The Citadel has found its next head coach! Timmy McCall will take over the head coaching reins for the Bulldogs after spending two years as an assistant coach at Utah Valley.

Before moving to Utah Valley, McCall spent nine years assuming various positions in support of the NC State program. McCall came to Raleigh as an RTC athlete before moving into an official coaching position in 2019-20.

In two years at Utah Valley, McCall helped his former NC State colleague, Adam Hall, send six wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament, including one All-American in 2025. The All-American (Terrell Barraclough) was Utah Valley’s first since 2021.

While on staff at NC State, McCall helped lead the Wolfpack to four consecutive ACC titles and 17 individual conference champions. NC State also cracked the top ten at the NCAA Tournament three times during his coaching run.

McCall wrestled collegiately at Wisconsin and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of his final two years of eligibility. As a senior, McCall earned the #12 seed at 197 lbs and advanced to the bloodround at the 2015 NCAA Championships.

After moving to NC State, McCall competed internationally and finished third at the World Team Trials in 2018.

The head coaching position at The Citadel was vacant after Luke Welch stepped down following the 2025-26 campaign. Welch held that job on an interim basis for the season after the previous head coach, Ryan LeBlanc, left late in the summer of 2025.

McCall inherits a team that finished 11-7 in dual competition last season and sent one wrestler to the 2026 NCAA Championships.

With McCall’s hiring, the Pat Popolizio coaching tree continues to grow. He is the fifth current DI head coach to have assisted Popolizio at NC State, joining Frank Beasley, Obe Blanc, Adam Hall, and Donnie Vinson.

2026 SoCon Championships Final Results

Final Team Scores

1. Appalachian State  94.5

2. Chattanooga  93

3. Bellarmine  88.5

4. The Citadel  53.5

5. Davidson  42.5

6. Gardner-Webb  39.5

7. VMI  36

8. Campbell  19

9. Presbyterian  18.5

125 lbs

Championship Finals: Cooper Flynn (Chattanooga) fall Joe Calvin (Bellarmine) 2:20

Third Place Match: Cooper Foster (Appalachian State) dec Gylon Sims (The Citadel)  2-0

133 lbs

Championship Finals: TK Davis (Gardner-Webb) maj Ethan Uhorchuk (Chattanooga)  12-4

Third Place Match: Trayce Eckman (Bellarmine) maj Teegan Vasquez (The Citadel)  14-4

141lbs

Championship Finals: Aldo Hernandez (Appalachian State) dec AJ Rallo Bellarmine)  8-1

Third Place Match: Hunter Mason (Chattanooga) fall Dyson Dunham (VMI)  3:21

149 lbs

Championship Finals: Anderson Heap (Davidson) dec Carson DesRosier (The Citadel)  8-5SV

Third Place Match: Nate Higley (Bellarmine) dec Kaden Keiser (Appalachian State)  4-3

157 lbs

Championship Finals: Jeb Prechtel (Bellarmine) dec Kyrel Leavell (The Citadel)  11-10

Third Place Match: Cavarius Liddie (Chattanooga) dec Joey Giordano (Gardner-Webb)  4-1

165 lbs

Championship Finals: Ryan Vigil (VMI) dec Anthony Conetta (Appalachian State)  7-2 

Third Place Match: Bryce Griffin (Davidson) maj Noah Hall (Bellarmine)  15-4

174 lbs

Championship Finals: Grant O’Dell (Bellarmine) dec Jacob Silka (The Citadel)  4-3

Third Place Match: Marc Koch (Davidson) dec Colt Campbell (Appalachian State)  4-0

184 lbs

Championship Finals: Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State) maj Reed Douglass (Presbyterian)  12-3

Third Place Matches: Landon Jones (Chattanooga) tech Brant Cracraft (Campbell)  21-6

197 lbs

Championship Finals: Kade Rule (Chattanooga) maj Logan Eller (Appalachian State)  14-4

Third Place Match: Andrew Liber (Bellarmine) dec Toby Schoffstall (VMI)  5-4

285 lbs

Championship Finals: Stephan Monchery (Appalachian State) maj Ethan Vergara (Chattanooga)  11-1

Third Place Match: Sawyer Van Rider (Campbell) dec Josh McCutchen (Gardner-Webb)  2-1

NCAA Qualifiers

Appalachian State: (3) Hernandez (141), Brooker (184), Monchery (285)

Bellarmine: (2) Prechtel (157), O'Dell (174)

Chattanooga: (2) Flynn (125), Rule (197)

Davidson: (1) Heap (149)

Gardner-Webb: (1) Davis (133)

VMI: (1) Vigil (165)

Day one is one for the Southern Conference Championships - there were upsets, challenge bricks thrown, and a high stadium pulse. Here are some of the top storylines from the Southern Conference. 

• 10 Bids for 10 Weights

The Southern Conference received one bid for the NCAA Championship at each weight. You could cut the tension with a knife in Kimmel Arena today - every win is another shot at making it to Cleveland. The semifinals bouts were absolutely electric with challenges galore. See the graphic below for at-large bids available for each weight this year. 

• Will we crown a new team champion this year?

App State is currently in the lead, with Chattanooga and Bellarmine behind by 7 points. Depending on how tomorrow’s consolation semis unfold, we may see some significant movement in the team standings. 

• Notable matches/upsets/other news:

No. 1 seed Thomas Snipes of The Citadel saw back to back losses by the 8th seed Ryan Vigil (VMI) and 5th seeded Noah Hall (BU). His most recent InterMat ranking is 27th and 20th in the Coaches’ Poll.

Speaking of Ryan Vigil (VMI), he’s headed to the finals tomorrow, wrestling against App State’s Anthony Conetta. They have not faced off against each other yet so this will surely be a treat to watch.

Campbell did not have wrestlers in the 125 and 157-pound brackets, following changes to the lineup on Friday morning.

At 157 pounds No. 6 seeded Jeb Prechtel (BU) delivered a first-period fall over 2nd seed Cavarius Little (UTC) in the semifinals. 

And last but not least, let’s follow up on the storylines from Earl’s article yesterday:

• Will The Citadel come out on top?

Currently they’re fourth in the team race with 47.5 points and three finalists and have four wrestling in the consolation semifinals tomorrow morning. Anything is possible, but unsure if they’ll be able to hold the conference tournament team title this weekend.

• Can Davidson break a decade-long drought?

At 149 (1) Anderson Heap will wrestle against (3) Carson DesRosier (CIT). They last met on February 22, where Heap won 5-2 in sudden victory. DesRosier’s semifinal match ended with a last second takedown from Kaiden Keiser (APP), but DesRosier edged out with the riding time point.

• Where does the conference pick up extra bids?

With hopes and prayers (also see Earl’s previous article for a more eloquent breakdown).

Finals matches to watch:

125 final - (1) Cooper Flynn (UTC) vs (6) Joe Calvin (BU)

141 final - (3) AJ Rallo (BU) vs (5) Aldo Hernandez (APP)

157 final - (1) Kyrel Leavel (CIT)l vs (6) Jeb Prechtel (BU)

165 final - (2) Anthony Conetta (APP) vs (8) Ryan Vigil (VMI)

• More magic from Bellarmine?

Absolutely - with 4 finalists and 6 in consolation semi-finals, the Knights have an opportunity to gain some momentum in the team race, and also have a good chance to earn at-large bids. Daulton Mayer (285) ended up having to medically forfeit in the semifinal match against UTC’s Ethan Vergara, hopefully he can get well and earn a bid in the next week. 

