SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Sixteen individual NCAA bids and the Southern Conference team title will be on the line Saturday at the SoCon Wrestling Championship hosted by Campbell at John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center in Buies Creek, N.C. Regular-season champion Chattanooga will attempt to win its fourth straight tournament title and 28th overall.

Half of last season’s individual champions will wrestle in the 2014 championship, with two each from The Citadel and Chattanooga and one from Davidson.

The Citadel’s Ugi Khishignyam, the 2013 SoCon Freshman of the Year, will attempt to defend his 141-pound title as the top seed, while Matt Frisch, who won at 157 last season, will wrestle at 149 this season and enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed in that class.

Chattanooga’s Nick Soto, who won the 133-pound crown in 2012 and the 125-pound title last season, is back at 133 and looking for his third career SoCon title. He is the No. 1 seed. Teammate Alex Hudson won at 149 last season and is the second seed at 157 pounds this year behind The Citadel’s Aaron Walker.

Davidson’s Anthony Elias, who was named the championship’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after winning the 133-pound title from the seventh seed last year, will also attempt to defend his title. He enters as the No. 5 seed in the weight class.

This season’s SoCon Wrestler of the Year, The Citadel’s Turtogtokh Luvsandorj, is a two-time SoCon champion, having won at 157 in 2010 and at 174 in 2012. Luvsandorj enters his final league tournament as the top seed at 165 pounds.

2014 Freshman of the Year Dylan Cottrell of Appalachian State will seek his first SoCon title as the No. 1 seed at 149 pounds.

The other top seeds are Appalachian State’s Dominic Parisi at 125 pounds and Chattanooga’s Levi Clemons at 174, John Lampe at 184, Scottie Boykin at 197 and Dawson Peck at heavyweight.

The Southern Conference was allocated 16 spots for the NCAA Championships, with three each at 149 pounds and 165 pounds, two each at 157 pounds and heavyweight and one each at the six other weights.

Tickets for Saturday’s action, which begins at 10 a.m., will be a single-session ticket. Fans leaving the venue can re-enter simply by showing their tickets. Doors open at 9 a.m.

Prices are $15 for adults and $10 for youth (10 and under) and non-SoCon students with ID. Students from any of the Southern Conference schools can pick up a ticket free of charge simply by showing their school IDs.

2014 Southern Conference Wrestling Championship Schedule
9 a.m. – Doors open
10 a.m. – First-round matches (consolation quarterfinals immediately following)
2 p.m. – Semifinals (consolation semifinals immediately following)
5:30 p.m. – Consolation finals
7 p.m. – Finals

2014 Southern Conference Wrestling Championship Seeds
125 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Dominic Parisi, Appalachian State
2. Tyler Walker, Campbell
3. Joaquin Marquez, The Citadel
4. Cortez Starkes, Gardner-Webb
5. Dakota Leach, SIUE
6. Byron Smith, Chattanooga
7. Philip Elias, Davidson
8. Dalton Henderson, VMI

133 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Nick Soto, Chattanooga
2. Aaron Hansen, The Citadel
3. Drew Walker, Campbell
4. Chris Johnson, Appalachian State
5. Anthony Elias, Davidson
6. Patrick Myers, SIUE
7. Robbie Golde, Gardner-Webb
8. Michael Flora, VMI

141 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Ugi Khishignyam, The Citadel
2. Mike Pongracz, Chattanooga
3. John Petrov, SIUE
4. Ryan Mosley, Gardner-Webb
5. Emmitt Kelly, VMI
6. Michael Dahlstrom, Campbell
7. Javon Johnson, Appalachian State
8. James McCord, Davidson

149 (3 NCAA allocations)
1. Dylan Cottrell, Appalachian State
2. Kevin Birmingham, Davidson
3. Matt Frisch, The Citadel
4. Shabaka Johns, VMI
5. Brent Jorge, Campbell
6. Austin Sams, Chattanooga
7. Tyler Ziegler, Gardner-Webb
8. Karsten Van Velsor, SIUE

157 (2 NCAA allocations)
1. Aaron Walker, The Citadel
2. Alex Hudson, Chattanooga
3. Grant Blumenthal, Campbell
4. Aaron Scott, Appalachian State
5. Ted Gottwald, VMI
6. Cole Graves, Gardner-Webb
7. Logun Taylor, SIUE
8. No entry, Davidson

165 (3 NCAA allocations)
1. Turtogtokh Luvsandorj, The Citadel
2. Corey Mock, Chattanooga
3. Matt Lester, SIUE
4. Austin Trott, Gardner-Webb
5. Zack Strickland, Appalachian State
6. Paul Duggan, Campbell
7. Mark Darr, VMI
8. Patrick Devlin, Davidson

174 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Levi Clemons, Chattanooga
2. Jake Residori, SIUE
3. Kenneth Radford, The Citadel
4. Cody Ryba, Campbell
5. Nathaniel Powers, Davidson
6. Colin Hedash, Appalachian State
7. Brett Stein, Gardner-Webb
8. Derek Thurman, VMI

184 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. John Lampe, Chattanooga
2. Jack Duane, The Citadel
3. Scott Patrick, Davidson
4. Ville Heino, Campbell
5. Deshoun White, SIUE
6. Nick Vetell, Appalachian State
7. Hardy Hendren, VMI
8. Zach Bennett, Gardner-Webb

197 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Scottie Boykin, Chattanooga
2. Marshall Haas, The Citadel
3. Josh Wood, SIUE
4. Kacee Hutchinson, Appalachian State
5. Ian Solcz, Davidson
6. Boyce Cornwell, Gardner-Webb
7. Jake Koch, VMI
8. Garrison Matthews, Campbell

HWT (2 NCAA allocations)
1. Dawson Peck, Chattanooga
2. Eloheim Palma, Campbell
4. Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State
3. Juan Adams, VMI
5. David Devine, SIUE
6. Justin Kozera, Gardner-Webb
7. Joe Bexley, The Citadel
8. Ed Isola, Davidson