INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA announced the brackets for the 2022 NCAA Championships on Wednesday, revealing the seeding and opponents for the 18 Southern Conference wrestlers who will travel to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on March 17-19. The SoCon will see five schools and 18 athletes take the national stage, with three each featured at 125, 133 and 165, two wrestlers each at 149 and heavyweight, and one wrestler each at 141, 157, 174, 184 and 197 pounds.
 
Chattanooga’s Fabian Gutierrez, who was awarded the No. 20 seed at 125 pounds, four spots higher than his seed last year, will take on No. 13 Drake Ayala of Iowa, while App State’s Caleb Smith, who was awarded the No. 25 seed as a first-year starter, will meet No. 8 Patrick McKee of Minnesota, also at 125. Campbell’s Korbin Meink, who also earned an NCAA allocation and makes his third NCAA appearance as the No. 28 seed this year, is set to compete against No. 5 Killian Cardinale of West Virginia.
 
App State’s Codi Russell, who is a three-time SoCon champ and four-time NCAA qualifier, is the No. 21 seed at 133 pounds. The Atlanta, Georgia, native will take a 19-7 record to Detroit, where he faces off against No. 12 Micky Phillippi of Pittsburgh. Seeded at No. 19, Chattanooga’s Brayden Palmer will take on No. 14 Kyle Biscoglia of Northern Iowa, while Campbell’s Domenic Zaccone, who picked up an at-large selection and made the 133-pound field as the No. 33 seed, will match up with No. 32 Dominic LaJoie of Cornell.
 
At 141 pounds, No. 22 seeded Shannon Hanna of Campbell will face off against No. 11 Matt Kazimir of Columbia. At 149 pounds, App State’s Jonathan Millner, the SoCon Wrestler of the Year and Most Outstanding Wrestler at this year’s SoCon Championship, represents the highest SoCon seed in the weight class and earned the highest seed overall in the conference at No. 6, taking on No.  27 Cory Crooks of Oregon State. Campbell’s Josh Heil is the No. 7 seed after earning the second NCAA allocation at 149 pounds and will compete against No. 20 Josh Edmond of Missouri.
 
Dazjon Casto of The Citadel, who is one of two Bulldogs competing at the NCAA championship, is the No. 22 seed at 157 pounds and will face off against No. 11 Austin O’Connor of North Carolina. Gardner-Webb’s RJ Mosley, the 165-pound SoCon champion, makes his second NCAA appearance and takes on No. 11 Izzak Olejnik of Northern Iowa, while Chattanooga’s Drew Nicholson, seeded at No. 29, opens his day against No. 4 Dean Hamiti of Wisconsin. App State’s Will Formato, who was the SoCon Wrestler of the Year and NCAA qualifier in 2021, earned the No. 20 seed after receiving an at-large bid from the NCAA on Tuesday, and will open the tournament against No. 13 Julian Ramirez from Cornell.
 
Thomas Flitz of App State earned the No. 19 seed after clinching the SoCon title at 174 pounds and will compete against No. 14 Chris Foca of Cornell. Campbell’s Caleb Hopkins represent the 184-pound class and Chattanooga’s Matthew Waddell represents the 197-pound weight class, earning the No. 24 and No. 33 seed, respectively. Hopkins will open his day against No. 5 Zach Braunagel of Illinois, while Waddell will take on No. 32 Will Feldkamp of Clarion. 
 
Campbell’s Taye Ghadiali and The Citadel’s Michael McAleavey round out the field in the heavyweight division. The 15^th-seeded Ghadiali will start off against No. 18 Lewis Fernandis of Cornell, while No. 28 seed McAleavey will face No. 5 Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force.
 
Click here for the NCAA’s official brackets.
 
Individual champions/NCAA qualifiers
125 – Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga
133 – Codi Russell, App State
141 – Shannon Hanna, Campbell
149 – Jonathan Millner, App State
157 – Dazjon Casto, The Citadel
165 – RJ Mosley, Gardner-Webb
174 – Thomas Flitz, App State
184 – Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
197 – Matthew Waddell, Chattanooga
HWT – Taye Ghadiali, Campbell 

Additional NCAA allocations
125 – Korbin Meink, Campbell
133 – Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga
149 – Josh Heil, Campbell
165 – Drew Nicholson, Chattanooga
HWT – Michael McAleavey, The Citadel
 
At-large NCAA selections
125 – Caleb Smith, App State
133 – Domenick Zaccone, Campbell
165 – Will Formato, App State