Semifinal Results

125 lbs

Cooper Flynn (Chattanooga) dec Gylon Sims (The Citadel)  4-2

Joe Calvin (Bellarmine) maj Tyson Lane (Gardner-Webb)  14-6

133 lbs

TK Davis (Gardner-Webb) maj Logan Heil (Campbell)  25-12

Ethan Uhorchuk (Chattanooga) dec Jarvis Little (Appalachian State)  2-2RTTB

141 lbs

Aldo Hernandez (Appalachian State) maj Hunter Mason (Chattanooga)  16-4

AJ Rallo (Bellarmine) maj Dominic DiTullio (Gardner-Webb)  8-0

149 lbs

Anderson Heap (Davidson) dec Nathan Higley (Bellarmine)  8-5

Carson DesRosier (The Citadel) dec Kaden Keiser (Appalachian State)  6-5

157 lbs

Kyrel Leavell (The Citadel) maj Jeremiah Price (Appalachian State)  14-5

Jeb Pretchel (Bellarmine) fall Cavarius Liddie (Chattanooga)  1:54

165 lbs

Ryan Vigil (VMI) dec Bryce Griffin (Davidson)  5-4

Anthony Conetta (Appalachian State) dec Mason Reiniche (Chattanooga)  10-4

174 lbs

Grant O’Dell (Bellarmine) dec Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga)  2-1

Jacob Silka (The Citadel) dec Isaiah Guerrero (Gardner-Webb)  5-2

184 lbs

Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State) maj Landon Jones (Chattanooga)  17-5

Reed Douglas (Presbyterian) dec Brant Cracraft (Campbell)  8-5SV

197 lbs

Kade Rule (Chattanooga) tech Adam Ortega (The Citadel)  19-4

Logan Eller (Appalachian State) dec Andrew Liber (Bellarmine)  11-8

285 lbs

Stephen Monchery (Appalachian State) maj Sawyer Van Rider (Campbell)  14-4

Ethan Vergara (Chattanooga) InjDef Daulton Mayer (Bellarmine)

Friday will mark the first day of the two-day Southern Conference Championships or the SoCon’s. The conference is one that is often overlooked, but it has plenty of tough competitors. Postseason wrestling is always intense; however, it will be on another level in Asheville, as ten automatic berths to the NCAA are up for grabs. That means only one per weight, so there won’t be anyone who is “just happy to get to the finals.”

Below are five storylines we’ve identified as key to the 2026 SoCon Championships.

1. Will The Citadel come out on top?

Last year’s SoCon finals were one for the books. The team race came down to the very last match of the tournament. Both wrestlers from The Citadel and Appalachian State put each other on their backs at one point in the match. Eventually, it was Stephan Monchery who outlasted Jonathan Chesser to get the win for himself and Appalachian State.

A year later, will The Citadel be able to prevail this time? The 2025 performance was the best at the SoCon Championships by a team from The Citadel in over a decade. Earlier this season, Luke Welch’s team captured its first SoCon regular-season title since 2004. They certainly could make some more history this week.

A win for The Citadel is not a given by any means. They start the tournament with two #1 seeds and one #2. Chattanooga has four #1 seeds, and Appalachian State has two. As these tournaments usually do, the team race might be decided by those who wrestleback for third or pull an upset or two.

2. Can Davidson break a decade-plus drought?

The last time the Davidson program sent a wrestler to the NCAA Championships was in 2015 when Scott Patrick qualified for the second time. Patrick went on to advance to the consolation Round of 16 while in St. Louis. But we’re over a decade removed from 2015 and the Wildcats have fourth-year head coach Nate Carr Jr. leading the squad.

What’s different about this year is that Davidson has a #1 in the preseeds - Anderson Heap at 149 lbs. Heap is a sophomore who went 17-9 this season with wins over the #27 and #28 wrestlers in the nation, Eugene Harney (Morgan State) and Andy Clark (Rutgers), respectively. Since it turned into conference dual season, Heap has been at his best. He comes into the postseason with a seven-match winning streak. That span includes wins over Kaden Keiser (Appalachian State) and Carson DesRosier (The Citadel), two of the presumptive favorites. Now, both matches ended up needing extra time, so don’t be surprised if either can reverse the result should they meet again.

In addition to Heap, Davidson also has Tanner Peake, a weight class higher, at 157 lbs. Peake will be the fourth seed this week, but he is a two-time conference finalist. Even the fourth seed at 157 lbs, isn’t the worst spot for Peake. He split with top-seeded Kyrel Leavell this year. Earlier this season, Peake defeated returning All-American Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State) and pinned Virginia Tech’s national qualifier Mac Church.

With Heap/Peake, Davidson has two really strong potential national qualifying candidates - something the school hasn’t done since 2014.

3. Where does the conference pick up extra qualifiers?

The unfortunate part of this tournament is that there are ten qualifying spots up for grabs, just ten. The only way you can guarantee that trip to Cleveland is by winning the tournament. The best chance for the conference to pick up additional bids really boils down to upsetting the best wrestlers.

The SoCon only had wrestlers earn allocations at half of the ten weights. 133 (TK Davis/Gardner-Webb), 165 (Thomas Snipes/The Citadel), 184 (Tomas Brooker/Appalachian State), 197 (Kade Rule/Chattanooga), and 285 (Stephan Monchery/Appalachian State).

When the NCAA selection committee is looking at at-large berths, they are typically given first to wrestlers who earned allocations at their respective weights. So the best chance for getting additional NCAA bids would be if the wrestlers with the best resumes were in search of at-larges.

Now, the idea of the best wrestlers in the league losing sounds better on paper than in practice. For instance, Davis hasn’t lost since November and only had one conference match stay in regular decision status. Snipes was tripped up by Davidson’s Bryce Griffin, but lost only five times all year. Brooker started the year with a handful of losses, but has been really good since the calendar changed to 2026. Rule has quietly separated himself from the field and has been a point-scoring machine. Monchery has been difficult for SoCon opponents to stop all year.

It’s a tournament, so there will be some unforeseen results. I do think the conference will find a way to eke out a couple of additional qualifiers, but it will be tough. You’ll also have to monitor the other seven qualifiers and make sure that there isn’t too much chaos at a particular weight.

4. Quarterfinal match to watch

The SoCon Championships are wrestled using a 16-man bracket; however, there is typically only one match in that round per weight, so a lot of quarterfinals have already been set. Two of the best quarterfinals to watch both take place at the 165 lb weight class.

On the top half of the bracket, you have Noah Hall (Bellarmine) and Bryce Griffin (Davidson). Down below, you have Anthony Ferrari (Campbell) and Mason Reiniche (Chattanooga).

Even though Griffin is the fourth seed, Hall was victorious in the dual meet 15-8. Griffin likely gets a boost for handing Snipes his only SoCon loss of the season. The winner of this matchup likely has Snipes in the semifinals.

Ferrari is a bit of an enigma. He posted a good win over Sean Seefeldt (Penn) in his Campbell debut and had a solid showing at the Scuffle. A few weeks later, he had a close loss to Snipes and hasn’t competed since. If healthy and at his best, Ferrari is capable of winning this bracket. Reiniche is an Oregon State transfer, who came home for his final year of eligibility. With Chattanooga, Reiniche has been solid (10-9), but he does have three conference losses. The winner of this match likely has the #2 seed Anthony Conetta (Appalachian State).

5. More magic from Bellarmine?

Last year’s SoCon Championships saw Devan Hendricks shock the conference and win the 184 lb title, becoming the first Bellarmine wrestler to qualify for the DI tournament. For good measure, AJ Rallo was selected as an at-large berth a few days later. Can the Knights have a similar performance in 2026?

No Bellarmine wrestler holds a #1 seed, but there are a few wrestlers capable of going on title runs for head coach Ned Shuck’s team. Rallo, along with VMI’s Dyson Dunham, are the only wrestlers in the 141 lb bracket with past NCAA experience. Rallo starts as the #3 seed. His path to the finals would likely include wins over Zander Phaturos (Campbell) and #2 seed Dominic DiTullio (Gardner-Webb). DiTullio defeated him 7-5 in the dual meet this season. The top seed, Hunter Mason (Chattanooga), also had a close win over Rallo.

Bellarmine’s best shot at a qualifier might come from its heavyweight Daulton Mayer. Mayer’s only conference loss this year came to Monchery, 7-3. Last season, Mayer pinned Monchery in dual action, but did not see him at the conference tournament. Mayer will start the tournament as the #2 seed.

Here are a pair of interviews from Appalachian State's Alumni Day on Sunday.

Aldo Hernandez

Logan Eller

The past few weeks have been full of SoCon action - tournaments, dual meets, and our first conference matchup on a battleship. Most of the conference found themselves at the Southeast Open, with top placements including Thomas Snipes (165, CIT) and Beau Lewis (174, VMI) earning gold in the Open and Freshman/Sophomore divisions, and Jeremiah Price (157, ASU) placing second in the Open division. At the Michigan State Open, Cody Kirk (184, DAV) also placed second in the Freshman/Sophomore division. 

This past weekend the Throwdown on the Yorktown II took place. Campbell dropped a 32-6 dual to #2-ranked DII Lander, with Logan Heil (133) and Pablo Macias (157) winning by decision. Anthony Ferrari (165) and Conor Maslanek (197) earned ranked wins over Penn’s #32 Sean Seefeldt and #27 Martin Cosgrove. The Camels faced off against the Presbyterian Blue Hose for their first conference duals of the season. The dual came down to the heavyweight bout - Presbyterian’s Morvens Saint Jean defeated Campbell’s Brycen Arthur, concluding the dual at 21-19. 

*Presbyterian deducted one team point due to unsportsmanlike conduct. 

