Southern Conference Wrestling Championships pre-seeds released

The 2016 Arby's Southern Conference Wrestling Championship will be contested at UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena in Asheville, N.C. The 79th edition of the SoCon Wrestling Championship will take place Saturday, March 5.


Ten individual champions will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championship. The SoCon qualifier allotment for the NCAA Championships, as well as pre-seeds for the competition, are listed below.


Chattanooga will enter the SoCon tournament as the five-time defending champion. The Mocs had three individual champions in 2015. SIUE's Connor McMahon won the 165-pound title as the No. 5 seed, knocking off the Nos. 4, 1 and 3 seeds en route to being named the Most Outstanding Wrestler. Appalachian State's JohnMark Bentley and Gardner-Webb's Daniel Elliott shared Coach of the Year honors.


125 (1 NCAA allocation)

1. Vito Pasone, Appalachian State

2. Cortez Starkes, Gardner-Webb

3. Dalton Henderson, VMI

4. Alonzo Allen, Chattanooga

5. Collin Stewart, Campbell

6. Patrick Kearney, The Citadel

7. Freddie Rodriguez, SIUE

8. Zamir Ode, Davidson


133 (1 NCAA allocation)

1. Nathan Kraisser, Campbell

2. Tyler Ziegler, Gardner-Webb

3. Irvin Enriquez, Appalachian State

4. Dakota Leach, SIUE

5. Dominick Gallo, VMI

6. Cody Hill, Chattanooga

7. Dustin Runzo, Davidson

8. Caleb Smith, The Citadel


141 (1 NCAA allocation)

1. Michael Longo, Appalachian State

2. Mike Pongracz, Chattanooga

3. Ty Buckiso, The Citadel

4. Luke Stewart, Campbell

5. John Muldoon, SIUE

6. Ryan Hull, Gardner-Webb

7. Hunter Starner, VMI

8. Billy McClelland, Davidson


149 (1 NCAA allocation)

1. Chris Vassar, Gardner-Webb

2. John Fahy, SIUE

3. Chase Zemenak, Chattanooga

4. Matt Frisch, The Citadel

5. Matt Zovistoski, Appalachian State

6. Emmitt Kelly, VMI

7. Kaleb Warner, Campbell

8. Aidan Conroy, Davidson


157 (2 NCAA allocations)

1. Aaron Walker, The Citadel

2. Kamaal Shakur, Chattanooga

3. Neal Richards, VMI

4. Ryan Mosley, Gardner-Webb

5. David Peters-Logue, Appalachian State

6. Erik Travers, SIUE

7. Tony Palumbo, Davidson

8. Quintin Perez, Campbell


165 (1 NCAA allocation)

1. Austin Trott, Gardner-Webb

2. Forrest Przybysz, Appalachian State

3. Paul Duggan, Campbell

4. Dustin Lampe, Chattanooga

5. Nate Higgins, SIUE

6. Shabaka Johns, VMI

7. Adam Flatt, Davidson

8. Daniel Smith, The Citadel


174 (1 NCAA allocation)

1. Nick Kee, Appalachian State

2. Sean Mappes, Chattanooga

3. Brett Stein, Gardner-Webb

4. Connor McMahon, SIUE

5. Mark Darr, VMI

6. Tim Knipl, The Citadel

7. Alex Vosburgh, Campbell

8. Nathaniel Powers, Davidson


184 (1 NCAA allocation)

1. John Lampe, Chattanooga

2. Hunter Gamble, Gardner-Webb

3. Ville Heino, Campbell

4. Derek Nagel, SIUE

5. Taylor Jackson, Appalachian State

6. Derek Thurman, VMI

7. Sawyer Root, The Citadel

8. Konner Pritchard, Davidson


197 (1 NCAA allocation)

1. Scottie Boykin, Chattanooga

2. Marshall Haas, The Citadel

3. Jake Tindle, SIUE

4. Gray Jones, Gardner-Webb

5. Randall Diabe, Appalachian State

6. Austin McNeil, Campbell

7. Taylor Thomas, VMI

8. Ryan Devlin, Davidson


285 (3 NCAA allocations)

1. Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State

2. Jared Johnson, Chattanooga

3. Boyce Cornwell, Gardner-Webb

4. Joe Bexley, The Citadel

5. Chris Johnson, SIUE

6. Jere Heino, Campbell

7. Urayoan Garcia, VMI

8. Will Cooley, Davidson