INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA released the first of four coaches’ panel rankings for the 2018-19 wrestling season on Thursday, with 13 Southern Conference student-athletes appearing on the list. The final rankings will be tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will take place March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Wrestlers in each weight class will be measured by winning percentage, rating percentage index (RPI) and coaches’ rankings to earn spots in their qualifying tournaments for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The coaches’ rankings are compiled by a vote of coaches representing each qualifying tournament. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. In order to be eligible for the rankings, wrestlers must have participated in at least five matches against Division I opponents in the weight class and have wrestled within the last 30 days.

The SoCon’s 13 ranked individuals are:

125 pounds
Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga (No. 23)

133 pounds
Noah Gosner, Campbell (No. 17)

141 pounds
Chris Debien, Chattanooga (No. 33)

149 pounds
Joshua Heil, Campbell (Tied No. 8)

Matthew Zovistoski, Appalachian State (No. 25)

165 pounds
Tyler Marinelli, Gardner-Webb (No. 26)

Michael Elliott, Appalachian State (No. 32)

174 pounds
Andrew Morgan, Campbell (No. 17)

Neal Richards, VMI (No. 33)

184 pounds
Alan Clothier, Appalachian State (No. 32)

197 pounds
Randall Diabe, Appalachian State (No. 17)

Sawyer Root, The Citadel (No. 26)

Heavyweight
Cary Miller, Appalachian State (No. 26)

For a full list of rankings by weight class click here. 

-www.SoConSports.com-