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Dejournette Named SoCon Wrestler of the Year

Appalachian State University senior heavyweight wrestler Denzel Dejournette (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds) earned the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Year honors after his performance in crucial and dramatic victories this season for the Mountaineers.

Dejournette becomes just the fourth wrestler ever to be named SoCon Wrestler of the Year in consecutive years and the first since Appalachian’s Travis Drake in 2001 and 2002.

The senior helped the Mountaineers achieve one of its best seasons in program history, going 23-5 to go along with Appalachian’s 13-3 record overall. Both Dejournette and App State went undefeated in SoCon play at 6-0 and 7-0, respectively. He had 10 bonus point victories and two seven-match win streaks on the season.

Dejournette also earned a SoCon Wrestler of the Week nod from the conference, the sixth time in his career that the senior has won the weekly wrestling award. He is tied for third on the conference’s all-time list in most times awarded the honor.

Heading into the conference tournament, the Winston-Salem native ranks fifth on Appalachian’s all-time win list with 106 victories.

Dejournette also joined senior Vito Pasone (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./E.L. Meyers) in being one of the 10 all-Southern Conference selections for the 2016-17 season. The two fifth-year seniors were two of the seven wrestlers who received the maximum number of points in the voting process.