SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Coming off a 2017-18 season that saw it win its second Southern Conference Wrestling Championship in three years and a third straight regular-season title, Appalachian State has been selected as the preseason favorite for the upcoming 2018-19 wrestling season by the league’s seven 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. Seven athletes received the maximum number of points possible to be selected to the preseason all-conference team.
After winning the 2017-18 regular season as well as the 2018 SoCon Championship, Appalachian State received six first-place votes and 36 points in the 2018-19 preseason poll. The Mountaineers were a perfect 7-0 in conference matchups, going 9-4 overall and boasting two individual conference champions.
The Mountaineers have six wrestlers selected to the preseason All-SoCon squad in Codi Russell (133 pounds), Irvin Enriquez (141 pounds), Matt Zovistoski (149 pounds), Alan Clothier (184 pounds), Randall Diabe (197 pounds) and Cary Miller (heavyweight). Russell, Enriquez and Miller were three of the seven athletes who received the max number of points possible in the voting. Enriquez, who earned the No. 4 seed at 141in the SoCon Championship last season, went 3-0 en route to winning the weight class and leading him to an NCAA Championship appearance. Diabe, who finished third at the SoCon Championship last season at 197, went 20-9 overall and had a perfect 7-0 record in SoCon regular-season matchups.
Russell went 13-13 overall and 6-1 in the SoCon last season in the 133-pound weight category. The junior went 2-1 in the conference tournament, falling to SIUE’s John Muldoon in the final. Last season’s 184-pound weight class SoCon runner-up, Clothier, finished the season with 28-11 overall record, going 6-1 in the SoCon, and received a bid to last year’s NCAA tournament. This season’s heavyweight favorite Miller went 19-9 overall during the 2017-18 season (6-1 SoCon) and finished second at the championship in the heavyweight category. Zovistoski, entering into his senior season, boasted a 21-6 unattached record (149 pounds) for the 2017-18 season. The Mountaineers are once again led by 2017-18 SoCon Coach of the Year JohnMark Bentley.
Campbell is slated to finish second by the league’s coaches after receiving one first-place vote and coming in closely behind Appalachian State, with 30 points. The Camels have one representative on this season’s preseason poll in Andrew Morgan (174). Last season, Morgan boasted an overall 18-9 record (4-2 SoCon) and went 2-1 in the conference tournament.
Chattanooga, who finished second in the 2017-18 standings and third in this season’s preseason poll, had one representative on the preseason squad in Alonzo Allen (125). Allen posted an overall record of 22-10 (6-1 SoCon) and earned the No. 3 seed in the SoCon tournament, going 3-0 en route to winning the 125-pound weight class and leading to an NCAA Championship appearance. The senior earned the maximum number of total points in this season’s voting.
Gardner-Webb, who finished fourth in the regular season and fifth at the SoCon Championship, was picked to finish fourth, totaling 21 points. Returning for the Bulldogs is preseason 157-pound weight class pick Tyler Martinelli, who went 26-8 overall (6-1 SoCon) and was the 2017-18 conference champion after going a perfect 3-0 at the championship. Martinelli is ranked No. 14 in the preseason in the 157-pound weight class, according to InterMat.
VMI finished sixth last year and was picked to finish fifth this season with 14 points. Selected to this preseason’s squad was redshirt-junior Neal Richards (165 weight class), who returns for the Keydets after redshirting the 2017-18 season.
The Citadel and Davidson round out the rest of the poll, earning 11 and eight points, respectively. The Bulldogs finished the 2017-18 season in eight place and will return Doug Gudenburr at 149. The Wildcats finished the 2017-18 season in seventh and are slated to finish the 2018-19 season in the same position.
The 2018-19 wrestling season gets under way on Nov 4. The Southern Conference Wrestling Championship will take place March 10, 2019, on the campus of Appalachian State, in Boone, North Carolina.
2018-19 SoCon Wrestling Preseason Coaches Poll
School (First-place votes) Points
1. Appalachian State (6) 36
2. Campbell (1) 30
3. Chattanooga 27
4. Gardner-Webb 21
5. VMI 14
6. The Citadel 11
7. Davidson 8
2018-19 SoCon Wrestling Preseason All-Conference Team
125 Alonzo Allen, Chattanooga
133 Codi Russell, Appalachian State
141 Irvin Enriquez, Appalachian State
149 Matt Zovistoski, Appalachian State
157 Tyler Marinelli, Gardner-Webb
165 Neal Richards, VMI
174 Andrew Morgan, Campbell
184 Alan Clothier, Appalachian State
197 Randall Diabe, Appalachian State
HWT Cary Miller, Appalachian State
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