INDIANAPOLIS – Appalachian State’s Dominic Parisi (125 pounds) and Chattanooga’s Mike Pongracz (141) and Scottie Boykin (197) were among the 71 at-large wrestlers selected for the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, the NCAA announced Wednesday, and will join the Southern Conference’s 14 automatic qualifiers and the rest of the 330-wrestler field at the event in St. Louis, Mo., at the Scottrade Center on March 19-21. The NCAA also released the brackets for each weight class Wednesday.
The at-large wrestlers join the 259 student-athletes that qualified automatically through the conference and regional qualifying tournaments over the past two weekends. The at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee using the following 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.
The SoCon has now had at least one at-large selection in 17 consecutive seasons. The three selections are the most for the league since it earned five at-large picks in 2008.
Parisi will take on Air Force’s Josh Martinez in a pigtail match at 125, while SoCon champion Sean Boyle of Chattanooga earned the fifth seed and will battle Lehigh’s Scott Parker. The Citadel’s Joaquin Marquez, who won a true-second-place match at the Arby’s SoCon Wrestling Championship to earn his NCAA spot, was matched against No. 11 seed Jordan Conaway of four-time defending NCAA champion Penn State.
Chattanooga’s Nick Soto, who became just the 16th wrestler in the 78-year history of the SoCon tournament to win four titles, earned the No. 15 seed at 133 and will wrestle Cornell’s Mark Grey.
With Pongracz’s at-large selection, the SoCon placed two in the 141-pound bracket. Pongracz will take on No. 12 seed Joseph Ward of North Carolina, while SoCon champion Mike Longo of Appalachian State will face No. 7 seed Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers.
The SoCon had three qualifiers at 149, with league champion Matt Frisch of The Citadel slated to face No. 11 seed Tywan Claxton of Ohio. SoCon runner-up Ryan Mosley of Gardner-Webb will take on No. 15 seed Bryant Clagon of Rider. Chattanooga’s Shawn Greevy will face No. 12 seed Zack Beitz of Penn State.
The Citadel’s Aaron Walker earned the No. 16 at 157 and will face Ohio’s Spartak Chino. At 165, SIUE’s Connor McMahon, who won the SoCon title from the No. 5 seed and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, will face No. 1 seed Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State.
Chattanooga’s Sean Mappes will take on No. 7 seed Zach Epperly of Virginia Tech at 174 pounds, and two-time SoCon champion Scott Patrick of Davidson will face No. 11 seed Brett Pfarr of Minnesota at 184.
At 197, Boykin was matched against No. 1 seed J’Den Cox of No. 1 Missouri, while SoCon champ Jake Tindle of SIUE will face No. 11 seed Alex Polizzi of Northwestern.
Finally, at heavyweight, SoCon champion Denzel Dejournette of Appalachian State earned the 12 seed and will take on Mimmo Lytle of Kent State. Chattanooga’s Jared Johnson, who won a true-second-place match at the SoCon tournament to earn an NCAA bid, will face No. 4 seed Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State.
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