BOONE, N.C. — The defending Southern Conference champion Appalachian State University wrestling team began preparation for the 2016-17 season this week when it held the first official set of practices.
The Mountaineers are coming off a historic season that featured a SoCon Championship, a SoCon Wrestler of the Year award for Denzel Dejournette, a SoCon Coach of the Year award for JohnMark Bentley and a USA Today/NWCA Top 25 national ranking. The year also featured App State sending four wrestlers to the NCAA Wrestling Championship and 20 to the University Freestyle Nationals Tournament.
But despite the highs of how last season ended, this season begins in the Wrestling Room. Putting the work in early, laying the foundation for the new season. Just like always, nothing different.
“It's good to be back,” head coach Bentley said. “Right now, we're just trying to find a lot about this team. It's early in the year and we've had a good preseason but right now we're just really being able to see where we're truly at and where our guys are at as far as development, fixing some of our mistakes and then growing. This is a team that still, I think, has a lot to prove and guys are working hard so right now we're just starting to see what kind of team we might have and that's exciting.”
Bentley continued, “The first thing I told the guys after the ring ceremony at the stadium during the Miami game when we were conditioning out on the field, I said, 'Great job last year, I'm proud of you. But take those rings and put them in a closet. Take them out and look at them four or five years from now because last year is last year.' We're not thinking about last year, we don't have any expectations based on last year. This is a new year, new team and new goals, quite frankly. We have high expectations for this team but that has nothing to do with what we did last year, we just feel like we do the right things and we've got the right personnel so there won't be a whole lot of talk about last year.”
Dejournette agreed with his coach, saying that as far as the championship goes, they've “forgotten about it.”
“We won't be able to win another SoCon Championship until 2017,” he said. “And the way I look at it is: We broke a Chattanooga streak, but we want to start something new, we want that to be us every year, being consistent. We don't want to be that team that got lucky that one year. We have to go out there and perform like we want it.”
And after just one week of full practice, Dejournette said he can already tell they're getting better.
“The younger guys bought in so it should be a good year and I'm really looking forward to it,” he said. “One of our main focuses early on is really just to focus in on what we're doing, like when we're drilling. Because a lot of times, you'll start going through the motions after a little while and we have to make sure that we stay focused on every single drill and not let up and let the little things deter us from our goals.”
So with the new year upon them, the Mountaineers hit the mats hard in week one. Working on technique and skill development, technical progressions, back-and-forth progressions and overall work on moving your opponent and fundamentals as everyone feels out where everyone is, whether a veteran or a newcomer. Junior Forrest Przybysz said he's really excited to be back and is looking forward to what they'll do this year, but it all has to start in these first few weeks.
“Early on we work on a lot of technique, just catching the freshmen up so that they can be drill partners and really know what they're doing,” Przybysz said. “We're just really trying to lay the foundation so that we can the most productive year possible.”
And with 13 true freshmen arriving, there will be some new faces seen on the mats this year, but Bentley said this isn't anything new (having four freshmen in the starting lineup last year) and there will still be a strong veteran presence in the Mountaineer Wrestling Room and out on the mat in competition.
“Our four or five core guys were returners who had experience at the national tournament and at the national stage so that experience definitely helped guide the team and I think that will be very true of this year as well,” Bentley said. “We do have some leadership and some veterans that we're going to look to to lead this team but we're also going to be depending upon some new faces as well.”
Helping provide that experience and leadership will be Przybysz, Dejournette and junior Nick Kee, who all ranked in the top 20 in their respective weight-class in Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine's 2016 Preseason Tournament Power Index.
Przybysz was ranked 19th in the 165-pound division after finishing 22-13 and Kee ranked 13th in the 174-pound division, finishing 29-9 last year, while senior Dejournette was picked 11th in the heavyweight class after his Wrestler of the Year effort last season, finishing 32-4.
“It's a new year and a lot of new guys are going to be stepping into the lineup,” Przybysz said. “Last year was a good year, but we're setting higher goals this year and we're always trying to be better. So really, we're just trying to not get ahead of ourselves and just trying to build on last year.”
Fans will have their first chance to see the Mountaineers in the Black and Gold Exhibition on Nov. 2 at 6:30 p.m. Those looking to purchase tickets to see the SoCon Champion Mountaineers can do so by visiting appstatesports.com/tickets or by clicking HERE, in person at the athletics ticket office located inside the Holmes Center or by calling (828) 262-2079.
Season tickets for adults will be $30/each and for youth fans (ages 3-12) $15/each. Individual match prices will be $7 for adults and $3 for youth except for Mountaineer Duals (Belmont Abbey/Oregon State) and Chattanooga, which will be $10 for adults and $3 for youth.
