Note: The following was written by Todd Vinyard, who will be blogging throughout the 2015-16 basketball and wrestling seasons as teams prepare to head to Asheville, N.C., in March.

On the Mat

Basketball will not be the only Southern Conference sports champions crowned this March in Asheville. The 2016 Arby's Southern Conference Wrestling Championship takes place March 5 at Kimmel Arena, and there will be plenty on the line for the participants. Ten SoCon wrestlers can earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championship. There could also be additional at-large qualifiers allotted by the NCAA.

Here's a quick look at the eight wrestling squads that make up the Southern Conference that are on the journey to Asheville with news from school and conference media offices.

Appalachian State – Heavyweight Denzel Dejournette is no stranger to the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week award. He has won the honor two weeks in a row this season. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native has won the award four times and improved to 12-0 this season with a 9-2 win over North Carolina's Cory Daniel on Sunday in Chapel Hill. "He's having fun and just enjoying the sport," Mountaineers head coach JohnMark Bentley said earlier this year.

The Citadel – Junior Aaron Walker made a move in the InterMat rankings recently, going up to 13th in the 157-pound class. He was also one of four Bulldogs to record pins in a 35-13 win over Anderson earlier this year. The next action for Walker and The Citadel comes Dec. 4-5 in the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas.

Chattanooga – The five-time SoCon defending champion Mocs are solid in the classroom, too. Chattanooga senior John Lampe was named the General Shale Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Nov. 18-24. The history and English major has a 3.97 GPA. Lampe won the 184-pound championship at the Wolfpack Open at NC State recently.

Gardner-Webb - The Gardner-Webb wrestling team won two weight classes and claimed three third-place finishes at the Wolfpack Open. Redshirt sophomore Chris Vassar claimed the first of two titles on Nov. 22 and sophomore Tyler Marinelli captured first in the 165-pound bracket.

SIUE – Sophomore John Fahy has fit right in at SIUE. The Illinois transfer was named SoCon Wrestler of the Week for Nov. 4-10 after going 5-0 on the way to winning the 149-pound bracket at the Grand View Open in Des Moines, Iowa. In his four contested matches, he won by technical fall in two matches and one by a fall.

Campbell – Off the mat, the CU Wrestling team helped a family move into a new home with the group Room for Grace that provides short-term housing to families or individuals who have endured a defined hardship that has left them without adequate housing. On the mat, Drew Walker finished sixth as 11 grapplers wrestled unattached for Campbell at the Wolfpack Open. Drew's twin brother, Tyler, is also a member of the Campbell squad.

VMI - Freshman Stevan Smith knows about making an impact and history quickly. The Maryland native was the first wrestling state champion in Kent Island High School history. He is off to a good start at VMI with a fourth-place finish in the 149-pound class at the Keystone Classic on Nov. 23 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Davidson – Eight freshmen joined the Davidson roster this year: Zachary Jones, Camden Bertucci, Zamir Ode, Billy McClelland, Aidan Conroy, Tony Palumbo, Adam Flatt and JC Burton. The eight newcomers hail from seven different states, and they will learn from a coaching staff that includes assistant coaches Christian and Brandon Sinnott. The brothers were NCAA All-American wrestlers at Central Michigan. Along with coaching wrestling, the Sinnott brothers both work as patrol officers for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.