SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After coming off a 2021-22 season that saw it take the Southern Conference Wrestling Championship for the fourth consecutive season, the Campbell Camels have been selected as the preseason frontrunner for the first time since 2019 for the upcoming 2022-23 wrestling campaign by the league’s nine head coaches, who also selected a 10-member preseason all-conference team. 
 
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or student-athletes. Five wrestlers maxed out with the number of points possible to be selected to the preseason all-conference team, while five of the wrestlers on the preseason all-conference team were individual title winners at the 2022 SoCon Championship.
 
Campbell, who finished with 100.5 points in last year’s SoCon tournament to clinch the title over 2021-22 preseason SoCon favorite App State, earned 59 points in the 2022-23 preseason poll and finished with four first-place votes. The Camels went 6-1 in conference matchups last season and held an 11-5 record overall.
 
The Camels had four wrestlers selected to the preseason All-SoCon team in Shannon Hanna (141 pounds), Caleb Hopkins (184 pounds), Levi Hopkins (197 pounds) and Taye Ghadiali (HWT), with Hanna, Caleb Hopkins and Ghadiali all winning individual titles at the 2021-22 SoCon championship, and Levi Hopkins collecting the Pinnacle Award for the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team. After taking the 141-pound title last season, Hanna, who earned the maximum amount of votes possible, enters his senior year as a Camel on the preseason all-conference team with a 17-7 overall record and a 6-0 SoCon record from last season. He secured the title and the NCAA Championship bid as the SoCon’s No. 1 seed after winning by technical fall against Presbyterian’s Khalid Brinkley and winning by sudden victory against Chattanooga’s Franco Valdes in the semifinals before defeating App State’s Heath Gonyer 10-1 in the finals. Caleb Hopkins, who went 3-0 in the tournament to secure the SoCon title at 184, enters his redshirt senior season on the preseason all-conference team with an 18-6 overall record from last season and a perfect 6-0 mark in SoCon bouts. Ghadiali, who joins Hanna with the highest amount of votes possible, is the returning heavyweight champion, after going 20-4 overall and 5-0 in conference action last season with a team-best five pins. He earned an automatic NCAA Championships berth as the SoCon’s champion at 285 pounds, falling to Cornell’s Lewis Fernandes and defeating Hofstra’s Zachary Knighton-Ward in the wrestlebacks before falling to Missouri’s Zach Elam, ending his 2022 NCAA run at 1-2. Campbell’s last wrestler on the preseason team is redshirt junior Levi Hopkins (197 pounds). Hopkins finished the season 10-7 and went undefeated at 4-0 in SoCon duals. He went on to earn the Pinnacle Award in the tournament, as the native of Palmer, Alaska, held a 4.00 GPA last season as a cyber security major.
 
Last year’s SoCon preseason favorite and regular-season champion, App State, came in a close second with 57 points and two first-place votes in the preseason poll. The Mountaineers enter their 13th season under 2021-22 Southern Conference Coach of the Year JohnMark Bentley and have three wrestlers selected to the preseason team. Jonathan Millner, who is a three-time Southern Conference champion and a 2021 and 2022 All-American, went undefeated in conference play (7-0) last season and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, finishing sixth at the tournament in the 149-pound weight class to conclude the season with a 92-21 career record. The redshirt senior, who is a three-time All-SoCon honoree and was named the SoCon Championship’s Most Outstanding Wrestler last season, became the 21st overall All-American and second two-time NCAA All-American in App State wrestling history. Caleb Smith enters his redshirt sophomore season for App State securing a spot on the preseason all-conference team after finishing the 2021-22 season in his first year as a starter at 125 pounds with a 24-8 overall record and a career record of 31-9. At the conference championship, Smith finished third in a SoCon bracket that included three ranked wrestlers before making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships, where he upset reigning third-place finisher Patrick McKee of Minnesota by an 8-5 score before losing 6-2 against Virginia Tech’s Sam Latona and 10-7 against Rutgers’ Dylan Shawyer. Cody Bond, who claimed the SoCon title in the 157-pound weight class in 2020-21 and was a runner-up in 2021-22, enters his redshirt senior season with 32-14 career record after logging a 19-8 overall record and a perfect 7-0 record in SoCon bouts last season. Millner and Smith each maxed out with eight first-place votes in the preseason balloting.
 
Chattanooga rounds out the top three with 55 points and three first-place votes, with two wrestlers voted to the preseason all-conference team. The Mocs went 6-2 against SoCon teams during last season’s campaign and 9-10 overall. Brayden Palmer posted a 25-9 record and a 7-1 record in SoCon dual action in his triumphant sophomore season. The 2021-22 No. 1 seed for the 133-pound weight class earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships and was named to the All-SoCon team. Rocky Jordan, who joined the Mocs this past summer as a graduate transfer from Ohio State, enters his first season for Chattanooga on the preseason all-conference team at 174 pounds after finishing the 2021-22 season for the Buckeyes with a 12-7 overall record and a 3-4 record in dual matches.
 
Gardner-Webb was selected to finish fourth, receiving 41 points, while The Citadel came in fifth with 32 points. The Runnin’ Bulldogs have one wrestler who was selected to the preseason team in RJ Mosley (165). Mosley led Gardner-Webb with an individual title at the 2022 SoCon Championship, upholding his No. 1 seed and becoming the first Runnin’ Bulldog to capture a SoCon championship at 165 pounds since 2017. He went 15-6 overall and 4-3 in SoCon bouts last season as the Runnin’ Bulldogs went 7-7 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
 
Davidson (30) and VMI (22) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, while Bellarmine (14) and Presbyterian (14) rounded out the preseason poll in a tie for eighth. The Wildcats finished 5-10 overall last season (3-5 SoCon), while the Keydets finished their season 3-10 overall and 2-6 in conference bouts. The Knights, who enter their third season as a SoCon member, concluded the 2021-22 season 2-15 overall (1-7 SoCon), while the Blue Hose went 1-9 on the season and 0-7 in SoCon action.
  
The 2022-23 wrestling season gets underway on Nov. 1. The Southern Conference Wrestling Championship will take place March 4, 2023, at App State’s Holmes Convocation Center, in Boone, North Carolina.
 
2022-23 SoCon Wrestling Preseason Coaches’ Poll
School (First-place votes)         Points
1. Campbell (4)                                59
2. App State (2)                               57
3. Chattanooga (3)                          55
4. Gardner-Webb                            41
5. The Citadel                                  32
6. Davidson                                     30
7. VMI                                              22
T8. Bellarmine                                 14
T8. Presbyterian                              14
 
2022-23 SoCon Wrestling Preseason All-Conference Team 
125       Caleb Smith, App State
133       Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga 
141       Shannon Hanna, Campbell
149       Jonathan Millner, App State 
157       Cody Bond, App State
165       RJ Mosley, Gardner-Webb
174       Rocky Jordan, Chattanooga
184       Caleb Hopkins, Campbell 
197       Levi Hopkins, Campbell
HWT     Taye Ghadiali, Campbell