The Citadel faced off against #30 Maryland and the Air Force Academy. Jacob Silka  (157) and Thomas Snipes (165) were key contributors in both duals, winning both matches by decision. Ultimately, Bulldogs lost both duals - 23-12 against Air Force, and 24-9 against Maryland. 

Gardner-Webb split their duals between #30 Maryland and Air Force. The Runnin’ Bulldogs bested the Falcons 20-18, with Joseph Giordano (157) and Josh McCutchen (197) putting bonus points on the board with major decision victories. The ‘Dawgs lost the dual against Maryland, 27-13, but TK Davis (133) posted an impressive win over #10 Braxton Brown.

App State travelled to the Mountaineer Quad (WVU), and faced off against Princeton, Glenville State, and West Virginia. The Mountaineers lost 25-9 to Princeton, where heavyweight Stephan Monchery won a barnburner in sudden victory 5-2. The Mountaineers then turned around to pick up a win against Glenville State, 36-12. And last but not least, it was the Black and Gold vs the Blue and Gold - App State fell to WVU 31-12, but not without picking up a couple of ranked wins at 141 and 149. Aldo Hernandez (141) bested #24 Jordan Titus 4-2, and #27 Kaden Keiser (149) recorded a 7-3 victory over #15 Willie McDougald.

Updated Rankings:

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel Athletics has elevated Luke Welch to the position of Interim Head Coach of the Bulldogs' wrestling program, per an official release from the department Friday. Welch takes the helm from Ryan LeBlanc, who recently departed for the same role at Binghamton University.

"I can't thank Art Chase and Rachel Fineberg enough for the opportunity to lead this team in the 2025-2026 season," Welch said. "I am extremely grateful and excited to be the Interim Head Coach here at The Citadel. After five seasons being under Coach LeBlanc as an Assistant coach and Associate Head coach, I look forward to the challenges I will face and the opportunity to grow as a coach. The team is excited to get to work and I have high expectations for them both on the mat and in the classroom."

Welch, a graduate of Purdue, joined LeBlanc at The Citadel when the latter took the head coaching position prior to the 2020-21 campaign. Since then, the duo has overseen eight NCAA Wrestling Championship qualifiers -- Michael McAleavy (2021 & 2022), Dazjon Casto (2022), Jeff Boyd (2024), Gylon Sims (2025), Carson DesRosier (2025), Thomas Snipes (2025) & Patrick Brophy (2025) -- along with five Southern Conference individual champions and a total 41 victories across five seasons of action.

"Over the past five seasons, Luke Welch has played an integral role in the growth of Citadel Wrestling in all facets — on the mat, in the classroom, in the South Carolina Corps of Cadets and in the greater Charleston community," Director of Athletics Art Chase said. "We are extremely excited for him to have this opportunity to lead our program with the same core values which have yielded tremendous success over the past half-decade."

Throughout a banner 2024-25 campaign, The Citadel compiled a 10-4 overall record -- marking back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the program -- en route to a second overall finish at the Southern Conference Championship, coming up just one victory short (285 lb championship) of securing the team title. Individually, the Bulldogs claimed three individual SoCon titles via way of Sims (125 lbs), DesRosier (149 lbs) and Snipes (165 lbs) while Brophy (197 lbs) and John Chesser (285 lbs) locked down silver medals within their weight classes as well.

Notably, Snipes, who upset the SoCon Wrestler of the Year in the 165 lb championship, scored the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler honors while LeBlanc was named the league's Coach of the Year. Following the season, six wrestlers – Brophy, DesRosier, Snipes, Tyler Badgett, Micah DiCarlo & Thomas Termini – were all named NWCA DI Scholar All-Americans while The Citadel finished as an NWCA Scholar All-American team, ranking 13th nationally and second within the conference.



 

On Friday morning, the Chattanooga athletic department confirmed that two-time NCAA qualifier Cody Chittum has been added to the Mocs roster after transferring from Iowa State. Chittum is a Tennessee native, so this will be a homecoming, of sorts. 

It is quite the circuitous route to Chattanooga as Chittum initially went to Iowa City and trained with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club with plans to enroll at the University of Iowa. Those never materialized and Chittum ended up across the state wrestling for the Cyclones. Once Chittum went into the transfer portal, he announced he was transferring to Ohio State. Those plans fell through and rumors began to surface that Chattanooga might be Chittum's landing spot. 

While at Iowa State, Chittum made two trips to the NCAA Championships. As a freshman, he was a Big 12 finalist at 157 lbs. He lost in an epic overtime bout against Northern Iowa's Ryder Downey in the finals. Earlier this year, Chittum was sixth at the Big 12 Championships, but won a pair of bouts at the NCAA Tournament. In both appearances, he was given a top 16 seed. 

At one point, during his high school career, Chittum was tabbed the number one overall recruit in the Class of 2023. He later reclassified up a year and didn't appear in the final rankings. 

With Chittum's addition, the Mocs get another jolt in the arm from the transfer portal. Earlier this offseason, Kyle Ruschell's team added two-time national qualifier Cooper Flynn, Class of 2024 top 50 recruit Carter Neves, along with Hunter Mason, Mason Reiniche, and Billy Meiszner. They could head into the 2025-26 campaign as the team to beat in the SoCon. 

Campbell University has announced that TJ Dudley will be promoted to become the program’s next head coach. Dudley came to Campbell a year ago as an assistant coach under then-head coach Scotti Sentes. During Dudley’s first year on staff, Campbell went 11-9, finished third at the SoCon Championships, and sent three wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. 

Dudley also worked closely with 2024 All-American heavyweight Taye Ghadiali, who participated in the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic, but then was lost for the year to injury. 

Before coming to Campbell, Dudley spent three years as an assistant at Brown University. 

As a competitor, Dudley was a three-time All-American for the University of Nebraska. In 2016, he made the finals of the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. He was twice named the program’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. Following his graduation, Dudley continued to compete on the Senior level and finished third at the US Open. 

Dudley will inherit a Campbell program that is in transition. Before the 2024-25 season, the athletic department announced that wrestling would be one of five programs facing a severe funding cut as a result of the school "opting in" to revenue sharing. Shortly after this announcement and after the regular season, there were a handful of notable Campbell wrestlers who entered the transfer portal. At this point in time, none of the wrestlers on the Camels roster have previous NCAA experience. 

One of the main themes of the 2025 offseason has been the transfer portal. Frankly, it was a huge talking point last year. It will be for the foreseeable future in college wrestling (and college athletics, in general). With old-school wrestling fans, mentioning the transfer portal tends to elicit uneasy feelings and a desire to return to the “old days,” when you could project a team’s lineup in April because you knew who they had coming into school, who they had graduating, and who was returning. 

Now, with the portal, a lineup could be remade in an offseason. Oklahoma State added three multi-time All-Americans in the 2024 offseason and went from tenth place at nationals to third in Philly. 

Rumors of six-figure deals have been commonplace and agreements/pressure to enter the transfer portal have been viewed as “the cost of doing business” in this era. When a friend of a particular program educates an athlete on what he/she might be able to earn after a transfer, it isn’t coming from the coaching staff so it may not technically be a violation. 

In general, the transfer portal can be a dirty business and not necessarily fun for the veteran fan. But today, I want to discuss the other side of the transfer portal. That other side, a more positive side, has been evident from the way Chattanooga has been conducting business these past few months. 

As the power programs are upgrading, combined with a pending roster limit (30), there has to be somebody who is squeezed out of a position. Sure, it will be the rare exception when a power program goes into the season with a glaring weakness in the lineup. Now, they can just throw money at a veteran transfer. 

So the way this ecosystem works, as wrestlers are recruited over or lose a starting spot to a transfer, they might feel the need to transfer themselves and are looking for a home. In many cases, these wrestlers have experienced the Big Ten (or other major programs) and the luster has either worn off or the idea of mat time is more important. 

That’s where a school like Chattanooga comes in. So far, in this transfer portal era, we’ve looked at the smaller programs and lamented the fact when a program recruits and develops a talent like a Michael Caliendo or Nasir Bailey, and they leave for a big payday. And that could happen at Chattanooga. One of their incoming recruits could shine right away, win matches at NCAA’s, and be vulnerable to the predators from the top ten. During this offseason, the Mocs did lose a pair of NCAA qualifiers in Blake Boarman and Sergio Desiante. 

These concerns will always be there for a smaller program; however, in this instance, they’ve added four recruits - three of which were top 100 recruits coming out of high school. Cooper Flynn (Minnesota - 125), Hunter Mason (Virginia Tech - 141) and Carter Neves (Ohio State - 285). Billy Meiszner of Kent State is the fourth transfer. 

