Air Force Concludes App State Invite with Three Champions

BOONE, N.C. – When the dust settled in Varsity Gym, Air Force had three champions out of five finalists and seven placers at the Mountaineer Invitational, hosted by Appalachian State on Saturday afternoon. Tucker Owens, Giano Petrucelli and Sam Wolf will return to the Academy with championship titles.

Air Force's first champion of the day was in the 125 division as No. 22 Tucker Owens bested Kyle Montaperto (UVA) by major decision, 16-7. Owens made a case for outstanding wrestler with a 16-0 technical fall in his opening bout, followed by two 16-point major decisions in the semis and finals. Owens is 4-0 so far this season.

The Falcons' second champ of the day was No. 28 Giano Petrucelli in the 165 class. Petrucelli rumbled through the opening rounds with a pair of decisions over Appalachian State wrestlers. In the finals, Petrucelli was put to test as his opponent Will Miller (App State) raced out to an early 5-1 lead. Petrucelli showed tenacity and responded with three-straight takedowns and a four-point nearfall to secure the comeback win.

At 184, Sam Wolf claimed his second Mountaineer Invite championship title in as many tries, outscoring Jahj'Quan Anderson of Gardner-Webb, 5-1. Wolf concluded the day with a technical fall and two decision wins en route to the title.

The Falcons' Calvin Sund and Antonio Ramos claimed second place finishes in the 197 and 285 divisions, respectively. Sund had two matches, splitting them with an 8-2 decision win and a 9-5 decision loss in the finals. Ramos impressed with two pins in a round-robin bracket, pinning his first two opponents in 4:46 on the mat.

At 174, senior Noah Blake placed third with a 3-1 record highlighted by a 12-1 major decision in the opening round. At 141, senior Garrett Kuchan placed fourth in the division, going 2-2 on the tournament with a pair of decision wins.

"The Mountaineer Invite was a good step forward for us and I thought we showed up," head coach Sam Barber said. "All I ask of these guys each week is to come in and show constant improvement, pick your path of growth, and compete with a great attitude with our best effort and execute and I feel like we did that today. Last week we identified some things that needed improvement and today we saw those adjustments made, so the guys are hungry to learn and get better and that's the trajectory we want to be on at this point of the season."

"To have five finalists, three champs, and seven placers against some tough Division I competition and ranked guys is a good gauge for where we're at," Barber continued. "For the guys that didn't quite make it there, they showed signs of improvement—so if we stay on this path, by the time we get to the Big 12 Tournament and beyond, we should be where we want to be."

Next weekend on November 18, the Falcons compete on two fronts as the main contingency heads to Annapolis, Maryland, to battle for titles at the Navy Classic. A second contingent will head to Nebraska-Kearney to compete for titles at the UNK-Younes Hospitality Open.

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