SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After a 2015-16 season that saw them earn shares of the regular-season Southern Conference title and finish just a half point apart at the SoCon Wrestling Championship, Appalachian State and Chattanooga tied for the top spot in a preseason poll of the league’s eight head coaches, who also selected a 10-member preseason all-conference team.
The coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or student-athletes.
The Mountaineers and Mocs finished with 44 points apiece to share top billing in the preseason prognostications, each earning three first-place votes. Appalachian State topped Chattanooga for the 2016 SoCon tournament title in a tightly contested affair that came down to the final individual bout, stopping the Mocs’ five-year run of dominance in the event. Mountaineer coach JohnMark Bentley was named the league coach of the year for the second straight season.
Appalachian State, whose 2015-16 regular-season title was its first since 2011-12, put a league-best four student-athletes on the preseason all-conference squad, highlighted by reigning SoCon Wrestler of the Year and two-time defending SoCon champion Denzel Dejournette at heavyweight. The redshirt senior from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, went 31-4 last season and topped Chattanooga’s Jared Johnson in the final match at the SoCon tournament to clinch the Mountaineers’ first title since 2003.
The Mountaineers were also represented on the preseason All-SoCon squad by Irvin Enriquez (133 pounds), Forrest Przybysz (165) and Nick Kee (174). Enriquez was a SoCon All-Freshman pick last year, while Przybysz was the SoCon tournament runner-up and earned an NCAA at-large bid. Kee, the 2015 SoCon Freshman of the Year, is a two-time all-conference pick and won the league title at 174 last season.
Three of the Mountaineers’ preseason picks appear in the preseason national rankings, as Dejournette (10), Kee (16) and Przybysz (17) all earned the distinction from InterMat.
Chattanooga, which won at least a share of the regular-season title for the 11th time in 12 years last season, is ranked 23rd in InterMat’s preseason team dual-meet rankings. The Mocs, who have won 29 SoCon tournament titles and 10 of the last 12, put two student-athletes on the preseason all-conference squad in Mike Pongracz (141) and Scottie Boykin (197).
Pongracz was an All-SoCon pick in 2014-15 and was the runner-up at the league tournament in 2016. He has earned NCAA at-large bids in each of the last two seasons. Boykin, the reigning SoCon champion at 197, will be looking for his fourth all-conference selection this season and would join an exclusive club that includes just two other wrestlers in SoCon lore. He has also appeared in the last two NCAA Championships, as he earned an at-large bid in 2015.
Boykin is ranked 10th at 197 and Pongracz 17th at 149 by InterMat entering the season.
Gardner-Webb, which finished league action 6-1 last year to share the regular-season title with Appalachian State and Chattanooga, was picked third in the preseason poll with 40 points and the remaining two first-place votes.
SIUE was picked fourth in the preseason poll with 29 points. The Cougars were represented on the preseason all-conference team by defending SoCon champions Freddie Rodriguez at 125 pounds and Jake Fahy at 149. Rodriguez enters the season ranked 16th nationally.
Campbell was slotted fifth in the preseason poll with 24 points and put defending SoCon champion Ville Heino on the preseason all-conference unit at 184 pounds and is ranked 20th by InterMat.
The Citadel was picked sixth with 20 points and boasts three-time All-SoCon pick Aaron Walker at 157 pounds on the preseason all-conference team. Like UTC’s Boykin, Walker will also attempt to join the rare club of four-time All-SoCon picks. A two-time SoCon champion at 157, Walker earned an NCAA at-large bid last season and enters this season ranked 20th nationally.
VMI (16 points) and Davidson (seven) round out the preseason poll.
The 2016-17 wrestling season gets under way on Nov. 5. The Southern Conference Wrestling Championship will take place March 4, 2017, on the campus of The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.
2016-17 SoCon Wrestling Preseason Coaches Poll
School (First-place votes) Points
T1. Appalachian State (3) 44
T1. Chattanooga (3) 44
3. Gardner-Webb (2) 40
4. SIUE 29
5. Campbell 24
6. The Citadel 20
7. VMI 16
8. Davidson 7
2016-17 SoCon Wrestling Preseason All-Conference Team
125 Freddie Rodriguez, SIUE^
133 Irvin Enriquez, Appalachian State
141 Mike Pongracz, Chattanooga
149 John Fahy, SIUE^
157 Aaron Walker, The Citadel*+
165 Forrest Przybysz, Appalachian State
174 Nick Kee, Appalachian State^
184 Ville Heino, Campbell^
197 Scottie Boykin, Chattanooga^
HWT Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State^*
^ - 2016 SoCon champion at that weight class
* - 2015 SoCon champion at that weight class
+ - 2014 SoCon champion at that weight class
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