Flynn is a two-time NCAA qualifier who won two matches at the 2025 tournament. In his two years as a starter, he made the ACC finals and finished seventh in the Big Ten. 

Mason has a combined record of 21-14 during his redshirt season and his freshman year in 2024-25. He hasn’t set the world on fire, but has some good wins - one of which came against Chattanooga’s 2024 national qualifier Isaiah Powe. 

Neves was an Ironman and Beast of the East champion - along with an appearance in the UWW U17 Trials finals in freestyle. He has yet to wrestle a collegiate match and has four years of eligibility remaining at heavyweight. 

Meiszner had a victory over 2025 SoCon champion Carson DesRosier (The Citadel) as one of his two wins over national qualifiers in 2024-25. 

Over the course of an offseason, Chattanooga remade 40% of their lineup, all of which should be able to contend for SoCon titles in 2026 and more. That’s huge for a program that has been trying to fight with Appalachian State and Campbell to regain control of the conference. 

Another sign of the times in sports and specifically college wrestling is “load management.” While Chattanooga will wrestle a full schedule with as many dates as Ohio State or Virginia Tech might, the competition is different. Would a veteran like Flynn be better, fresher, and ready to thrive in Cleveland after not wrestling as grueling of a schedule? 

Also, Flynn and Mason both went to high school in Tennessee. Maybe with a support system closer to home, each will improve their performance on the mat. 

The new-look Mocs will be an interesting team to follow in the 2025-26. Their offseason additions, along with recruits and returning team members, might make them the front-runner for the conference title. And perhaps some impressive individual accolades. 

So, as we lament the portal and all of the potentially negative aspects that come along with it, remember there are ways in which it can benefit more than just the normal NCAA team trophy contenders. 

Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine)

Stephan Monchary (Appalachian State)

JohnMark Bentley (Appalachian State)

Ryan LeBlanc (The Citadel)

Ned Shuck (Bellarmine)

2025 SoCon Championships Final Results

Team Scores

1. Appalachian State  79.5

2. The Citadel  73.5

3. Campbell  71.5

4. Chattanooga  66

5. Gardner-Webb  50

6. Bellarmine  45.5

7. VMI  10.5

8. Davidson  6

9. Presbyterian  5

Championship Finals

125 - Gylon Sims (The Citadel) dec Tyson Lane (Gardner-Webb)  7-6

133 - TK Davis (Gardner-Webb) dec Blake Boarman (Chattanooga)  5-4

141 - Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) dec Shannon Hanna (Campbell)  2-2RTTB

149 - Carson DesRosier (The Citadel) dec Kaden Keiser (Appalachian State)  4-1SV

157 - Noah Castillo (Chattanooga) dec Chris Earnest (Campbell)  4-2

165 - Thomas Snipes (The Citadel) dec Will Miller (Appalachian State)  4-1

174 - Sergio DeSiante (Chattanooga) dec Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State)  4-2

184 - Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) dec Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga)  4-3

197 - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec Patrick Brophy (The Citadel)  8-5SV

285 - Stephan Monchery (Appalachian State) dec Jonathan Chesser (The Citadel)  6-5
 

Third Place Bouts

125 - Anthony Molton (Campbell) dec Jack Parker (Bellarmine)  16-15

133 - Chad Bellis (Appalachian State) maj George Rosas (The Citadel)  5-0

141 - AJ Rallo (Bellarmine) maj Eli Knight (Chattanooga)  12-3

149 - Wynton Denkins (Campbell) FFT Joseph Giordano (Gardner-Webb)

157 - Jeremiah Price (Appalachian State) maj Drew Pepin (Gardner-Webb)  17-4

165 - Dom Baker (Campbell) dec Jackson Hurst (Chattanooga)  8-5SV

174 - Riley Augustine (Campbell) dec Ben Haubert (The Citadel)  11-8

184 - Logan Eller (Appalachian State) MedFFT Braxton Lewis (VMI)

197 - Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) maj Andrew Liber (Bellarmine) 13-3

285 - Daulton Mayer (Bellarmine) dec Josh Evans (VMI)  4-0

True Second Place Matches

133 - Blake Boarman (Chattanooga) dec Chad Bellis (Appalachian State)  4-1SV

141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) dec AJ Rallo (Bellarmine)  3-2

NCAA Qualifiers

Appalachian State: Stephan Monchery (285)

Bellarmine: Devan Hendricks (184)

Campbell: Shannon Hanna (141), Levi Hopkins (197)

Chattanooga: Blake Boarman (133), Noah Castillo (157), Sergio Desiante (174)

Gardner Webb: TK Davis (133), Todd Carter (141)

The Citadel: Gylon Sims (125), Carson DesRosier (149), Thomas Snipes (165), Patrick Brophy (197)

Hey besties,

Welcome to the postseason - the Southern Conference will certainly spice things up this year with a two-day tournament and nine-man brackets. But first, let’s talk about allocations. Each of the ten weight classes has received one allocation for the NCAA Championships, with 133, 141, and 197 classes earning two bids at their weights, which almost always includes a round of true second-place matches at the conclusion of the championship round.

The team race will be fun to watch - The Citadel and Bellarmine are both contenders for top-three placements. Bellarmine has the #1 seed at 184 (Devan Hendricks) and heavyweight (Daulton Mayer). Speaking of heavyweight, Campbell’s Taye Ghadiali entered the transfer portal this week listed as ‘Do Not Contact,’ after ending his season due to injury in December. Pivoting back to the team race - App State and Campbell ended the regular season as co-champions, Campbell losing to The Citadel 11-24, only to turn around and defeat App State 21-15. In our pre-conference tournament rankings, App State has three ranked wrestlers, #7 Will Miller (165), #28 Luke Uliano (174), and #30 Carson Floyd (197). The same for Campbell, #24 Anthony Molton (125), #21 Shannon Hanna (141), and #21 Levi Hopkins (197). All six of these wrestlers are the #1 and #2 seeds in their weights as well. 

This season was full of twists and turns, which is why it wouldn’t color me surprised to see some upsets and rematches this weekend. 

While I can’t predict the future, I’d like to make some fun predictions for the weekend:

• Bellarmine will make history with their program’s first (and possibly second) national qualifiers at 184 (Devan Hendricks) and heavyweight (Daulton Mayer).
• The conference will end up with at least 4 at-large bids, likely at 165, 174, 197, and heavyweight. 
• 197 rematches will SURELY include Brophy/Floyd semis rematch, and possibly a Floyd/Hopkins final.

The SoCon usually gets the least amount of allocations, which means every match matters. This tournament is high stakes and the arena is essentially a pressure cooker. We laugh, we cry, we celebrate, we throw bricks, some of us may be thrown out…but at the end of the day, we’re all here for the sport we love.

Hopefully, I’ll see some of y’all in Asheville or Philly - as always, don’t be shy come say hi!!

xoxo

After a 24-17 win over rival Chattanooga, Appalachian State head coach JohnMark Bentley and 197 lber Carson Floyd spoke with Rachel Gallardo. Bentley talks about the youth on the squad this season and what they need to do in as we move closer to the postseason. Floyd, a homegrown NC wrestler, talks about wrestling in his home state and the changes he's made to be successful in Boone. 

Head Coach JohnMark Bentley

#30 197 lber Carson Floyd

The rash of season-ending injuries to All-American wrestlers continues to mount as we learned this morning that Campbell heavyweight Taye Ghadiali has been lost for the year. 

There were rumblings about Ghadiali’s status last night and Camel head coach Scotti Sentes posted on X to confirm Ghadiali’s injury today. 

Taye Ghadiali will be injury redshirting this season. He will not be listed as a designated starter so will not be rankable in this first coaches rank.

He is projected to make a full and speedy recovery and will pursue an NCAA title come 2026.

— Scott Sentes (@TheCoachSentes) January 20, 2025

In limited action, Ghadiali has gone 4-2 during the 2024-25 campaign and is currently ranked sixth in the nation. Not included in that record is an All-Star Classic win over Ohio State’s Nick Feldman. The two losses on Ghadiali’s resume have come against opponents currently ranked in the top four nationally. Ghadiali has been out of action since late-December at the Knockout Christmas Classic. 

Last year, Ghadiali went 36-6 and finished eighth in the nation at 285 lbs. In doing so, he became only the second Campbell wrestler to earn NCAA All-American honors. Ghadiali earned his place with an 8-5 sudden victory win in the bloodround over EIWA champion Nathan Taylor of Lehigh. 

Two weeks earlier, Ghadiali claimed his third consecutive SoCon title. In December of 2023, Ghadiali was third at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, in a loaded bracket. Ghadiali’s exploits on the mat led him to earn SoCon Wrestler of the Year honors in 2024. 

