Wrestling Southern Conference

NCAA Releases Brackets, Peck Earns At-Large Bid

INDIANAPOLIS – Chattanooga heavyweight Dawson Peck was among the 45 at-large wrestlers selected for the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, the NCAA announced Wednesday, and will join the Southern Conference’s 16 automatic qualifiers at the event in Oklahoma City, Okla., on March 20-22. The association also released the brackets for each weight class.

The at-large wrestlers will join 285 student-athletes that qualified automatically through the conference and regional qualifying tournaments during the past two weekends. The at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee using these selection criteria: head-to-head competition, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, rating percentage index, coaches’ ranking, qualifying event placement and number of matches contested at that weight class.

Peck’s selection gives the Southern Conference at least one at-large selection for the 16th consecutive season. He will face 12th-seeded Spencer Myers of Maryland in his first bout. SoCon heavyweight champion David Devine of SIUE will take on No. 14 seed Jonathan Gingrich of Penn State, while SoCon runner-up Eloheim Palma of Campbell will take on 13th-seeded Ernest James of Edinboro, giving the league three participants at 285 pounds.

The SoCon’s 125-pound champion, Appalachian State’s Dominic Parisi will face 14th-seeded Edward Klimara of Oklahoma State.

Chattanooga’s Nick Soto is the 10th seed at 133 pounds and will face Joey Palmer of Oregon State. Soto won his third SoCon title at the championship meet on Saturday. The Citadel’s Ugi Khishignyam, who earned All-America distinction at 149 pounds last season, will take on the third seed in that class in Penn State’s Zain Retherford.

The SoCon had three allotments at 149 pounds, with Appalachian State’s Dylan Cottrell, The Citadel’s Matt Frisch and Davidson’s Kevin Birmingham earning bids. Cottrell, the league’s champion at the weight class, is the 12th seed and will face Penn State’s James English. SoCon runner-up Birmingham will battle Hofstra’s Cody Ruggirello in a pigtail match, while Frisch will take on No. 2 seed Nick Dardanes of Minnesota. Should Frisch win and Birmingham collect a pair of victories, the two would meet in the second round.

At 157 pounds, Chattanooga’s Alex Hudson will take on 11th-seeded Taylor Walsh of Indiana, while The Citadel’s Aaron Walker, who won the SoCon title at the weight, will face 15th-seeded Cody Pack of San Diego State.

Three SoCon wrestlers will do battle in the 165-pound bracket. SoCon champion Corey Mock of Chattanooga is the sixth seed and will take on Navy’s Peyton Walsh. The Citadel’s Turtogtokh Luvsandorj is the 11th seed and will face Wyoming’s Dakota Friesth. Should Mock and Luvsandorj win their first-round matches, they would face each other for the third time this season in the second round. The two have split their meetings thus far, with Luvsandorj winning in the regular season and Mock downing Luvsandorj in the SoCon title tilt.

Also at 165, Gardner-Webb’s Austin Trott will take on No. 15 seed Daniel Zilverberg of Minnesota.

Chattanooga’s Levi Clemons will take on No. 12 seed Tanner Weatherman of Iowa State at 174 pounds, while Davidson’s Scott Patrick will face eighth-seeded Timothy Dudley of Nebraska at 184. At 197, The Citadel’s Marshall Haas will meet No. 12 seed Taylor Meeks of Oregon State.

The NCAA Wrestling Championships will take place at Chesapeake Energy Arena. ESPN will televise the semifinals and championship finals, while ESPNU will air the preliminary sessions and medal round. The entire tournament will be available on ESPN3.

-www.SoConSports.com-