INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA announced the brackets for the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Wednesday, revealing the seeding and opponents for the 19 Southern Conference wrestlers who will make the trip to Madison Square Garden in New York City for the tournament, which runs March 17-19.
Three SoCon wrestlers earned national seeds, with Appalachian State heavyweight Denzel Dejournette leading the way with a No. 6 seed. He’ll face Illinois’ Brooks Black in the first round.
Chattanooga heavyweight Jared Johnson earned a 13 seed and will face Edinboro’s Billy Miller, while App’s Nick Kee took the 14 seed at 174 pounds and will take on Princeton’s Jonathan Schleifer.
At 125 pounds, SIUE’s Freddie Rodriguez will take on No. 2 seed Joey Dance of Virginia Tech. Campbell’s Nathan Kraisser will face No. 16 seed Anthony Giraldo of Rutgers at 133.
The SoCon will have two wrestlers competing at 141. Chattanooga’s Michael Pongracz will face No. 7 Solomon Chishko, and Appalachian State’s Michael Longo will take on Duke’s Zach Finesilver in a pigtail match for the right to face 12 seed Chris Mecate of Old Dominion.
At 149, Gardner-Webb’s Chris Vassar will face Coleman Hammond of Cal State Bakersfield in a pigtail match for the right to face No. 1 seed Zain Retherford of Penn State. SoCon champion John Fahy of SIUE will take on No. 4 seed Matthew Cimato of Drexel.
Three league wrestlers will do battle at 157, with Chattanooga’s Kamaal Shakur drawing No. 3 seed Jason Nolf of Penn State, The Citadel’s Aaron Walker taking on No. 4 seed Ian Miller of Kent State and Neal Richards of VMI paired against 7 seed Cody Pack of South Dakota State.
Gardner-Webb’s Austin Trott earned perhaps the toughest draw among SoCon wrestlers, as will take on defending national champion and No. 1 seed Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State at 165 pounds. Dieringer also won a national title in 2014 at 157 pounds. Also at 165, Appalachian State’s Forrest Przybysz will face No. 7 seed Anthony Perrotti of Rutgers.
In addition to the SoCon boasting Kee at 174, Chattanooga’s Sean Mappes will take on Army West Point’s Brian Harvey.
Campbell’s Ville Heino will face Old Dominion’s Jack Dechow in a pigtail match at 184, with the winner to advance to face No. 1 seed and defending national champion Gabriel Dean of Cornell. Chattanooga’s John Lampe will face No. 2 seed Sammy Brooks of Iowa.
At 197, Scottie Boykin of Chattanooga will take on No. 15 seed Nate Rotert of South Dakota State. Gardner-Webb’s Boyce Cornwell joins Dejournette and Johnson in the heavyweight bracket and will take on No. 11 seed Sam Stoll of Iowa.
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