BOONE, N.C. – With only a pair of Southern Conference meetings left on the docket for the Presbyterian College men's wrestling squad, the Blue Hose will carry their biggest victory of the season seven days earlier into a marquee matchup on Sunday afternoon in Boone, going head-to-head with 20
th-ranked Appalachian State at the close of the weekend. The first of 10 standard matches with the Mountaineers will take place at 4:00 p.m.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
In what will be a taxing endeavor for Appalachian State – the dual vs. PC being the second of three consecutive outings within a six-hour clip – the Mountaineers will wrap up their regular season on Sunday by facing Campbell and Davidson sandwiched in between the Blue Hose. Despite the bustling nature of the day, head coach JohnMark Bentley's team brings an intimidating resume with them, headlined by a perfect 5-0 venture against league foes.
Standing at 9-2 approaching the hectic tripleheader, the Mountaineers' only two losses thus far have occurred against fellow NWCA ranked schools (#5 NC State and #9 Virginia Tech), possessing a five-match win streak – three of them inside the SoCon – to hold the #5 ranking in the national mid-major poll.
Averaging 30 points per contest over the entire season, Bentley (a five-time SoCon Coach of the Year) and co. have never allowed a league opponent to score more than six points against them in five encounters. Altogether, the Mountaineers' unblemished conference trek has led to an average final score of 33-6.
Sunday won't be Presbyterian's first visit to Boone this semester, having entered nine grapplers in the Appalachian Open back on January 28, an event where ASU placed a whopping 11 contestants. The Blue Hose were simultaneously involved in a road bout against Campbell at the time, where they wouldn't compete again until last weekend in a thrilling 19-18 triumph over Gardner-Webb in the Templeton Center.
LAST TIME OUT
That result in Clinton against the Runnin' Bulldogs served as the perfect home farewell for PC seniors
Jacob Brasseur (133) and
Khalid Brinkley (141/149), both of whom grabbed pivotal wins across a back-and-forth series that eventually tipped in the Blue Hose's favor. The first two recruits to ever commit to the program, the pair of veterans picked up a 5:50 pin and a 3-1 decision during the tightly-contested affair before 197-lb. sophomore
Malcolm Wiley officially won the bout for head coach
Mark Cody's club in the final match.
Trailing by three heading into the heavyweight round, Wiley prescribed the Blue Hose with the exact result they were searching for by grabbing his 15
th win of the year (the highest mark on the roster) via MD, 13-1. That victory, along with four others by Brasseur, Brinkley,
Dominic Chavez, and
Zach Wells, propelled PC to their first SoCon W of the slate and a wave of momentum for the upcoming weekend.
Six different PC wrestlers have won at least three league duals since the first such meeting back in December, looking to achieve their first nationally-ranked victory in the brief history of the program on Sunday. A link to both live video and statistics for the formidable conflict can be found below, or at the top of this page.
PC vs. Appalachian State Live Video -
https://rokfin.com/TheGrind
PC vs. Appalachian State Live Stats -
https://www.trackwrestling.com/seasons/DualMatches.jsp?TIM=1676560119574&twSessionId=xbocgqsasv&dualId=6708037132&teamId=971576143
