BOONE, N.C. — Six wrestlers from App State, up from five earlier this month, have top-33 national rankings within their weight classes in the Division I Coaches Rankings that were released Thursday.
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Codi Russell, No. 18 at 125 pounds (11-1)
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Anthony Brito, No. 32 at 141 pounds (11-3)
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Jonathan Millner, No. 14 at 149 pounds (11-1)
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Cody Bond, No. 31 at 157 pounds (10-4)
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Will Formato, No. 16 at 165 pounds (13-1)
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Thomas Flitz, No. 13 at 174 pounds (12-2)
The rankings are relevant when determining at-large berths within the 33-wrestler brackets for each weight class at the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 18-20 in St. Louis.
Each champion in the 10 weight classes at the SoCon Championships on Sunday in Boone will qualify automatically for the NCAAs. The SoCon's second-place finishers at 149 pounds, 184 pounds and 285 pounds have also been pre-allocated to qualify automatically, with the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee switching its process for evaluating the strength of weight classes within each conference to a five-year historical average instead of a single-year formula measuring wrestlers' Division I winning percentage, ratings percentage index and coaches ranking.
The SoCon went from four pre-allocations for second-place tournament finishers last year to three this year, but this year there are more at-large spots nationwide (64) across the 10 weight classes than there were last season (47). There are seven Division I wrestling leagues, and the Big Ten, for instance, will get as many as seven automatic qualifiers from some weight classes based on its strength as a league and the rankings of its wrestlers.
| Weight Class |
Automatic allotments out of 33 spots nationally |
Automatic SoCon allotments |
SoCon wrestlers ranked in top 33 |
| 125 |
26 of 33 (7 at-large) |
1 |
2 |
| 133 |
27 of 33 (6 at-large) |
1 |
0 |
| 141 |
27 of 33 (6 at-large) |
1 |
2 |
| 149 |
27 of 33 (6 at-large) |
2 |
3 |
| 157 |
27 of 33 (6 at-large) |
1 |
2 |
| 165 |
26 of 33 (7 at-large) |
1 |
4 |
| 174 |
26 of 33 (7 at-large) |
1 |
2 |
| 184 |
27 of 33 (6 at-large) |
2 |
4 |
| 197 |
26 of 33 (7 at-large) |
1 |
2 |
| 285 |
27 of 33 (6 at-large) |
2 |
1 |
After the conference tournaments have concluded, the Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining at-large qualifiers to fill out the 33-man bracket in each weight class. The complete field will be announced March 9, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 6 p.m. on March 10.
The Division I Coaches Rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches, with two head coaches from each conference. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class.
