Campbell picked No. 1 in preseason SoCon wrestling poll

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Campbell Camels have been selected as the preseason frontrunner for the third straight season for the upcoming 2024-25 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 pre-season all-conference team, and five of the wrestlers on the preseason all-conference team were individual title winners at the 2024 SoCon Championship. Two wrestlers selected to the preseason all-conference team received additional NCAA allocations last season.   
Campbell, who finished second to App State with 97.5 points in last year’s SoCon tournament, earned 64 points in the preseason poll and garnered eight first-place votes. The Camels went 8-0 in conference matchups last season and held a 14-3 record overall, fueled by a pair of victories over Big Ten opponents, topping then ninth-ranked Nebraska on Nov. 10, and then 19^th-ranked Stanford on Dec. 19. 

The Camels, the 2024 SoCon regular season champion, had five wrestlers selected to the preseason All-SoCon team with Anthony Molton (125), Domenic Zaccone (133), Dom Baker (174), Levi Hopkins (197), and Taye Ghadiali (HWT) making the squad.  Hopkins and Ghadiali, both were individual champions at the 2024 SoCon Championship, and Zaccone and Baker received allocations to the NCAA Tournament. Molton, Hopkins, and Ghadiali maxed out on the on the first-place votes in their respective weight class in preseason voting. Ghadiali will be looking for his fourth straight individual title at heavyweight, while Hopkins will be looking for a third consecutive individual conference crown.   
App State, the 2024 SoCon tournament champion, came in second with 55 points and a first-place vote in the preseason poll. The Mountaineers enter their 15th season under the direction of the three-time defending Southern Conference Coach of the Year JohnMark Bentley. Two App State wrestlers, Will Miller (165) and Tomas Brooker (184), were selected to the preseason all-conference team. Miller, who won the 165-pound title in 2024, went 25-8 overall with a perfect 8-0 mark in SoCon matches during the 2023-24 season. Brooker, won the 184-pound title in 2024, with a 21-15 overall record and a 6-2 record in conference matches. Miller and Brooker were the final wrestlers to max out the first-place votes in their respective weight class in the preseason voting. 

Chattanooga collected 46 points in the preseason poll and placed two wrestlers on the all-conference squad. Isaiah Powe, who won the 141-pound title in 2024, went 25-4 overall, posting a perfect 8-0 mark in conference matches. The Mocs’ other member of the preseason all-conference team is Noah Castillo, who moved from 149-pound to the 157-pound weight class. At 149, Castillo posted a 13-4 overall record, going 8-0 in duals and 2-0 in SoCon matches last season.  

There was a tie for the fourth selection between Bellarmine and The Citadel, with both logging 42 points. Gardner-Webb finished in the sixth spot with 25 points. Davidson, VMI, and Presbyterian were selected in the final three sports with 22, 20, and 8 points respectively. Bellarmine’s Zac Cowan rounded out the preseason all-conference team.  

The 2024-25 wrestling season gets underway on Nov. 1. The Southern Conference Wrestling Championship will take place March 8, 2025.  
 
2024-25 SoCon Wrestling Preseason Coaches’ Poll 

School (First-place votes)     Points 

 
  
2023-24 SoCon Wrestling Preseason All-Conference Team  

125       Anthony Molton, Campbell 

133       Domenic Zaccone, Campbell  

141       Isaiah Powe, Chattanooga 

149       Zac Cowan, Bellarmine 

157       Noah Castillo, Chattanooga 

165       Will Miller, App State 

174       Dom Baker, Campbell 

184       Tomas Brooker, App State  

197       Levi Hopkins, Campbell 

HWT     Taye Ghadiali, Campbell