Appalachian State University wrestling gets into the crux of their Southern Conference schedule this week when it hosts Gardner-Webb on Tuesday night in Varsity Gym.
The 18th-ranked Mountaineers (10-2, 4-0 SoCon) are coming off an impressive road victory over Duke where they won 25-11. The Runnin’ Bulldogs (5-3, 2-1 SoCon) are coming off two matches last weekend, where they fell 24-12 to Campbell before defeating The Citadel, 31-13.
In the recently released NCAA coaches’ panel rankings, the Mountaineers led all SoCon teams with seven selections. Gardner-Webb was right behind App State with four, shaping Tuesday night’s matchup to be a good one.
Individually, junior Nick Kee (Laurinburg, N.C./Scotland) is coming off a decisive 12-2 major decision win against the No. 16 Connor Bass of Duke. Kee remains undefeated in duals play while improving to 10-2 overall. Freshman Colby Smith (Wentzville, Mo./Holt) has now won three-straight matches after downing Cole Baumgartner in a 5-0 decision at Duke. Smith now leads all Southern Conference wrestlers in duals wins with 10 – he was 21 overall.
No. 15 Matt Zovistoski (Paramus, N.J./St. Joseph Regional) and David Peters-Logue (Hillsborough, N.C./Orange) also enters Tuesday on three-match win streaks, with Zovistoski getting a 14-4 major decision and Peters-Logue getting the dramatic 7-5 sudden victory over Alec Schenk.
Gardner-Webb enters Tuesday 5-3 and 2-1 in the SoCon and is currently in third place in the conference after dropping their match to Campbell this weekend. The Runnin’ Bulldogs got key victories this season over VMI and Kent State and had losses against Virginia and Drexel.
Individually, Chris Vassar and Ryan Mosley have had good years so far at 149 and 157 pounds. Vassar is 15-6 overall this season while Mosley is 14-9. Austin Trott has also been a standout at 174, only dropping one match so far this season, going 14-1 overall.
The action between the two teams is set to begin at 7 p.m. at Varsity Gym.
Tuesday’s projected starters for the two teams:
No. 18 Appalachian State (10-2, 4-0 SoCon)
125: #19 Vito Pasone (11-6)
133: Colby Smith (21-7)
141: Irvin Enriquez (11-14)
149: #15 Matt Zovistoski (20-7)
157: Gavin Londoff (9-13)
165: Forrest Przybysz (18-9)
174: #18 Nick Kee (10-2)
184: David Peters-Logue (14-9)
197: Randall Diabe (12-13)
285: #13 Denzel Dejournette (19-5)
Gardner-Webb (5-3, 2-1 SoCon)
125: Landon LoAlbo (2-7)
133: Garrett Hancock (5-5) or Philip Anderson (5-10)
141: Ryan Hull (7-10)
149: Chris Vassar (15-6)
157: Ryan Mosley (14-9)
165: Tyler Marinelli (11-3)
174: Austin Trott (14-1)
184: Hunter Gamble (13-3)
197: Payton Mills (6-10)
285: Boyce Cornwell (16-5)
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