BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University wrestling was ranked tied for 36th in the nation in Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine's 2016-17 Preseason Tournament Power Index. Three Mountaineer wrestlers were also ranked in the WIN's top 20 individual rankings for their weight-class.

Junior Forrest Przybysz was ranked 19th in the 165-pound division after finishing 22-13 and junior Nick Kee ranked 13th in the 174-pound division, finishing 29-9 last year while senior Denzel Dejournette was picked 11th in the heavyweight class after his SoCon Wrestler of the Year effort last season, finishing 32-4.

The Tournament Power Index is based on the schools' wrestlers who are rated in WIN's individual rankings, predicting possible All-American candidates in the 2017 NCAA Championships, which will be held March 16-18 in St. Louis.

Appalachian wrestled seven of the top 51 teams in the TPI last season, owning a 6-1 record against them en route to their Southern Conference Championship. The only loss was against this year's No. 5 Missouri. The Mountaineers will wrestle Missouri, SIUI, Chattanooga, NC State and Duke this year from the rankings.

Appalachian is coming off an incredible year for wrestling. The Mountaineers won the Southern Conference Championship and had Dejournette and head coach JohnMark Bentley win SoCon Wrestler of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively. The team sent four wrestlers to the NCAA Wrestling Championship and 20 to the University Freestyle Nationals Tournament. 

The Mountaineers' USA Today/NWCA Top 25 ranking was the first time, outside of App State football being ranked in the FCS poll, that any of App State sports teams have been ranked in the top-25 of a major national poll since App State baseball was ranked No. 24 in Baseball America's May 14, 2012 poll.

Tickets are on sale now. You can purchase tickets 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.