BOONE, N.C. — The SoCon Championship brackets were released Wednesday with an App State wrestler seeded No. 1 at three weights and the Mountaineers having a top-four seed at all 10 weights for Saturday's tournament in the Holmes Center.
The 24th-ranked Mountaineers went 7-1 in SoCon duals and possess three individuals who went unbeaten in league duals during the regular season to earn top seeds:
Cody Bond (7-0 at 149 pounds),
Tommy Askey (7-0 at 157 pounds) and
Will Miller (8-0 at 165 pounds).
The No. 2 seeds for App State are
Chad Bellis (7-1 SoCon dual record at 125 pounds),
Ethan Oakley (6-1 at 133 pounds),
Carson Floyd (7-1 at 197 pounds) and
Jacob Sartorio (5-2 at heavyweight).
App State's No. 3 seeds are
Ike Byers (6-1 at 141 pounds) and
Tomas Brooker (6-2 at 184 pounds), while
Luke Uliano (5-2 at 174 pounds) was seeded fourth by the coaches' vote despite having the third-best record in the league at that weight.
Oakley and top-seeded Dom Zaccone from Campbell both had one SoCon dual loss, with Oakley prevailing 14-8 against Zaccone in Buies Creek. The highest-ranked SoCon wrestler at 133, Zaccone won against third-seeded Blake Boarman from Chattanooga, while Oakley suffered his lone SoCon loss after getting improbably caught underneath Boarman (who went 6-2 in SoCon duals) while going in for a shot to build on a 6-2 lead in their matchup.
At 141, both Byers and second-seeded Todd Carter of Gardner-Webb (who had an RPI ranking late in the season) had only one SoCon loss apiece. Carter was out of the lineup when the Mountaineers faced the Runnin' Bulldogs, and Byers won against Gardner-Webb's backup.
At 174, beyond an unbeaten SoCon mark from Campbell's wrestler, Uliano went 5-2 with a loss to the Camels and a 6-5 loss to a Chattanooga opponent (Sergio Desiante) that he had beaten by major decision at the Southern Scuffle. VMI's Braxton Lewis was voted the No. 2 seed after going 7-1 in SoCon duals (with a win against App State's backup), while Desiante was voted the No. 3 seed after posting a 5-3 record in SoCon duals with losses to Campbell, VMI and Davidson.
At heavyweight, Sartorio's 5-2 mark included a loss to Campbell's unbeaten top seed and a loss by injury default against Bellarmine, which isn't eligible for the postseason. The Citadel's Ben Stemmet, who is seeded third, went 6-2 with a loss to Sartorio and Campbell's heavyweight.
The SoCon Championship will run all day Saturday at the Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, with doors opening at 9 a.m. and competition starting on three mats (up from two in past years) at 10 a.m. Semifinals are tentatively scheduled for noon, followed by consolation matches at 2:30 p.m. and consolation finals at 5:30 p.m. before the championship finals begin at 7 p.m.
There will be eight-man brackets at each weight — there are nine teams in the SoCon, but Bellarmine is not eligible for postseason competition yet.
Each champion in the 10 weight classes at the SoCon Championship tournament on Saturday will qualify automatically for the NCAA Championships that run from March 21-23 in Kansas City, Mo. According to the NCAA pre-allocations announced last week, the SoCon's second- and third-place finishers at 133 pounds, along with the second-place finishers at 149 pounds and 165 pounds, have also been pre-allocated to qualify automatically.
The SoCon has more than one ranked wrestler at 125 pounds (two), 133 pounds (three), 149 pounds (two), 165 pounds (two) and 184 pounds (two).
The 2023-24 season is presented by Hungry Howie's and Penn Station.
