BOONE, N.C. – Campbell University claimed the 2020 Southern Conference Wrestling Championship on Sunday, picking up five individual titles as well as coach of the year honors. Appalachian State’s Cary Miller and VMI’s Neal Richards were named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestlers.
 
Campbell University paced the field, scoring 117 points, while Appalachian State followed in second with 102 points. Chattanooga was third with 72 points, followed by The Citadel (30), Davidson (29), VMI (28), Gardner-Webb (16.5) and Presbyterian (one).
 
Campbell’s Cary Kolat was named the league’s coach of the year after leading his program to its second consecutive title and a perfect 7-0 conference record.
 
The Camels had five champions in Korbin Meink (125), Noah Gonser (133), Joshua Heil (141), Quentin Perez (165) and Andrew Morgan (184). Meink, the defending 125-pound champion, entered Sunday as the No. 3 seed, but still claimed the individual title after narrowly defeating the No. 2 seed Sean Carter of Appalachian State with a 4-3 decision. Meink then defeated top-seeded Fabian Gutierrez of Chattanooga. Gonser, the league’s wrestler of the year, reached the final with a pair of pins over No. 8 Will Edmiston of Gardner-Webb and No. 4 Kyle Gorant of Davidson. He took the 133-pound crown with a close 2-1 decision over No. 2 Codi Russell of Appalachian State. Heil rode two major decisions over No. 8 David Loniewski and No. 5 Jacob Dado of The Citadel to the final match. Heil defeated No. 3 Mason Wallace of Chattanooga by a 6-4 decision in the final to earn the title after winning at 149 pounds last year. Perez opened the tournament with a win by fall over No. 8 Parker Corwin of Presbyterian before cruising into the final with a 14-4 major decision over No. 4 Dazjon Casto of The Citadel. Perez just missed another major decision with an 11-4 win over No. 2 Will Formato of Appalachian State to earn a third-career trip to the NCAA championships. Morgan was the final champion of the day for the Camels at 184 pounds, taking pins over No. 8 Cooper Youngblood of The Citadel and No. 5 Samuel Mora of Gardner-Webb, before earning a 10-2 major decision over No. 2 Matthew Waddell of Chattanooga.
 
The Camels’ Matthew Dallara (157) and Jere Heino (HWT) each finished as the runner-up in their respective weight classes, with Heino securing a spot at the NCAA championships with a pin over The Citadel’s Michael McAleavey in the true second place match.
 
Appalachian State boasted the second-most individual champions, with Jonathan Millner (149), Matt Zovistoski (157), Demazio Samuel (197) and Miller (HWT) all winning their respective weight classes. Millner earned two major decisions in his opening bouts over No. 8 Anthony Schiess of Gardner-Webb and No. 5 Job Chishko of VMI to move into the final, where he took a 6-2 decision over No. 2 Tanner Smith of Chattanooga. Zovistoski received a bye into the semifinals, where he shut out No. 4 Douglas Gudenburr of The Citadel 10-0 for the major decision. Zovistoski clinched the win with a 12-5 decision over No. 2 Dallara of Campbell in the final. Samuel entered as the third seed but used decisions over No. 6 Roderick Davis of Gardner-Webb and No. 2 Chris Kober of Campbell to earn a spot in the final where he defeated top-seeded Rodney Jones of Chattanooga 6-1 to book his ticket to the NCAA championships. Miller pinned both No. 7 Imani Heslop of Presbyterian and No. 3 McAleavey of The Citadel to setup a final with top-seeded Heino of Campell. Miller would avenge his regular season loss to the Campbell heavyweight with a 5-3 decision.
 
The Mountaineers saw three wrestlers finish as runner-up in Russell (133), Formato (165) and Flitz (174). Flitz will continue his season after taking a win in the true second place match to punch his ticket to the NCAA championships.
 
VMI’s Richards led the Keydets with an individual title at 174 pounds after entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed. The redshirt senior won by technical fall to open the tournament over No. 7 Kyle Kretzer of The Citadel before taking a thrilling sudden victory over No. 3 Austin Kraisser of Campbell. Richards was matched up with No. 1 Thomas Flitz of Appalachian State, who had previously defeated Richards this season, but the VMI grappler defeated Flitz with a 12-5 decision to repeat as the 174-pound SoCon champion.
 
Chattanooga just missed out on an individual champion with Gutierrez (125), Wallace (141), Smith (149), Waddell (184) and Jones (194) all finishing as the runner-up in their respective weight classes. Waddell earned one of the SoCon’s additional NCAA allocations and will be making a trip to the NCAA tournament.
 
The Citadel will send one wrestler to nationals after Selwyn Porter bounced back from a loss in the quarterfinals to defeat Chattanooga’s Smith in the true second place match at 149 pounds.
 
Campbell’s Kraisser was the tournament’s Pinnacle Award winner, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team. A redshirt junior from Elicott City, Maryland, Kraisser is majoring in homeland security and holds a 3.667 grade point average.
 
In addition to the 10 individual champions, three other SoCon wrestlers earned automatic NCAA berths.
 
The NCAA Wrestling Selection Show will air on NCAA.com at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11. The 2020 NCAA Championships will take place March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
 
Team standings
1. Campbell - 117.0
2. Appalachian State - 102.0
3. Chattanooga - 75.0
4. The Citadel - 30.0
5. Davidson - 29.0
6. VMI - 28.0
7. Gardner-Webb - 16.5
8. Presbyterian - 1.0
 
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
 
Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Cary Kolat, Campbell
 
Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler
Neal Richards, 174, VMI
Cary Miller, HWT, Appalachian State
 
Pinnacle Award (student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team)
Austin Kraisser, Campbell