INDIANAPOLIS – Appalachian State’s Codi Russell and Chattanooga’s Fabian Gutierrez and Tanner Smith were among the 48 at-large selections for the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships announced on Tuesday. The three at-large selections moved the Southern Conference total to 17 overall bids.
 
Five of the seven SoCon schools will be represented in the 2020 NCAA tournament. Appalachian State and Campbell lead the way with six representatives, while Chattanooga has three and The Citadel, VMI each have one.
 
Campbell’s Korbin Meink (125), Noah Gonser (133), Joshua Heil (141), Quentin Perez (165) and Andrew Morgan (184) won their respective titles at the SoCon Championship, with Jere Heino (HWT) receiving an NCAA allocation. Heino entered the championship as the top seed and favorite at heavyweight but fell to Appalachian State’s Cary Miller in a thrilling championship match.
 
Appalachian State’s Jonathan Millner (149), Matt Zovistoski (157), Demazio Samuel (197) and Miller (HWT) all won titles in their respective weight classes, while Thomas Flitz (174) took second to earn one of the SoCon’s NCAA allocations. Russell received his at-large bid after making a run to the finals of the conference championship, where he fell to Gonser by a close 2-1 decision.
 
Chattanooga’s Matthew Waddell (184) earned one of the NCAA allocations by taking second-place in his weight class. Gutierrez was the first seed and favorite at 125 pounds but was upset by the defending champion Meink in the championship match. Smith was the No. 2 seed in a strong 149-pound division and advanced all the way to the final before falling to Millner by way of a 6-2 decision.
 
VMI’s Neal Richards (174) and The Citadel’s Selwyn Porter (149) were the final NCAA qualifiers after taking first and second, respectively, last weekend.
 
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 – Noah Gonser, Campbell
141 – Joshua Heil, Campbell
149 – Jonathan Millner, Appalachian State
157 – Matt Zovistoski, Appalachian State
165 – Quentin Perez, Campbell
174 – Neal Richards, VMI
184 – Andrew Morgan, Campbell
197 – Demazio Samuel, Appalachian State
HWT – Cary Miller, Appalachian State
 
Additional NCAA allocations
149 – Selwyn Porter, The Citadel
174 – Thomas Flitz, Appalachian State
184 – Matthew Waddell, Chattanooga
HWT – Jere Heino, Campbell
 
At-large NCAA selections
125 – Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga
133 – Codi Russell, Appalachian State
149 – Tanner Smith, Chattanooga