Miller Voted SoCon Wrestler of Year; Uliano Also Named All-SoCon
March 6, 2025
Contact: Bret Strelow – st******@ap******.edu
Wrestling
BOONE, N.C. — The Southern Conference announced Thursday that the SoCon Wrestler of the Year for the 2024-25 season is App State senior Will Miller, who was joined on the All-SoCon team by Luke Uliano.
Miller, ranked No. 7 nationally at 165 pounds, and Uliano, ranked 28th nationally at 174 pounds, both went 8-0 in SoCon duals and are No. 1 seeds for the upcoming SoCon Championship tournament that begins Friday in Asheville.
Miller joins Jon Jon Millner (repeat winner in 2022-23), Will Formato (2021), Denzel Dejournette (repeat winner in 2016-17), Kyle Blevins (2012) and Austin Trotman (2010) as the Mountaineers who have accounted for eight SoCon Wrestler of the Year awards in JohnMark Bentley‘s 16 seasons leading the program.
The SoCon’s All-Freshman Team includes four Mountaineers: true freshman Stephan Monchery (7-1 league record as a heavyweight starter), redshirt freshman Jeremiah Price (7-1 league record as a starter at 157 pounds), redshirt freshman Logan Eller (4-3 league record as a starter at 184 pounds) and redshirt freshman Aldo Hernandez (3-4 league record as a starter at 141 pounds). Monchery and Price are both No. 2 seeds in Asheville.
Miller and Uliano didn’t drop a league match as App State earned a share of a SoCon regular season title while starting freshmen at five of 10 weights after losing two top-16 NCAA finishers to P4 programs via the transfer portal and having two other SoCon champions with NCAA experience suffer season-ending injuries in the first dual on Nov. 15.
A native of Helena, Ala., Miller is 19-1 overall this season with a 5-1 record against wrestlers who have been included in the top 33 of the NCAA’s Coaches’ Rankings. He is currently the only SoCon wrestler with a national ranking higher than 20th in his weight class.
Miller has victories this season against No. 12 Andrew Sparks (Minnesota), No. 21 Derek Fields (NC State), No. 26 Mac Church (Virginia Tech), No. 31 Thomas Snipes (The Citadel) and Dom Baker (Campbell wrestler was ranked No. 32 before losing to Miller in the regular season finale). In Miller’s only loss, he held a 4-1 lead in third period against West Virginia’s Peyton Hall, a two-time All-American, before Hall had a tying takedown with 43 seconds left, moved Miller’s riding time under a minute and then put an escape-hungry Miller in a compromised position to record a fall with 11 seconds left.
A two-time NCAA qualifier who was the SoCon runner-up at 174 pounds in 2023 and the SoCon champ at 165 pounds in 2024, Miller has an 81-30 career record. He went 23-1 in SoCon duals as a three-year starter and 34-5 in all duals.
Uliano, a redshirt junior from Powell, Ohio, has reached 57 career wins thanks to his 21-7 record entering this postseason. His signature ranked wins during the regular season were a 19-3 tech fall against Virginia Tech’s Lennox Wolak, a returning All-American, and a 15-1 major decision against No. 20 Sergio Desiante from Chattanooga.
Of Uliano’s 21 victories during the regular season, 17 produced bonus points, including seven of his eight SoCon matches.
The 2024-25 season is presented by Hungry Howie’s and Penn Station.
SoCon Wrestler of the Year
Will Miller, App State
Freshman of the Year
T.K. Davis, Gardner-Webb
All-SoCon
Anthony Molton, 125, Campbell
T.K. Davis, 133, Gardner-Webb
Todd Carter, 141, Gardner-Webb
Carson DesRosier, 149, The Citadel
Noah Castillo, 157, Chattanooga
Will Miller, 165, App State
Luke Uliano, 174, App State
Devan Hendricks, 184, Bellarmine
Levi Hopkins, 197, Campbell
Daulton Mayer, HWT, Bellarmine
SoCon All-Freshmen
T.K. Davis, Gardner-Webb
AJ Rallo, Bellarmine
Jeremiah Price, App State
Stephan Monchery, App State
Gylon Sims, The Citadel
Tyson Sherlock, Davidson
Landon Sargent, Campbell
Bryce Griffin, Davidson
Aldo Hernandez, App State
Logan Eller, App State
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App State Athletics Strategic Communications
425 Jack Branch Drive
Boone, NC, 28608
www.appstatesports.com
