INDIANAPOLIS – A league-record six Southern Conference wrestlers were among the 49 at-large selections to the NCAA Wrestling Championships, the governing body announced Tuesday. The six at-large picks moved the SoCon’s total to 19 that will attend the championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 17-19.
The league’s at-large picks came from six different weight classes. Chattanooga’s Michael Pongracz (141 pounds), Gardner-Webb’s Chris Vassar (149), The Citadel’s Aaron Walker (157), Appalachian State’s Forrest Przybysz (165), Chattanooga’s Sean Mappes (174) and Chattanooga’s John Lampe (184) will join the 13 SoCon wrestlers that clinched their NCAA spots on Saturday at the Arby’s SoCon Wrestling Championship.
The addition of the six at-large picks means seven of the eight SoCon wrestling squads will be represented at the NCAA tournament. Regular-season tri-champions Appalachian State, Gardner-Webb and Chattanooga combined for 13 of the league’s 19 qualifiers.
Chattanooga leads the way with six headed to New York, with SoCon individual champions Kamaal Shakur (157) and Scottie Boykin (197) and runner-up Jared Johnson (285) joining Pongracz, Mappes and Lampe.
SoCon tournament champion Appalachian State follows with four NCAA selections, as Przybysz joins SoCon champs Michael Longo (141), Nick Kee (174) and Denzel Dejournette (285).
Gardner-Webb will send three to NCAAs in 165 SoCon champion Austin Trott, SoCon third-place finisher Boyce Cornwell (285) and all-conference 149 pick Vassar.
Campbell and SIUE will send two wrestlers each, with Nathan Kraisser (133) and Ville Heino (184) representing the Camels and Freddie Rodriguez (125) and John Fahy (149) representing the Cougars. All four took automatic bids by winning their respective weight classes at the SoCon Championship.
VMI’s Neal Richards (157) topped The Citadel’s Walker in a true-place match at the SoCon tournament to claim the league’s second NCAA allocation at the weight, while Walker earned his third straight NCAA appearance with his at-large selection.
The six at-large selections surpassed the SoCon record of five, set in 2008.
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.
Individual champions/NCAA qualifiers
125 – Freddie Rodriguez, SIUE
133 – Nathan Kraisser, Campbell
141 – Michael Longo, Appalachian State
149 – John Fahy, SIUE
157 – Kamaal Shakur, Chattanooga
165 – Austin Trott, Gardner-Webb
174 – Nick Kee, Appalachian State
184 – Ville Heino, Campbell
197 – Scottie Boykin, Chattanooga
HWT – Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State
Additional NCAA allocations
157 – Neal Richards, VMI
HWT – Jared Johnson, Chattanooga
HWT – Boyce Cornwell, Gardner-Webb
At-large selections
141 – Michael Pongracz, Chattanooga
149 – Chris Vassar, Gardner-Webb
157 – Aaron Walker, The Citadel
165 – Forrest Przybysz, Appalachian State
174 – Sean Mappes, Chattanooga
184 – John Lampe, Chattanooga
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