SoCon Wrestling Championship page

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Southern Conference Wrestling Championship will take place Saturday at The Citadel’s McAlister Field House in Charleston, South Carolina, with the SoCon title and 18 NCAA allocations on the line. Two-time defending regular-season champion Appalachian State will try to defend its 2016 tournament title.

Six of last year’s SoCon individual champions will be back in the field this year, though two of them are in different weight classes. The SoCon was allocated 18 spots for the NCAA Championships, with three each at 125 pounds, 184 and heavyweight, two each at 149 and 157 and one each at the eight other weights.

Two-time SoCon Wrestler of the Year and top seed Denzel Dejournette of Appalachian State will try for his third straight heavyweight title, but he’ll have stiff competition in one of the league’s deepest weight classes. Five SoCon wrestlers appear in either the NCAA coaches’ panel rankings or RPI, with Dejournette and Chattanooga’s Jared Johnson, the league’s No. 3 seed, appearing in the top 10 nationally in both. No. 2 seed Jere Heino of Campbell, No. 4 Jake McKiernan of SIUE and No. 5 Boyce Cornwell of Gardner-Webb are also in either the coaches’ panel rankings or RPI.

Three other wrestlers will look to defend their 2016 titles. At 125 pounds, SIUE’s Freddie Rodriguez will try to claim his second title, but No. 1 seed Vito Pasone of Appalachian State and No. 2 seed Alonzo Allen of Chattanooga are seeded ahead of him. Also standing in the way of a Rodriguez repeat is Campbell’s Nathan Kraisser, the 2016 champion at 133 pounds, who is the No. 4 seed at 125 this year.

SIUE’s John Fahy will try to make it two in a row at 149 pounds, but he’s seeded third behind Appalachian State’s Matt Zovistoski and The Citadel’s Ty Buckiso, respectively.

At 184, defending champion Ville Heino of Campbell is the No. 1 seed. Chattanooga’s Bryce Carr and Gardner-Webb’s Hunter Gamble are seeded second and third, respectively, in another deep weight class.

Like Campbell’s Kraisser, Gardner-Webb’s Austin Trott has changed weight classes and won’t get a chance to defend his title. Last year’s champion at 165 has moved up to 174 and is the second seed behind SIUE’s Jake Residori.

The Citadel’s Aaron Walker, who recently became just the third wrestler to be named all-conference four times in his career since the coaches began voting on the award in 1993, will be vying for his third career title at 157 pounds. Walker, the top seed this season, won in 2014 and 2015 but has SoCon Freshman of the Year Austin Kraisser of Campbell lurking as the No. 2 seed at the weight class.

At 197, Citadel sophomore Sawyer Root is the top seed, but 2015 champion Jake Tindle of SIUE is the second seed.

First-time champions will be crowned at 133, 141 and 165. Chattanooga’s Chris Debien is the top seed at 133, while Campbell’s Josh Heil, the lone freshman on the All-SoCon team, is the top seed at 141. Chattanooga’s Justin Lampe is the No. 1 seed at 165.

Last season’s wrestling championship came down to the wire, as Appalachian State’s Dejournette downed Chattanooga’s Johnson in the heavyweight final to clinch the Mountaineers’ first title since 2003. Dejournette’s win pushed App State’s team score to 83.5 points, just half a point ahead of runner-up Chattanooga.

Tickets for Saturday’s action, which begins at 10 a.m., will be single-session. Doors open at 9 a.m.

Prices are $15 for adults, $10 for youth (6-12) and $8 each for groups of 10 or more. Students from Southern Conference schools, including wrestling associate member schools, can pick up a ticket free of charge simply by showing their school IDs.

As part of its partnership with Headlock on Hunger, the SoCon will offer $3 off the ticket price with the donation of a food item at the door.

2017 Southern Conference Wrestling Championship Schedule
9 a.m. – Doors open
10 a.m. – First-round matches
12 p.m. – Semifinals
2 p.m. – Consolation quarterfinals (consolation semifinals immediately after)
5:30 p.m. – Consolation finals
7 p.m. – Finals, true-place matches and award presentation

Seeds
125 (3 NCAA allocations)
1. Vito Pasone, Appalachian State
2. Alonzo Allen, Chattanooga
3. Freddie Rodriguez, SIUE
4. Nathan Kraisser, Campbell
5. Dalton Henderson, VMI
6. Landon LoAlbo, Gardner-Webb
7. Patrick Kearney, The Citadel
8. No entry, Davidson

133 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Chris Debien, Chattanooga
2. Colby Smith, Appalachian State
3. Jonathan Ryan, Campbell
4. John Muldoon, SIUE
5. Philip Anderson, Gardner-Webb
6. Michael Hulcher, VMI
7. Andrew Szalwinski, The Citadel
8. Dustin Runzo, Davidson

141 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Josh Heil, Campbell
2. Chase Zemenak, Chattanooga
3. Irvin Enriquez, Appalachian State
4. Douglas Gudenburr, The Citadel
5. Trevor Feagans, SIUE
6. Ryan Hull, Gardner-Webb
7. John Reed, VMI
8. Hunter Costa, Davidson

149 (2 NCAA allocations)
1. Matt Zovistoski, Appalachian State
2. Ty Buckiso, The Citadel
3. John Fahy, SIUE
4. Chris Vassar, Gardner-Webb
5. Ben Barton, Campbell
6. Stevan Smith, VMI
7. Roman Boylen, Chattanooga
8. Aiden Conroy, Davidson

157 (2 NCAA allocations)
1. Aaron Walker, The Citadel
2. Austin Kraisser, Campbell
3. Neal Richards, VMI
4. Ryan Mosely, Gardner-Webb
5. Gavin Londoff, Appalachian State
6. Karsten Van Velsor, SIUE
7. Tony Palumbo, Davidson
8. Dylanger Potter, Chattanooga

165 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Justin Lampe, Chattanooga
2. Tyler Marinelli, Gardner-Webb
3. Quentin Perez, Campbell
4. Forrest Prybysz, Appalachian State
5. Clayton Bass, SIUE
6. Cade Kiely, VMI
7. Ruston Hill II, The Citadel
8. Noah Satterfield, Davidson

174 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Jake Residori, SIUE
2. Austin Trott, Gardner-Webb
3. Sean Mappes, Chattanooga
4. John Weiss, Campbell
5. Shabaka Johns, VMI
6. Conor Fenn, Davidson
7. Martin Duane, The Citadel
8. Angel Najar, Appalachian State

184 (3 NCAA allocations)
1. Ville Heino, Campbell
2. Bryce Carr, Chattanooga
3. Hunter Gamble, Gardner-Webb
4. David Peters-Logue, Appalachian State
5. Konner Pritchard, Davidson
6. Chris Beck, VMI
7. Jake Godinez, SIUE
8. Chandler Sambets, The Citadel

197 (1 NCAA allocation)
1. Sawyer Root, The Citadel
2. Jake Tindle, SIUE
3. Willie Bivens III, Campbell
4. Clay Dent, Chattanooga
5. Randall Diabe, Appalachian State
6. Kyle Ash, Gardner-Webb
7. Taylor Thomas, VMI
8. Ryan Devlin, Davidson

285 (3 NCAA allocations)
1. Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State
2. Jere Heino, Campbell
3. Jared Johnson, Chattanooga
4. Jake McKiernan, SIUE
5. Boyce Cornwell, Gardner-Webb
6. Joe Bexley, The Citadel
7. Will Cooley, Davidson
8. Thomas Shea-Roop, VMI

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