Seeds
125 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Anthony Molton, Campbell
#2
Chad Bellis, App State
#3 Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga
#4 Drew West, Gardner-Webb
#5 Malik Hardy, The Citadel
#6 Tony Burke, VMI
#7 Enis Ljikovic, Davidson
#8 Trenton Dominguez, Presbyterian
133 (3 NCAA allocations)
#1 Dom Zaccone, Campbell
#2
Ethan Oakley, App State
#3 Blake Boarman, Chattanooga
#4 Tyson Lane, Gardner-Webb
#5 Dyson Dunham, VMI
#6 George Rosas, The Citadel
#7 Hale Robinson, Davidson
#8 Brayden Adams, Presbyterian
141 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Isaiah Powe, Chattanooga
#2 Todd Carter, Gardner-Webb
#3
Ike Byers, App State
#4 Jacob Silka, The Citadel
#5 Wynton Denkins, Campbell
#6 Patrick Jordon, VMI
#7 Josh Viarengo, Davidson
#8 Ryan Luna, Presbyterian
149 (2 NCAA allocations)
#1
Cody Bond, App State
#2 Jeff Boyd, The Citadel
#3 Noah Castillo, Chattanooga
#4 Justin Rivera, Campbell
#5 Zach Price, Gardner-Webb
#6 Ryan Vigil, VMI
#7 Tyler Xavier-McKnight, Davidson
#8 Trenton Donahue, Presbyterian
157 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1
Tommy Askey, App State
#2 Tanner Peake, Davidson
#3 Chris Earnest, Campbell
#4 Hayden Watson, The Citadel
#5 Lincoln Heck, Chattanooga
#6 Tyler Brignola, Gardner-Webb
#7 Eli Holiday, Presbyterian
#8 Josh Yost, VMI
165 (2 NCAA allocations)
#1
Will Miller, App State
#2 Dom Baker, Campbell
#3 Ben Haubert, The Citadel
#4 Bryce Sanderlin, Davidson
#5 Kamdyn Munro, Chattanooga
#6 Andrew Wilson, Gardner-Webb
#7 Michael Ramirez, Presbyterian
#8 Caleb Chandler, VMI
174 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Austin Murphy, Campbell
#2 Braxton Lewis, VMI
#3 Sergio Desiante, Chattanooga
#4
Luke Uliano, App State
#5 Brodie Porter, The Citadel
#6 Marc Koch, Davidson
#7 Samuel Mora, Gardner-Webb
#8 Brandon Jacoby, Presbyterian
184 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
#2 Jha'Quan Anderson, Gardner-Webb
#3
Tomas Brooker, App State
#4 Wyatt Ferguson, Davidson
#5 Adam Ortega, The Citadel
#6 Toby Schoffstall, VMI
#7 Caleb Roe, Presbyterian
#8 Jackson Hurst, Chattanooga
197 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Levi Hopkins, Campbell
#2
Carson Floyd, App State
#3 Patrick Brophy, The Citadel
#4 Josh McCutcheon, Gardner-Webb
#5 David Harper, Chattanooga
#6 Cameo Blankenship, Davidson
#7 Josh Evans, VMI
#8 George Hopkins, Presbyterian
285 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Taye Ghadiali, Campbell
#2
Jacob Sartorio, App State
#3 Ben Stemmet, The Citadel
#4 Jake Fernicola, Davidson
#5 Tyler Mousaw, VMI
#6 Kaleb Snodgrass, Chattanooga
#7 Peyton McComas, Gardner-Webb
#8 Morvens Saint Jean, Presbyterian
SOCON PRE-ALLOCATION OUTLOOK
| Weight Class |
Automatic allotments out of 33 spots nationally |
Automatic SoCon allotments |
SoCon wrestlers ranked in top 33 |
| 125 |
27 of 33 (6 at-large) |
1 |
2 |
| 133 |
28 of 33 (5 at-large) |
3 |
3 |
| 141 |
27 of 33 (6 at-large) |
1 |
1 |
| 149 |
29 of 33 (4 at-large) |
2 |
2 |
| 157 |
29 of 33 (4 at-large) |
1 |
1 |
| 165 |
28 of 33 (5 at-large) |
2 |
2 |
| 174 |
29 of 33 (4 at-large) |
1 |
1 |
| 184 |
28 of 33 (5 at-large) |
1 |
2 |
| 197 |
29 of 33 (4 at-large) |
1 |
1 |
| 285 |
29 of 33 (4 at-large) |
1 |
1 |
