2025 Southern Conference Wrestling championships wraps up day one

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The 2025 Explore Asheville SoCon Wrestling Championship opened with an exciting day one. App State leads the field through the first day of competition. The nine-man brackets kicked off at noon on Friday, with the pigtails preliminary round.  

Following pigtails, the schedule proceeded to the first round, consolation first round, and consolation quarterfinals, before the break.  

The second half of the day welcomed the semifinals round to Kimmel Arena. With the mat count down to two, wrestlers prepared to punch their way into the finals.  

At 125, Garnder-Webb's Tyson Lane (No. 5) pulled an upset over Campbell's Anthony Molton (No.1), winning by decision with a score of 8-2. The Citadel’s Gylon Sims won by major decision, 11-2, over Bellarmine’s Jack Parker. Lane and Sims will face off in the finals tomorrow. 

In the 133-pound weight class, both finalists advanced in the semifinals via major decision. SoCon Freshman of the Year T.K. Davis (Gardner-Webb) defeated Trayce Eckman (Bellarmine), 16-6, while Blake Boarman (Chattanooga) was victorious over Logan Heil (Campbell) 11-3. 

Campbell and Gardner-Webb will be represented in the finals in the 141-pound weight class with Shannon Hanna and Todd Carter set to face off. The Camels’ Hanna topped App State’s Aldo Hernandez, 14-4, and Carter won 7-2 against Ryan Luna of Presbyterian.  

If the crowd was not already into the matchups, Kimmel Arena certainly felt the energy with the 149-pound semis. Carson DesRosier (The Citadel) and Kaden Keiser (App State) advanced to the finals in dramatic fashion by decision against Wynton Denkins (Campbell) and Tyler-Xavier McKnight (Davidson), respectively. DesRosier was victorious in a 6-5 decision, and Keiser won 4-2. 

Chattanooga’s Noah Castillo and Campbell’s Chris Earnest both became the second wrestlers to advance to the finals from their respective schools in 157-pound weight class. Castillo would be joined by Mocs teammates, Sergio Desiante and Kamdyn Munro, at 174 and 184 respectively. Following Earnest, Levi Hopkins (Campbell) became the final Camel to punch his way through to the finals in the 197-pound weight class.  

App State advanced three wrestlers to the finals, with SoCon Wrestler of the Year Will Miller (165), Luke Uliano (174), and Stephan Monchery (HWT) advancing.  

With the only sudden victory in the semifinals round, The Citadel’s Thomas Snipes (165) advanced with a win over Dom Baker (Campbell), on the other side of the bracket App State’s Will Miller (165) advanced by a 12-2 major decision against Bryce Griffin (Davidson).  

Devan Hendricks (184) was the lone Bellarmine Knight to advance to the finals after clinching a tech fall victory in his semifinal matchup against Logan Eller (App State).  

The Citadel Bulldogs brought a lot of hype to the arena at the final two weight classes. Patrick Brophy (197) narrowly defeated Carson Floyd (App State), 8-7, and Jonathan Chesser made a statement with his 11-3 major decision win over Bellarmine’s Daulton Mayer.  

App State’s Stephan Monchery (HWT) also punched his ticket to the finals with a 4-2 decision over Josh Evans (VMI).  

To round out day one, the eight-man consolation semifinals were held to determine who would compete for third place on Saturday.  

Advancers during the consolation semis include: Jack Parker (125 – Bellarmine), Anthony Molton (125 – Campbell), Chad Bellis (133 - App State), George Rosas (133- The Citadel), AJ Rallo (141 – Bellarmine), Eli Knight (141 – Chattanooga), Joey Giordano (149 – Gardner-Webb), Wynton Denkins (149 – Campbell), Jeremiah Price (157 - App State), Drew Pepin (157- Gardner-Webb), Dom Baker (165 – Campbell), Jackson Hurst (165 – Chattanooga), Riley Augustine (174 – Campbell), Benjy Haubert (174 – Citadel), Braxton Lewis (184 – VMI), Logan Eller (184 – App State), Carson Floyd (197 – App State), Andrew Liber (197 – Bellarmine), Josh Evans (HWT – VMI) and Daulton Mayer (HWT – Bellarmine).  

The SoCon earned two NCAA allocations at 133, 141, and 197 pounds. The winners of the consolation semifinals in these weight classes will face off Saturday afternoon with the winner of that match potentially taking part in a true second-place match Saturday night.  

Detailed day one round results can be found here: Day 1 Round Results. 

The 2025 Explore Asheville SoCon Wrestling Championships will continue Saturday with the consolation finals kicking off at noon.  

Team Standings (through Day 1) 

1. App State – 52.5
2. Campbell – 49.5
3. The Citadel – 49. 5
4. Chattanooga – 49.0
5. Gardner-Webb – 35.0
6. Bellarmine – 34.5
7. VMI – 10.5
8. Davidson – 6.0
9. Presbyterian – 5.0