SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The NCAA released the first of four coaches’ panel rankings for the 2021-22 wrestling season on Friday, Jan. 21, with 15 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 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will take place March 17-19 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

Wrestlers in each weight class will be measured by winning percentage, rating percentage index (RPI) and coaches’ ranking. That criteria, in addition to head-to-head competition, quality wins, results against common opponents and qualifying tournament placement are all part of the evaluation process for selection and seeding the committee uses for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

The rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the seven conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, EIWA, MAC, Pac-12 and SoCon), which is double the amount of voters that had previously been used for the coaches’ panel rankings. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. 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 to be ranked.
 
The SoCon’s 15 ranked individuals are: 
 
125 pounds
Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga (No. 20)
Caleb Smith, App State (No. 22)
Korbin Meink, Campbell (No. 29)

133 pounds
Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga (No. 20)
Codi Russell, App State (No. 25)

149 pounds
Jonathan Millner, App State (No. 5)
Joshua Heil, Campbell (No. 7)

157 pounds
Dazjon Casto, The Citadel (No. 28)
Cody Bond, App State (No. 33)

165 pounds
Will Formato, App State (No. 16)

174 pounds
Austin Murphy, Campbell (No. 24)
Thomas Flitz, App State (No. 26)

184 pounds
Caleb Hopkins, Campbell (No. 29)

Heavyweight
Taye Ghadiali, Campbell (No. 24)
Michael McAleavey, The Citadel (No. 30)

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