Through four-plus years of competition, Ghadiali sports a 90-24 career record. 

As mentioned in Sentes’ post, Campbell expects to get a medical waiver for the 2024-25 season which would make him eligible for next season. 

Within the last few weeks, it has been made public that All-Americans Dylan Ragusin, Rocky Elam, Jore Volk, and Ty Watters have been lost for the year due to injuries. Also at heavyweight, it seems like a sure bet that Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida will miss the season. 

Hey friends, happy New Year!

It’s been a while, I know, but let’s catch up on what’s been going on in the SoCon. 

Bellarmine started out strong after Christmas, placing seventh overall at the Soldier Salute, putting four wrestlers on the podium. Jack Parker (125), Keenan Wyatt (184), Devan Hendricks (184), and Daulton Mayer (285) took home top-eight placements. 

Notable wins for Mayer included a fall over Iowa’s Easton Fleshman and a 10-6 victory over then-ranked #26 Daniel Herrera of Iowa State. Wyatt and Hendricks battled it out for the 7th-place bout, where Hendricks sought a victory over the redshirt freshman Wyatt. 

The Knights wasted no time getting back to work, this time heading to the Southern Scuffle, hosted by UT-Chattanooga. The conference was well-represented, with eight of the nine schools in attendance (missing VMI). Out of a total of 110 SoCon entries, the conference produced 21 placements - Campbell and The Citadel leading the pack with 5 placewinners, followed by UTC with 4, Gardner-Webb with 3, and Bellarmine and Davidson with 2. Program milestones were made for Bellarmine and Davidson, as they had their program’s first podium finishes at the Scuffle. Another first was earned by UTC’s Sergio DeSiante, the 174lb Southern Scuffle Champion, and shared the limelight with teammate Jackson Hurst (165) after securing a fifth-place finish. Fun Scuffle trivia: this is the third time that the Mocs have sent 2+ wrestlers to the semifinals, another time in 2006, and last year’s Scuffle, with four wrestlers in the semifinal round. 

DeSiante’s path to a championship included a 7-6 semifinal victory over Virginia Tech’s Lennox Wolak, defeating Oklahoma’s top-ten Gaven Sax, 3-2. DeSiante saw an improvement in his ranking post-Scuffle, from 33 to 27 (now 26). 

The Citadel was the only other SoCon program to have a finalist - 197lb Pat Brophy. Brophy finished the tournament with two major decision victories and two wins by decision. The finals bout against Connor Mirasola (PSU) was lost by a 7-3 decision. 

SoCon Scuffle Placewinners:

125

• 3rd - Anthony Molton (CAMP)
• 8th - Jeff Jacome (GWU)

133

• 5th - Blake Boarman (UTC)
• 6th - TK Davis (GWU)
• 8th - Bryce Luna (UTC)

141

• 4th - Shannon Hanna (CAMP)
• 7th - AJ Rallo (BU)
• 8th - Tyson Sherlock (DAV)

149

• 4th - Wynton Denkins (CAMP)
• 6th - Tyler McKnight (DAV)
• 7th - Carson Desrosier (CIT)

157

• 3rd - Tyler Badgett (CIT)
• 8th - Hayden Watson (CIT)

165

• 5th - Thomas Snipes (CIT)
• 6th - Jackson Hurst (UTC)
• 7th - Domomic Baker (CAMP)

174 

• 1st - Sergio DeSiante (UTC)

197

• 2nd - Patrick Brophy (CIT)
• 5th - Levi Hopkins (CAMP)
• 8th - Josh McCutchen (GWU)

285

• 8th - Daulton Mayer (BU)

The Camels took to the mat at the F&M Open this past weekend - boasting two champions, five semifinalists, and six placements. Anthony Molton (125) and Wynton Denkins (149), both finished at the top of their weights, followed by runners-up Cooper Shore (125), Shannon Hanna (141), Levi Hopkins (197), and Chris Earnest’s (157) sixth place finish.

The Citadel hosted App State for their first conference dual of the season. Starting off at 125 lbs, the Bulldogs’ own Gylon Sims defeated Bryson Terrell by an 8-2 decision. App State answered with nine wins, besting the Bulldogs 31 to 3. The marquee matchup of the weekend came at 197 - both ranked opponents, Pat Brophy (CIT) and Carson Floyd (APP), were neck and neck the entire match, with Floyd pushing ahead with a 4-3 victory. The Bulldogs were tough this dual, and I’m looking forward to watching their performance throughout this conference season. 

Last, but certainly not least, the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs faced off against ACC foes Duke. Call Mike Wazowski and the Child Detection Agency because we have a 23-19! (joke posted for reference)

Anyway - the Dawgs started off strong with four back-to-back wins from 125 through 149, Jeff Jacome (125) and Todd Carter (141) put some bonus points on the board by way of a major decision and tech fall, respectively. After three losses, Jackson Potts (184) and Josh McCutchen (197) sealed the deal for the Dawgs, earning a Power 5 win. 

SoCon in the Rankings:

125

• 25 - Anthony Molton (CAMP)

133

• 26 - Blake Boarman (UTC)
• 29 - TK Davis

141

• 20 - Todd Carter (GWU)
• 26 - Shannon Hanna (CAMP)

165

• 8 - Will Miller (APP)
• 32 - Dom Baker (CAMP)

174 

• 26 - Sergio DeSiante (UTC)

184

• 31 - Billy Janzer (CIT)

197

• 31 - Levi Hopkins (CAMP)
• 32 - Carson Floyd (APP)
• 33 - Pat Brophy (CIT)

285

• 6 - Taye Ghadiali (CAMP)

• Campbell Competes in Dual at the Daddy

The Camels started the season with a bang, competing against Wyoming in the Dual at the Daddy in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Camels lost 28-12 but put up a fight against the Cowboys. Team points were scored at 149, 174, and 285 - Eugene Harney (149, CAMP), served up an upset against #15 Gabe Willochell (WYO), Harney’s first collegiate dual AND win. Dom Baker put some bonus points on the board with a major decision victory over Brett McIntosh, and top-10-ranked Taye Ghadiali ended the evening on a high note with a technical fall against Kevin Zimmer. Anthony Molton (125) wrestled a barnburner against #2 Jore Volk, ultimately losing 2-0. 

• Throwdown on Yorktown

This event was the first time college wrestling was hosted on the flight deck of the historic USS Yorktown, hosted in Charleston, SC by The Citadel. The event also raised over $1,300 for the SC Wrestling Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the competition was cut short due to weather/climate conditions. The Citadel was bested by UVA 24-11, but not before posting three wins at 149, 184, and 197 pounds. Patrick Brophy (197) has appeared in the rankings the past couple of weeks, blazing ahead with a 4-1 match record after week two of wrestling. Gardner-Webb also threw down on the Yorktown, clinching victories at 141 and 157 pounds, but ultimately was defeated by the Black Knights 35-6. Todd Carter (141) has made an appearance in the rankings in the past couple of weeks as well, currently sitting at #29, up from #33 after week one. 

• Journeymen WrangleMania 

Campbell beats Cal Baptist 24-17

The Camels picked up a hefty win over Cal Baptist, securing wins at seven out of ten weights. Anthony Molton (125) and Taye Ghadiali (285) started and ended the dual with falls, putting up bonus points for the Camels.

VMI beats Sacred Heart 24-19

VMI came back strong after a loss from Franklin & Marshall, beating Sacred Heart. Five victories from the Keydets included four falls - again, racking up those bonus point victories. Braxton Lewis and Patrick Jordon both secured falls in this dual against Sacred Heart AND against F&M. Which leads me to my next point of business…

• VMI Holds Back-to-Back SoCon Wrestlers of the Week

VMI has started off strong this season, competing at the Journeymen WrangleMania and at the Collegiate Classic - and has crowned two SoCon Wrestlers of the Week. Patrick Jordon (149) and #33 Braxton Lewis (184). Jordon earned the remarks after winning first place in the Freshman/Sophomore division at the Southeast Open. His teammate, Lewis (184), earned the honor for week two after securing wins against opponents from Franklin & Marshall and Sacred Heart (WrangleMania Duals), and upset two-time national qualifier Cael Valencia (Arizona State) by 12-0 major decision (Journeymen Collegiate Classic). 

