Thanks to an 11-1 showing with several high-level wins in January, App State redshirt sophomore Will Formato has been named the Southern Conference’s Wrestler of the Month.
Facing eight wrestlers with a top-50 ranking in his 12 matches last month, Formato outscored his opponents by a combined 93-7 mark in his 11 victories and didn’t allow a takedown in any of those wins. He went from being unranked to start the season to climbing to as high as No. 10 in the country at 165 pounds.
Formato’s strong month included a 4-0 shutout against then-No. 7 Thomas Bullard of NC State, a win against 2020 NCAA qualifier Dazjon Casto of The Citadel, an 11-2 major decision against Campbell’s Austin Kraisser (who won 27 matches last season), a decision against nationally ranked Gardner-Webb wrestler RJ Mosley, who is 5-0 in his other SoCon duals, and a 6-1 decision last weekend against nationally ranked Drew Nicholson of Chattanooga.
Virginia opens season with strong performance at App State Individual Quad University of Virginia Sports Information 1/2/2021 BOONE, N.C. The Virginia wrestling team opened the 2021 season on Saturday (Jan. 2) with 23 wrestlers in competition at the Appalachian State Individual Quad at Varsity Gym in Boone, N.C.
Wrestlers from Virginia and The Citadel joined competitors from host Appalachian State in the round-robin format competition. No champions were crowned for the event. It was the first competition of the season for both the Mountaineers and the Cavaliers, while The Citadel had a pair of dual meets in the fall.
Virginia had 11 wrestlers go undefeated on the day and the Cavaliers combined for 29 bonus-point victories in 70 total matches wrestled.