Burchell’s pin in final match boosts Appalachian State to two-point win

Michael Burchell’s pin in the final match lifted Appalachian State to a two-point victory Sunday. (Photo courtesy App State sports information)

Not only did Hand High graduate Michael Burchell have to win but he was going to have get some bonus points with a major decision, a technical fall or a pin if he was going to help Appalachian State beat conference rival Chattanooga on Sunday in their Southern Conference meet in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Chattanooga had a four-point lead going into the final match of the day at 285 pounds and there hasn’t been a bonus point earned all day until Chattanooga snapped a tie with a major decision at 197 pounds.

Burchell, a junior from Madison, responded by throwing Chattanooga’s Matthias Ervin to his back late in the second period and getting his third pin of the season to lift Appalachian State to a thrilling 18-16 win sending his teammates into a celebratory frenzy.

App State improved to 6-2 and 4-0 in the Southern Conference with a challenging dual meet with Campbell (11-4, 6-0 Southern Conference) next Sunday at home in Boone, North Carolina.

“I couldn’t be more proud of Mike Burchell with the team depending on him, he goes out and puts the team on his back and went out and got the pin that got us to victory,” App State coach JohnMark Bentley said.

An early takedown contributed to a 2-1 lead that Ervin carried into the second period, meaning Burchell had even more work to do to earn a win worth at least four team points.

In the final minute of the second period, Burchell got on top of Ervin with a two-point takedown and finished off a pin 14 seconds later, sending App State’s bench into a frenzy.

Burchell stood up, calmly flexed with both arms, circled back toward his bench, clapped his hands seven times and raised his right hand triumphantly.

“I knew what was at stake and what I had to do,” Burchell said. “There was definitely a lot of pressure on me but I’ve gotten used to it over the years.”

App State won its seventh straight dual against Chattanooga, with three of those wins coming by two points or less and six of the seven being decided by seven points or less.

Burchell improved to 11-6 on the year with a 6-2 dual meet mark and three pins.

The score was tied at 12-12 before Chattanooga took a 16-12 lead thanks to a major decision at 197 pounds.

App State faced plenty of adversity, given that all four extremely close matches ended in Chattanooga’s favor.

Both matches that went to overtime — at 165 and 184 pounds — concluded with overtime takedowns for the Mocs, including one with four seconds left in that two-minute period from reigning SoCon champ Drew Nicholson over Will Formato.

There were only four seconds left in regulation when Chattanooga’s Brayden Palmer turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory thanks to a takedown of Codi Russell and Chattanooga’s Fabien Gutierrez rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third to win 5-3 against Caleb Smith by recording a takedown and finishing on top. Those back-to-back wins in matchups between top-25 wrestlers to open the dual gave Chattanooga a 6-0 lead.

Still unbeaten in the SoCon!

App State 18, Chattanooga 16 #ReAchTheSummit pic.twitter.com/H69GAYp3Ev

— App State Wrestling (@AppWrestling) February 6, 2022

App State 18, Chattanooga 16
At Chattanooga, Tenn.
125: #20 Fabien Gutierrez (UTC) def. #22 Caleb Smith, 5-3
133: #20 Brayden Palmer def. (UTC) #25 Codi Russell, 2-1
141: Heath Gonver (APP) def. Franco Valdes, 4-2
149: #5 Jonathan Millner (APP) def. Noah Castillo, 4-1
157: #33 Cody Bond (APP) def. Weston Wichman, 12-7
165: Drew Nicholson (UTC) def. #16 Will Formato, 4-2 OT
174: #26 Thomas Flitz (APP) def. Carial Tarter, 9-3
184: Thomas Sell (UTC) def. Barrett Blakely 4-2 OT
197: Matthew Waddell (UTC) def. Wyatt Miller, 11-2
HWT: Michael Burchell (APP) pin Matthias Ervin, 4:17
# Rankings from the NCAA Coaches Panel
Records: Appalachian State 6-2

Material from Appalachian State’s sports information release included in this report