After clinching at least a share of the Southern Conference regular-season title on Friday, Appalachian State's wrestling team lost 29-12 to No. 20 Virginia in a non-conference match at Varsity Gym Saturday. 

 

The Mountaineers (11-4) were dealt their third loss to a ranked opponent, while the ACC dual-meet champion Cavaliers (9-1) remain dominant in the final weeks of the regular season.

 

ASU's 165-pounder, No. 15 Kyle Blevins squared off against No. 16 Nick Sulzer in the evening's only showdown of ranked wrestlers. While the two fought evenly for two periods, Blevins rode the duration of the third and tacked on two back points for the 4-0 victory. 

Already leading 12-3, the Cavaliers' Vinny Waldhauser pinned Jesse Johnson at 174 pounds to put the Cavaliers up 18-3.

ASU's Austin Trotman, ranked No. 12 in the nation, built upon his reputation and came out firing at 184 pounds. While Nick Kidd did well to fend off a major loss, Trotman triumphed 8-3.

 

Appalachian's Mike Kessler opened the match by putting up strong fight against No. 7 Nick Nelson at 141 pounds, but the Nelson's second-period reversal made the difference, and Nelson survived with a 3-0 decision.

 

Virginia (9-1) rattled off two more wins and quickly built a 12-0 lead before Blevins' victory.

Appalachian State (11-4) notched double-digit dual wins for the first time since 2007-08. Even if ASU drops its final two duals, the Mountaineers will have the program's fewest losses since winning their last SoCon title in 2002-03 (11-2).

 

Appalachian State's season concludes with one final weekend of matches, as the Mountaineers host Duke at 6 p.m. Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. and Davidson in the season finale at 2 p.m. one day later.

 

(20) Virginia 29, Appalachian State  12

141: No. 7 Nick Nelson (UVa) dec. Mike Kessler (ASU), 3-0

149: Gus Sako (UVa) maj. dec. Savva Kostis (ASU), 15-5

157: Jedd Moore (UVa) tech. fall Chip Powell (ASU), 19-4 (7:00)

165: No. 15 Kyle Blevins (ASU) dec. No. 16 Nick Sulzer (UVa), 4-0

174: Vinny Waldhauser (UVa) pinned Jesse Johnson (ASU), 4:05

184: No. 12 Austin Trotman (ASU) dec. Nick Kidd (UVa), 8-3

197: Ryan Malo (UVa) maj. dec. Paul Weiss (ASU), 10-2

285: Derek Papagianopoulos (UVa) dec. Joe Cummings (ASU), 5-2

125: Tony Gravely (ASU) won by forfeit

133: Joe Martinez (UVa) maj. dec. Brett Boston (ASU), 16-6