Taye Ghadiali Addresses ‘Scared’ Appalachian State Foe

Following earning FIGHT PASS Fighter to Watch status, previous fighters have spoken about the urge to put on the strongest showing of their young careers to prove they’re worthy of the title. Campbell University heavyweight Taye Ghadiali makes it very clear that he believes there’s no extra work that needs to go into training for his upcoming match with Appalachian State’s Jacob Sartorio.



“I know he’s scared of me,” Ghadiali laughed. “I’ve put the smack down on him every time I wrestled him. That’s what I try to do: dominate, win my matches. I still have to go out there and wrestle my best, but I know he’s scared of me.”

We've got SoCon bragging rights up for grabs THIS FRIDAY and things just might get chippy!#SoConCrown pic.twitter.com/2zapnrCxQW

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Heading into what is, for most, the most hostile, gritty dual of the season, Ghadiali almost goes into the SoCon rivalry matchup feeling left out of the action.



“I’m chilling,” Ghadiali said. “I’m not worried about him, not worried about his gameplan. I wouldn’t even call this a rivalry. He’s not even someone I think about or train to beat. He’s just somebody that’s in the way that I’ve got to wrestle.”

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While Ghadiali makes it clear that Sartorio doesn’t elevate his heart rate, he relies on the diehard Appalachian State fans to remind him there’s more on the line than simply a regular dual. With the Camels hosting the Mountaineers this season, it may take memories of previous matchups on the App State mat to kick Ghadiali into gear if Sartorio isn’t, in fact, able to get in the Detroit native’s head.

Things are about to heat up in Buies Creek this Friday!!#SoConCrown pic.twitter.com/cxBgGlR5fJ

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“The rivalry is so heated because of the fans. Every time we go to App State, the past 3-4 years, the conference tournament is always there, so when we go there, we try to pick with the fans’ twitter accounts and troll the App State twitter. A lot of the things are more about the fans. We’ve got to make sure we don’t disappoint our fans. I don’t really got bad blood with [the Appalachian State fans]. They really don’t like me because the last time I pinned the kid and I waved bye to the fans; they were all booing me.”

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While trying to tap into his competitive side, Ghadiali found what he believed to be another reason to discount Sartorio as a rival. For Ghadiali, there’s the conventional reasons to put himself at ease when thinking about toeing the line against his App State foe, that of the recent success and there’s also word of mouth rumors that made their way to Ghadiali.



“That kid, I heard he has a picture of me on his locker after I beat him,” Ghadiali said with a laugh. “We had a transfer and he told me all about it.”

Taye Ghadiali with the tech fall to close things out.

We seem to say that a lot#FightingCamelDuals pic.twitter.com/2zhqDwSnvG

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To this point, Ghadiali has had Sartorio’s number, but in one of the most unpredictable sports out there, will Ghadiali’s confidence be his downfall, or will it be more of the same from one of the most dominant heavyweights in folkstyle wrestling?



Catch Campbell University vs Appalachian State Friday, February 2, ONLY on UFC FIGHT PASS!