SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The NCAA announced the pre-allocations and first coaches ranking for the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Thursday afternoon. The Southern Conference received 13 allocations and had 18 student-athletes earn spots in the coaches ranking.
 
The weight class conference champion in each qualifying tournament will earn an automatic qualifier to the national championships. Each conference was awarded additional pre-allocations based on the five-year average (2016-20) of pre-allocations earned by the conference in each weight class. The SoCon earned two allocations each at 149 pounds, 184 pounds and heavyweight. The remaining weight classes earned one allocation each, which is the automatic qualifier for the conference tournament champion.
 
In recent years, pre-allocations have been determined by a formula measuring Division I winning percentage, ratings percentage index and coaches’ ranking. A decrease in overall matches, and in particular nonconference matches, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, led the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee to transition to using the five-year historical average to determine pre-allocations for 2021. For any adjustments in conference alignment over the last five years, historical pre-allocations stayed with the conference where they were earned. The competition status of schools for 2021 also did not impact the calculation of pre-allocations.
 
After the conference tournaments have concluded, the Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining at-large qualifiers to fill out the 33-man bracket in each weight class, which will be announced March 9, while brackets and seeding will be announced on ncaa.com at 6 p.m. March 10.
 
The coaches’ rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each conference. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. For the first ranking, wrestlers must have two Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one within the last 30 days.
 
A full description of the entire selection process for the 2021 Division I Wrestling Championships is available at ncaa.org.
 
The SoCon’s 18 ranked individuals are:
 
125 pounds (1 NCAA allocation)
Codi Russell, App State (17)
Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga (21)
 
133 pounds (1 NCAA allocation)
None

141 pounds (1 NCAA allocation)
Franco Valdes, Chattanooga (33)
 
149 pounds (2 NCAA allocations)
Joshua Heil, Campbell (13)
Jonathan Millner, Appalachian State (14)
Selwyn Porter, The Citadel (29)

157 pounds (1 NCAA allocation)
Benjamin Barton, Campbell (24)
Cody Bond, App State (30)
 
165 pounds (1 NCAA allocation)
William Formato, App State (16) 
Rodrick Mosley, Gardner-Webb (23)
Andrew Nicholson, Chattanooga (28)

174 pounds (1 NCAA allocation)
Thomas Flitz, Appalachian State (13)
Austin Murphy, Campbell (14)
 
184 pounds (2 NCAA allocations)
Caleb Hopkins, Campbell (23)
Matthew Waddell, Chattanooga (25)
 
197 pounds (1 NCAA allocation)
Chris Kober, Campbell (27)
Tyler Mousaw, VMI (33)
 
Heavyweight (2 NCAA allocations)
Michael McAleavey, The Citadel (31)