• Ghadiali to Wrestle in All-Star Classic

Campbell’s own All-American Taye Ghadiali will compete at the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic. Currently ranked at #9, Ghadiali will wrestle against #3 Nick Feldman from Ohio State. I can’t wait to watch this on Saturday night - I’m a big numbers/stats girlie, and I love using WrestleStat’s comparison tool on their site (this is not a sponsored post LOL). But, per the site, it looks like it’ll be a barnburner of a match. Historically, the two are 1-1 - where Ghadiali’s victory was via injury default, and Feldman’s was a 10-4 decision. This is such a super cool opportunity for the SoCon to be showcased, and for the student-athletes - don’t miss out on this awesome event! 

• SoCon Tournament Returns to Asheville

One of the bigger questions I’ve been waiting to have answered is this right here: where in the world is the Southern Conference Wrestling Championship? (If you watched Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego please leave a comment and tell me you understood the joke). The Southern Conference announced they will be returning to Asheville for 2025 and 2026 championship dates, at the Kimmel Arena (UNC Asheville). Another change? It will be a two-day event - held on the 7th and 8th of March. So go ahead and enter that PTO (or as I like to call it, prepare the others) so you can enjoy a nice long weekend in the mountains. Eyes have been on Western North Carolina recently, following Hurricane Helene and the devastation she left behind. While Asheville is still in recovery mode, I’m sure they’ll greatly benefit from the tourism this upcoming March. 

• SoCon Wrestlers in the rankings: (16) 

125

#29 Anthony Molton (Campbell)

133

#23 Dom Zaccone (Campbell)

#31 Blake Boarman (UTC)

141

#23 Isaiah Powe (UTC)

#29 Todd Carter (GWU)

#31 Shannon Hanna (Campbell)

157

#27 Noah Castillo (UTC)

165

#8 Will Miller (App St)

174

#26 Dom Baker (Campbell)

#31 Sergio DeSiante (UTC)

184

#28 Billy Janzer (The Citadel)

#33 Braxton Lewis (VMI)

197

#18 Levi Hopkins (Campbell)

#31 Patrick Brophy (The Citadel)

#32 Connor Strong (UTC)

285

#9 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell)

Hi besties, long time no see. Leaves are falling, the wind is a little chillier, and wrestling mats have been rolled out. It’s time to talk about our SoCon season.

The Camels added TJ Dudley to their coaching staff this summer. Dudley, a three-time All-American at 184 lbs (Nebraska), comes to the Creek following three seasons of coaching at Brown University. 

Speaking of Nebraska, the Camels will host the #3 Cornhuskers on November 15, on the infield at the historic Jim Perry Stadium. Intermission will feature a star-studded exhibition presented by CLAW Wrestling between Jordan Oliver and Bryce Andonian. The match that will surely bring the heat on that chilly Friday in November. Also, it’s looking like a 125lb rematch of (former) SoCon rivals #25 Anthony Molton and #4 Caleb Smith (NEB). 

But before I get ahead of myself with the schedule, Campbell, continuing to wow fans with fun venues to experience wrestling - from aircraft hangars to battling at barns, the Camels know how to make wrestling fun. Dual at the Daddy will take place on the spookiest night of the year - Halloween. At Frontier Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the Camels and the (#25 Wyoming) Cowboys are set to face off for a special dual. So special, it required a waiver from the NCAA to begin the season on October 31. The scary-good matchup of the evening will be at 197 lbs - #17 Joey Novak (WYO) vs #20 Levi Hopkins. Hopkins, the returning Southern Conference Champion, would be defending his 2-0 streak against Novak. 

Jake Patacsil is another addition to the Campbell Wrestling staff. Patacsil boasts a rich coaching resume - having held assistant coaching positions at NAIA and NCAA DI and DII programs, Coach Patacsil was also the head coach for the inaugural season of Mount Olive’s wrestling program (2018). An All-American at 149 for Purdue, Patacsil is likely working with the middleweights.

Campbell is slated to host five duals this season and will be on the road for WrangleMania, the Knockout Collegiate Classic, the Southern Scuffle, the Chippewa Challenge, and a SoCon Showdown in Boone against rival App State. For those who aren’t aware, the Chippewa Challenge (one of my favorite college wrestling dual series), is in honor of Coach Tom Borrelli, who coached the head coaches of the other schools competing, while at Central Michigan. Scotti Sentes (Campbell), Luke Smith (CSU Bakersfield), and Jason Borelli (American, also Tom’s son), wrestled for Coach Borelli. A reunion with some competition is always a recipe for a good time. 

We’ve talked about the new faces on the team, now it’s time to welcome back the seasoned starters. Starting at heavyweight: #7 Taye Ghadiali. Coming off of a 35-6 campaign in 2024, Ghadiali was named SoCon Wrestler of the Year, Southern Conference Champion, and achieved All-American status. #20 Levi Hopkins, the Alaskan Assassin, is the returning 197 lb Southern Conference Champion for the Camels. A notable opponent for Hopkins this season comes from CSU-Bakersfield, #1 AJ Ferrari. A world team member representing the Bahamas, Shannon Hanna (#28), returns to the mat after wrestling unattached last season. At 133, Dom Zaccone (#20), returns after a third consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships and a second place finish at the Southern Conference Championships. In 2024, Dom Baker qualified for nationals for the first time but will move up in weight to 174 lbs. Last, but certainly not least, #25 Anthony Molton (125), returns after an undefeated SoCon dual season, though he finished third at the Southern Conference Championships. 

The Camels are vying for a chance at the SoCon Championship after last year’s second-place tournament finish, and another dual-team title. They’ll start the conference season on January 17 in Boiling Springs against the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs.

“I am committed to continuing our winning tradition both academically and athletically. I look forward to the work ahead with a focus on providing a championship caliber experience for our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the entire Campbell family. The future is bright for Campbell Athletics.”

Those are the words for Campbell University’s Director of Athletics Hannah Bazemore shortly after being named the school’s athletic director in November 2022. 

Those words rang hollow just a day after the school’s wrestling team learned that they would have a significant amount of funding cut from them. Starting in the 2025-26 school year, the wrestling program will only be given three scholarships which is a sharp decrease from the nine they had been working with. In what seems to be an unusual move, wrestlers who wish to keep their scholarships would not be allowed to compete. 

InterMat reached out to AD Bazemore for comment on this story and/or more information about this situation and has yet to receive a response as of Tuesday morning. 

Men’s and women’s soccer, golf, tennis, and volleyball are also said to be impacted. 

This change comes on the heels of the school’s move from the Big South Conference to the Coastal Athletic Association (formerly the Colonial Athletic Association). The move put Campbell in a conference that stretches from Charleston, South Carolina to Boston, Massachusetts. It was likely supposed to boost the school’s profile in football and basketball but generally has added more in travel expenses for everyone else - a common thread in conference realignment. 

Another “big-picture” change that’s in play here is the announcement that college athletics must share revenue with their athletes. Campbell has reportedly "opted in" to participate in revenue sharing in the future. Administrators can stomach sharing revenue with football and basketball teams, but everyone else, not so much. That plays a part in this decision. 

The main theme here is that the school and the athletic department have grossly mismanaged their budget and overspent and athletes who had nothing to do with their incompetence are left holding the bag. In today’s NIL world, holding the bag is actually a good thing - in this context, it isn’t. 

In my seventeen years of covering collegiate wrestling, I’ve seen too many colleges drop wrestling. I could look up the number, but it would be just another painful stomach punch during a rough couple of days. 

Usually, when a program is dropped or the funding is severely cut, you have to step back and look at the wrestling program as a whole. There tend to be multiple factors that contribute to the death. Lack of competitiveness on the mat, lack of attendance or fan interaction/interest, an out-of-touch coaching staff, and a team that doesn’t get the job done in the classroom or on campus are all hallmarks of a program that gets dropped by the administration. 

With Campbell, none of those factors apply. Though they just missed out on the InterMat preseason team rankings, Campbell finished the 2023-24 season ranked #22 in the nation in duals. Since 2021-22, the team has combined to go 41-7 and 21-2 in SoCon matches. Last season ended with heavyweight Taye Ghadiali becoming the second All-American in school history. In the 2022-23 season, Campbell notched wins over two Big Ten teams. A year prior, they downed an ACC opponent and pulled an upset over #16 Lehigh. Campbell’s staff also got in done on the recruiting trail inking the #24 overall recruiting class in the country with six of the top-250 prospects in the country. 

The Campbell coaching staff and support staff have done an excellent job in making the team relevant for reasons outside of wins and losses. Their social media presence is excellent and always on the cutting edge - typically, displaying more humor than most team accounts. Campbell has also developed a partnership with UFC FightPass who has streamed a handful of their duals. The Campbell/UFC FightPass partnership hasn’t been limited to “just showing” matches, but the team has worked in conjunction with opponents to provide unique atmospheres to promote these duals. 

