WREST: App State Announces 2021-22 Schedule, Season Ticket Plans

BOONE, N.C. — Head coach JohnMark Bentley of App State Wrestling announced on Thursday a 2021-22 schedule with several high-profile matchups in Varsity Gym, including visits from NC State, North Carolina and SoCon counterpart Campbell.

The Mountaineers are scheduled to return all seven NCAA Championships qualifiers and 11 wrestlers who posted winning records from a 2020-21 team that went 7-2. With five conference champions, App State tied two other schools for the lead in Division I wrestling, and All-America honoree Jonathan Millner is one of five returners who entered the 2021 NCAAs with a top-20 seed.

A schedule running from November to March includes eight SoCon duals, four non-league duals (with three against ACC programs) and five regular-season tournaments, with a home-opening Mountaineer Invitational that will draw wrestlers from strong out-of-state programs like Arizona State, Indiana, Illinois, Kent State and Air Force.

After App State wraps up the regular season with a Sunday home dual against Campbell on Feb. 13 and a Feb. 18 road trip that includes a dual at Davidson, the postseason arrives in March with the SoCon Championships back in Boone on March 5 (on a Saturday instead of a Sunday) and then the NCAA Championships in Detroit from March 17-19.

Season tickets for the nine competitions on App State Wrestling’s home schedule are available for $45 (adults) and $22 (youth) by clicking HERE for an online purchase, contacting the ticket office at 828-262-2079 or going to the App State Athletics ticket office located at the Holmes Center.

Single-match tickets are $8 (adult) and $4 (youth), with the visits from NC State, North Carolina and Campbell set as premium matches with a price of $12 for adults and $7 for youth.

The Mountaineer Invitational on Nov. 14 is sandwiched between tournament appearances at the Southeast Open (in Salem, Va., on Nov. 7) and the Keystone Classic (in Philadelphia on Nov. 21).

Within a five-day span in December, App State will welcome a pair of ACC powers to Varsity Gym: NC State on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. and North Carolina on Friday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.

The Mountaineers open their SoCon slate two days later in Louisville, Ky., against Bellarmine and once again ring in the new year at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The first SoCon dual in Varsity Gym is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 7, against The Citadel.

App State travels to Duke on Jan. 13 before wrapping up the month with a homestand featuring a Jan. 21 doubleheader (SoCon foe VMI, then Little Rock), a Jan. 25 dual against Gardner-Webb and the Appalachian Open on Jan. 29.

A trip to Chattanooga falls on Sunday, Feb. 6, and is followed by the home dual against Campbell, which hosted tight duals against the Mountaineers in Buies Creek in 2020 and 2021. After facing the Camels in Boone for the first time in three years, App State will end the regular season on the road on Friday, Feb. 18.

The SoCon Championships will be held at the Holmes Center in Boone for the fourth straight year, but this time on a Saturday after being a Sunday event in each of the previous three seasons.

The NCAA Championships are returning to Michigan for the first time since 2007. Millner, Codi Russell, Sean Carter, Anthony Brito, Cody Bond, Will Formato and Thomas Flitz are all back with the Mountaineers this season after competing at the NCAAs in St. Louis to end the 2020-21 season.

The 2021-22 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies and Penn Station.