BOONE, N.C. – The 2019 Southern Conference Wrestling Championship will be held Sunday in Boone, and the league released its bracket seeds Wednesday.
Appalachian State, which will host the event at the Holmes Convocation Center, has a trio of No. 1 seeds in
Cary Miller (heavyweight),
Randall Diabe (197 pounds) and
Alan Clothier (184 pounds). With those three wrestlers at the final three spots in the lineup during the regular season, the Mountaineers won a SoCon title for the fourth straight year.
App State has three No. 2 seeds in
Michael Elliott (165 pounds),
Matt Zovistoski (149 pounds) and
Codi Russell (125 pounds). The No. 3 seeds are
Irvin Enriquez (141 pounds),
Thomas Flitz (174 pounds) and
De'Andre Swinson-Barr (125 pounds), and
Angel Najar (157 pounds) is seeded fourth.
Last year, Enriquez won the SoCon title as a No. 4 seed in his weight class.
In addition to the team title that's at stake, the SoCon Championship serves as an individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships that will be held in Pittsburgh from March 21-23.
In the Southern Conference, based on NCAA allotments that factor in national rankings, there is one automatic qualifier in seven of the 10 weight classes and two automatic qualifiers at 149 pounds, 174 pounds and 197 pounds. After the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining at-large qualifiers.
Tickets to the all-day event cost $15 for adults, $10 for youth (ages 6-12) and $8 apiece for members of a group with 10 or more people. Children ages 5 and under — as well as students with a valid ID from Appalachian State, Campbell, The Citadel, Davidson, Gardner-Webb, Chattanooga and VMI — can attend for free.
The Holmes Convocation Center doors will open at 9 a.m. on March 10, with competition scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Semifinals are scheduled for noon, with consolation quarterfinals set for 2 p.m., followed by consolation semifinals.
Consolation finals are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m., and the championship finals for the 10 weight classes (as well as any true place matches, if needed) will start at 7 p.m.
To purchase tickets, order them
online HERE or call the App State Athletics ticket office at 828-262-2079. On Saturday, a day before the championship, a Smackdown Hoedown with food trucks and live music in a family-friendly atmosphere will be held at the Appalachian Mountain Brewery from 4-10 p.m.