In 2022-23, Campbell wrestled Michigan and North Carolina in the “Battle at Bragg.” The teams squared off in a hangar at Pope Army Airfield on the base formerly known as Fort Bragg (now Liberty). Last year, Campbell and Army West Point had a similar dual. A few weeks later, Campbell defeated Wyoming in the “Battle in the Barn” The dual took place in a specially renovated barn at an altitude of 8,000 feet on Deerwood Ranch in Wyoming. This season, they are set to take on #3 Nebraska on the school’s baseball field. The bottom line is Campbell’s wrestling program has repeatedly thought out of the box to make their matches more than just another wrestling match, they’re trying to create events and build or increase their fanbase. 

Campbell has also taken care of business in the classroom. Over the last four years, they have been mentioned each time in the NWCA’s Team Scholar Athlete Awards - with the highest ranking coming in 2022 when their team GPA was fifth in the country at 3.484. The 2021 team was 15th, 2023 was 14th and the team was 28th last year. 

Campbell and Campbell’s staff have checked all of the appropriate boxes when it comes to doing their part in running a successful program, so why does this happen? 

As with most things in college athletics, the answer lies in money. Unless your team is generating massive amounts of money or you’re one of the select few blue-blood wrestling programs, this could happen to you. The wrestling team has already had to reportedly raise over six figures per year to make their operating budget and that was with nine scholarships. 

The sad reality is that there’s an unofficial playbook for administrators in these seemingly dire financial situations. 

It’s either eliminating programs without warning or floating the idea that programs will be dropped or funding will be severely cut - leading to donors stepping up and saving the program and endowing it for the future, thus easing financial burdens off of them. Of course, if the donors do not get to a level that is acceptable to the school, they can just eliminate the team and it’s another line item off the balance sheet. 

We’re thankful that AD Bazemore did not use option one. It irritates me that we’ll have to work with the second option again (see Stanford), but I’d rather the wrestling community have the option to save a program than not. Going forward, this may be a more common occurrence. 

Now, I’m here talking about worst-case scenarios. I know Campbell head coach Scotti Sentes a little bit. With nine scholarships or three, he’s still going to put his all into making Campbell a viable program and doing right by his student-athletes. But make no mistake, he’ll have his work cut out for him. There will likely be a handful of current wrestlers in the transfer portal and some talented recruits decommit. As of now, InterMat has seen six verbals for Campbell from the Class of 2025. 

InterMat reached out for a comment from the parent of a current Campbell starter who replied,

“I’m at a loss honestly. I have no idea what my child should do. I don’t know how he protects himself. He has trusted the process, trusted the people in charge, and planned his college career in line with what made the most sense for him to be the best version of himself both on the mat and classroom.  I know life lessons can be really rough… just hoping this doesn’t actually pan out to be one.” 

You also have to feel for current Campbell stars Anthony Molton and Shannon Hanna. Both were team members on the Old Dominion team that was dropped after the 2019-20 season. After leaving Old Dominion, Molton transferred to Fresno State, who dropped their team after the 2021 season. A brief look at Molton's resume by the uninformed eye might lead one to think he’s an example of what’s wrong with college athletics with two transfers - three schools in three years. Technically, they’d be right, but for the opposite reason. Molton is an example of being collateral damage for the failures of college administrators, over and over again. 

After a couple of minutes on Campbell University’s homepage, I stumbled across the school’s mission statement. There’s the statement itself, but after there are 12 points the University says it will do to fulfill the mission. I’d implore AD Bazemore and anyone involved with the decision-making process to re-read points #3 and #7. #3: influences development of moral courage, social sensitivity, and ethical responsibility. #7 encourages students to think critically and creatively. 

Are you holding yourself to the same standards that you’re holding these young men and women to? Think creatively and show moral courage, social sensitivity, and ethical responsibility. 

Back to our quote from AD Bazemore: 

“I am committed to continuing our winning tradition both academically and athletically. I look forward to the work ahead with a focus on providing a championship caliber experience for our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the entire Campbell family. The future is bright for Campbell Athletics.”

Make sure the future is indeed bright for Campbell athletics. Not just holding out hope that a magical football run or Final Four berth in basketball will save you. The wrestling team is one that has delivered the championship caliber experience for Campbell. Do your best to support them rather than gut the program. 

To donate and support Campbell wrestling please follow this link . Make sure wrestling scholarships are noted in your donation. 

Make your voice heard by the Campbell administration. While we are all emotional about this situation, please be respectful of AD Bazemore or any administrators to contact. Personal attacks only make the program look worse and likely decrease their desire to help.

We’re now going down south to the SoCon to check out one of the perennial conference favorites Campbell. The Camels are led by Scotti Sentes who is heading into his fifth seed as head coach. 

Campbell returns a squad that features four 2024 national qualifiers and another coming off of an Olympic redshirt. 

In 2023-24, Campbell went 14-3 in dual competition and finished ranked 22nd in the nation in dual rankings. Some of the Camels notable dual wins include Army West Point, MAC champion Central Michigan, and rivals Appalachian State. 

While the SoCon tournament was not what Campbell hoped for, they did reach an impressive benchmark at nationals. 

Looking ahead to 2024-25, Campbell will likely feature an experienced lineup with the potential to challenge the seven national qualifiers that the 2021 team produced. Additionally, could Campbell place multiple wrestlers on the podium or have a multiple-time AA? I guess we’ll have to stick around for the upcoming season to find out. 
 

125: Anthony Molton

The Camels spark plug is back at 125 lbs and looking to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in his career. Molton was 21-5 last season and spent a significant amount of time in the national rankings, but a semifinal loss at the SoCon Championships coupled with a few other upsets at other conference tournaments was deemed too much for him to receive an at-large berth. 

A factor that may have hampered Molton in his NCAA bid was his lack of elite wins. Molton teched then-undefeated Jack Maida (American) for his first loss of the year; however, Maida struggled after that point and didn’t qualify himself. He also had at least one other dual where a ranked wrestler was not sent out to face him. 

Back in 2022-23, Molton made fans take notice when he knocked off the eventual NCAA runner-up, Matt Ramos (Purdue) - his old high school teammate. The two met once last season and Ramos prevailed both times. Two of his other five losses in 2023-24 came to eventual All-American Jore Volk (Wyoming). 

Molton clearly has the goods to make it to Philadelphia and make an impact at the national tournament, he just needs a couple of signature wins and to end the season on a better note. In each of the last two years, Molton has fallen in the SoCon semis. 

Since coming to Campbell after Fresno State dropped their program, Molton has amassed a very respectable 42-18 record. 
 

133: Dom Zaccone

photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com

In 2024-25, Dom Zaccone will be looking to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for a fourth time and capture an elusive SoCon title. In each of the last two seasons, Zaccone has fallen in the conference finals. Last year, 133 lbs was the deepest weight class in the SoCon with three automatic qualifiers and a couple of other fringe qualifiers. Despite this, Zaccone went 6-1 in conference duals with bonus points in five of those wins. His lone loss came to Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State), an opponent who he had defeated earlier in the season at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. 

Once at nationals, Zaccone was granted the #22 seed and went 1-2 - the same record he compiled at the 2023 tournament. In the opening round, Zaccone pulled a slight upset by defeating #11 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) via a 4-1 decision. He’d lose his next bout to the eventual champion, Vito Arujau (Cornell), and then was eliminated by Virginia Tech’s Sam Latona. 

During the regular season, Zaccone really made his mark with a fourth-place finish at the CKLV. In addition to his win over Oakley, Zaccone defeated two more national qualifiers (Farber and Chlebove) and an impressive true freshman (Tyler Knox). 

With Oakley moving on to North Carolina, Zaccone will start the year as an odds-on favorite to finally get his SoCon title. 
 

141: Shannon Hanna

Two-time national qualifier Shannon Hanna took off the 2023-24 season using an Olympic redshirt in an attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games for Barbados. Ultimately, Hanna did not make it to Paris but gained invaluable experience in the process. He earned bronze medals at both the U23 and Senior levels, while competing at the Pan-American Championships. 

Turning our attention back to the collegiate scene, Hanna will be gunning for his third SoCon title in 2024-25. He’s also seeking the chance to make an even bigger impression at the national tournament. Hanna has gone 0-2 in both of his previous trips. 

Even though Hanna’s focus was on freestyle last season, he did enter three open tournaments and went 9-4 along the way. His most impressive win during the year of open competition was during his title-winning performance at the Patriot Open, where he edged impressive Penn grayshirt Cross Wasilewski by a point. 

