INDIANAPOLIS – Chattanooga’s Alonzo Allen, Campbell’s Noah Gosner, Appalachian State’s Matthew Zovistoski and The Citadel’s Sawyer Root were among the 45 at-large selections for the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships announced on Tuesday. The four at-large selections moved the Southern Conference total to 17overall bids.
Six of the seven SoCon schools will be represented in the 2019 NCAA tournament. Campbell leads the way with six representatives, while Appalachian State has three, Chattanooga has two and VMI, Gardner-Webb and The Citadel each have one.
Campbell’s Korbin Meink (125), Joshua Heil (149) and Chris Kober (184) won their respective titles at the SoCon Championship, with Andrew Morgan (174) receiving an NCAA allocation and Gonser earning an at-large bid. Gosner, who entered the SoCon Championship with a 19-7 overall and 6-0 conference record, fell to Appalachian State’s Codi Russell in the championship match.
Allen entered the SoCon Championship as the No. 1 seed before being upset by Campbell’s Korbin Meink. Teammates Chris Debien (141), Tanner Smith (149) and Rodney Jones (197) will join Allen in Pittsburgh.
Zovistoski, who entered the the SoCon Championship with a overall mark, finished third at 149 pounds. Zovistoski will be joined by Appalachian State’s Codi Russell (133), Randall Diabe (197) and Carry Miller (HWT) who all won their respective division at the SoCon Championship.
The Citadel’s Sawyer Root is the fourth Southern Conference athlete to receive an at-large bid. Root entered the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed but fell to Appalachian State’s Randall Diabe in the championship match. He ended the regular season a perfect 6-0 in conference matchups.
The brackets and seeding will be released on NCAA.com on Wednesday at 6 p.m. EST.
Individual champions/NCAA qualifiers
125 – Korbin Meink, Campbell
133 – Codi Russell, Appalachian State
141 – Chris Debien, Chattanooga
149 – Joshua Heil, Campbell
157 – Benjamin Barton, Campbell
165 – Tyler Marinelli, Gardner-Webb
174 – Neal Richards, VMI
184 – Chris Kober, Campbell
197 – Randall Diabe, Appalachian State
HWT – Cary Miller, Appalachian State
Additional NCAA allocations
149- Tanner Smith, Chattanooga
174 – Andrew Morgan, Campbell
197 – Rodney Jones, Chattanooga
At-large NCAA selections
125 – Alonzo Allen, Chattanooga
133 – Noah Gosner, Campbell
149 – Matthew Zovistoski, Appalachian State
197 – Sawyer Root, The Citadel