OMAHA, Neb. - Appalachian State University will send three Southern Conference Champions to the NCAA Wrestling Tournament for the first time since 2003. Tony Gravely, Austin Trotman and Dylan Temple start things off Thursday morning in Omaha.
Trotman is making his second appearance at the NCAA Championships but his first as a SoCon Champion, he earned an at-large bid as a true freshman in the 2007-08 season.
Now a redshirt sophomore, Trotman is 23-4 on the year with 15-match winning streak. He began the year wrestling at 174 but on Jan. 2 made the switch to 184. He lost his first match to Virginia Tech's Tommy Spellman (also in the NCAA Tournament) 5-2, but is undefeated since. During the streak he has defeated three wrestlers who are competing this week in Omaha, including Chattanooga's Jason McCroskey, who he defeated twice.
The Winston-Salem native will face No. 8 seed Louis Caputo of Harvard in the first round. Caputo is 22-3 on the year and was the runner-up in the EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association).
Temple clinched his first NCAA appearance with an 8-2 win over The Citadel's Justin Sparrow in the SoCon final at 197. Temple is 22-9 on the year and has won nine of his last 10 matches.
The junior will face Rider's Tyler Smith (23-14) in the first round and the winner will face No. 2 seed Craig Brester (26-2) of Nebraska. Smith earned an at-large berth wrestling out of the Colonial Athletic Association while Brester finished second in the Big 12, with both of his losses coming to undefeated and the top seeded Jake Varner of Iowa State.
Gravely was the surprise of the SoCon Tournament as he dominated the 125-pound weight class, winning two matches by pin, including the final, and beat top seed Demetrius Johnson in overtime.
The Martinsville, Va. native is 11-9 on the year and has won his last six matches.
Gravely will face a familiar foe in the first round as he takes on Liberty's Jonathan Childress for the third time this season. Childress is 11-15 on the year and the only wrestler in the 125-pound bracket with a losing record.
Check back to GoASU.com for updates of tomorrow's first and second round matches.
