:33) over Ryan Stein (Chatt) – 13-20
197: Carson Floyd (App) 12-3 maj. dec. over Landon Lewis (Chatt) – 13-24
285: Jacob Sartorio (App) 8-0 maj. dec. over Ethan Vergara (Chatt) – 13-28
NEXT UP
Feb. 17: at Campbell.
Feb. 23: at Indiana
Feb. 25: at Bellarmine
Mar. 9: SoCon Championships (Boone, N.C.)
Mar. 21-23: NCAA Championships (Kansas City)