SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The NCAA released the second of four coaches’ panel rankings and the first reveal of the rating percentage index (RPI) for the 2021-22 wrestling season on Friday, with 19 Southern Conference student-athletes appearing on the RPI list and 15 on the coaches’ rankings. 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, 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 19 ranked individuals on the RPI list are:
 
125 pounds
Caleb Smith, App State (No. 8)
Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga (No. 12)
 
133 pounds
Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga (No. 5)
Codi Russell, App State (No. 21)
Kyle Gorant, Davidson (No. 25)
Todd Carter, Gardner-Webb (No. 32)
 
141 pounds
Heath Gonyer, App State (No. 23)
 
149 pounds
Noah Castillo, Chattanooga (No. 29)
 
157 pounds
Dazjon Casto, The Citadel (No.19)
Cody Bond, App State (No. 27)
 
165 pounds
Will Formato, App State (No. 8)
Andrew Nicholson, Chattanooga (No. 29)
 
184 pounds
Caleb Hopkins, Campbell (No. 12)
Barrett Blakely, App State (No. 28)
Gavin Henry, Davidson (No. 31)
 
197 pounds
Tyler Mousaw, VMI (No. 30)
 
Heavyweight
Michael McAleavey, The Citadel (No. 12)
Mitchell Trigg, Davidson (No. 23)
Michael Burchell, App State (No. 33)
 
The SoCon’s 15 ranked individuals on the coaches’ list are:
 
125 pounds
Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga (No. 23)
Caleb Smith, Appalachian State (No. 31)
Korbin Meink, Campbell (No. 32)
 
133 pounds
Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga (No. 19)
Codi Russell, Appalachian State (No. 30)
  
149 pounds
Joshua Heil, Campbell (No. 4)
Jonathan Millner, Appalachian State (No. 8)

157 pounds
Dazjon Caston, The Citadel (No. 29)
Cody Bond, App State (No. 32)
 
165 pounds
Will Formato, App State (No. 18)
 
174 pounds
Austin Murphy, Campbell (No. 19)
Thomas Flitz, Appalachian State (No. 29)
 
184 pounds
Caleb Hopkins, Campbell (No. 30)
 
Heavyweight
Taye Ghadiali, Campbell (No. 21)
Michael McAleavey, The Citadel (No. 29)

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