Hanna will jump back into a 141 lb weight class in the SoCon that was won by Chattanooga true freshman Isaiah Powe. He’ll probably need to win the weight class and post a couple of notable victories to get a better NCAA seed than in the past (#22/#27). That would probably position him better for a deep NCAA run.
 

149: Wynton Denkins

The first three weights for Campbell feature veterans who are trying to fine-tune their games and get to a different level of national competition - but, at 149, they could have a young face that is still trying to establish himself in Wynton Denkins. Denkins is a sophomore who stepped in at 141 lbs last year with Hanna out of the lineup. 

All-in-all, Denkins acquitted himself well and showed flashes of the talent that made him a top-150 recruit in the high school Class of 2023. Denkins finished his first year in Buies Creek with a 15-9 record. During the dual season, Denkins wrestled close matches with the eventual national qualifiers, Powe and Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb). At SoCon’s, Denkins was on the wrong end of a 15-12 shootout against Powe in the semifinals. 

For the 2024-25 campaign, Denkins is expected to move up to the 149 lb weight class. This is a bracket that sent two qualifiers to Kansas City; however, only one (Jeffrey Boyd - The Citadel) returns. That means 149 could be wide open in the conference and perhaps Denkins is someone who seizes control of the opportunity. 
 

157: Chris Earnest

Speaking of second-year sophomore starters, Campbell has another in Chris Earnest. Like Denkins, Earnest was a top-150 recruit from the state of Ohio who found his way into the Camels starting lineup as a true freshman. Earnest’s collegiate career started on a high note with an upset over ranked national qualifier, Nate Lukez (Army West Point), during his debut. 

From there, Earnest seemed to have a season like many freshmen do - a few losses he’d probably like to have back, but some really good moments, as well. Earnest went 2-2 in a 157 lb CKLV bracket that probably featured the toughest in-season field of any single weight class in a decade. The top-six finishers were all All-American’s at least once in their careers and two 2024 AA’s field to find the medal stand. 

A pair of losses to Davidson’s Tanner Peake probably derailed Earnest’s NCAA qualification hopes more than any others. Earnest fell to Peak in dual competition and in the semifinals of the SoCon Championships. 

With a full year in the Campbell room and valuable in-match experience under his belt, I’d expect Earnest to take that next step in 2024-25 and make a serious push for a spot in Philadelphia. Like his teammate Zaccone, one of Earnest’s biggest in-conference hurdles, Tommy Askey, has transferred leaving 157 lbs relatively open in the upcoming season. 
 

165: Dom Baker/Riley Augustine/Kendrick Hodge

In just one offseason, Dom Baker went from a true freshman with a record under .500 to someone who earned an automatic qualifying slot for the conference and used it for his first trip to nationals. Baker started his sophomore year slowly with a 1-2 showing at the CKLV Invitational; however, he turned around his fortunes by promptly winning his next six duals. Included in that streak was an opponent who defeated him in Vegas (Stoney Buell - Purdue) and another who went on to earn All-American honors (Hunter Garvin - Stanford). 

In his first national tournament appearance, Baker went 1-2 with a victory via fall over #23 Derek Fields (NC State). Both wrestlers who defeated him went on to collect All-American honors. 

Since Baker was immediately inserted into the Campbell lineup, in 2022-23, he has a redshirt to take. It appears as if the tandem of Riley Augustine and Kendrick Hodge will get a chance to establish one of themselves as the starter with the intention of redshirting Baker. If neither does so, Baker can be pulled. 

Augustine is a senior who has seen plenty of dual action at 174 lbs for Campbell but has never been the postseason entry. Last year, Augustine was 7-5 overall and 3-3 in dual competition. 

Hodge is a true freshman who was Campbell’s highest-ranked signee in the Class of 2024, coming in at #89 overall. The Florida native was a two-time NHSCA finalist, who capped off his high school career with a Senior National title. 

174: Brant Cracraft

Sentes’ team will try to replace one of their stalwarts at this weight class in Austin Murphy, who was a two-time SoCon champion and a Round of 12 finisher in 2021. 

While Campbell has plenty of options at 174 lbs, some of which are from their Class of 2024, veteran Brant Cracraft may have an early edge on the rest of the field. Cracraft is moving up from 165 lbs where he went 3-7 last season. He saw action in three duals last season and was winless in those. 

Campbell also has veteran Cole Rees and true freshmen Mike Kinzel and Kaleb Wright who could see action at 174 lbs. Rees was 6-15 in 2022-23, but did not see any action last season. 
 

184: Conor Maslanek 

Another weight where Campbell will be replacing a long-time starter is 184 lbs with Caleb Hopkins who has exhausted his eligibility. In steps veteran Conor Maslanek who is in his fourth year with the program and is a redshirt junior. Maslanek wrestled at 197 lbs during his first two years with the team, but moved down to 184 for the 2023-24 campaign. 

With Hopkins in the fold, Maslanek didn’t get many opportunities to take the mat in dual competition; however, he was 1-2 when called upon. Maslanek was 11-7 overall. Certainly, the highlight of his 2023-24 season was a win over Navy’s David Key, who went on to earn All-American honors in Kansas City. A win like that should instill confidence in Maslanek and Campbell fans who are looking for a steady replacement for Hopkins. 
 

197: Levi Hopkins

photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com

The back end of the Campbell lineup has been a strength, of late, and should continue to be one again in 2024-25 with 197 lber Levi Hopkins being one of the reasons for optimism. Hopkins has won SoCon titles in each of the last two years at this weight and even earned a #13 seed at nationals last year. 

Hopkins got off to a decent start last season, but really turned it on winning 15 of his last 16 regular season matches. During that span, Hopkins tallied eight of his 13 falls. Hopkins really was head and shoulders above the rest of the SoCon, as he notched first-period pins in each of his three matches at the conference tournament. 

This year, Hopkins will be looking to make more of an impact at the NCAA meet. In Kansas City, Hopkins suffered a slight upset in the opponent round, with a tiebreaker loss to Evan Bockman (then of Utah Valley). He was eliminated in his next match. 

As is often the case with upperweights, 197 cleared out a bit after last year. That should lead to a good preseason ranking for Hopkins as he tries to prove he’s much closer to the national podium than a 0-2 finish at nationals. 

In the offseason, Coach Sentes brought in former national runner-up and three-time All-American, TJ Dudley as an assistant coach. Hopkins will likely benefit from a new high-caliber coach around his weight. 
 

285: Taye Ghadiali

photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com

The first NCAA All-American under Sentes (as head coach) and only the second one in program history was Taye Ghadiali who finished eighth in Kansas City. Ghadiali is a remarkable development story for the Campbell staff as he was a little-known recruit who fought to a 15-11 record after two seasons, then continued to blossom into a national force and an All-American. 

Ghadiali finished the 2023-24 campaign with a sparkling 36-6 record and claimed his third consecutive SoCon crown along the way. 

At the national tournament, Ghadiali suffered a loss in the Round of 16 but battled back through the consolations with three straight wins to clinch All-American honors. Two of those victories came against top-ten seeds who were conference champions. The bloodround win was in sudden victory over the fifth-seed, EIWA champion Nathan Taylor (Lehigh). 

While Ghadiali was far from an unknown commodity heading into the 2023-24 season, he showed the wrestling world what he was capable of in Vegas with a third-place finish at a loaded weight class. Coincidentally, he earned wins over a pair of wrestlers he’d later beat at NCAA’s (Cory Day - Binghamton and Owen Trephan - NC State). 

Looking ahead to 2024-25, I’d expect more of the same from Ghadiali - lots of wins and lots of bonus points in the process. Ghadiali amassed bonus points in over 70% of his matches last year and racked up 12 falls. We’ll see if Ghadiali can become the first two-time NCAA All-American in program history. 

Previous “Never Too Early Lineup Looks:” 

Air Force

Indiana

Iowa State

Lock Haven

North Carolina

Northern Iowa

Oregon State

West Virginia

Fargo aka 16U and Junior Nationals is upon us. The largest wrestling tournament in the world is set to kick off on Saturday with the women’s freestyle portion of the tournament. Last year’s version of Fargo included over 7,000 participants! 

To get ready for Fargo, we’re looking at the tournament from a collegiate perspective. A recruiting perspective. Over the next few days, we’ll go conference-by-conference to look at recruits from each school who have signed up for the tournament. 

Next up is the SoCon. The SoCon was represented in InterMat's Class of 2024 recruiting rankings by Campbell who came in at #22. Interestingly enough, none of the wrestlers from Campbell's massive Class of 2024 has registered for Fargo. The SoCon is a conference that continues to improve recruiting-wise as a handful of programs have hired new coaches within the last five years. That new blood has proved to be helpful on the recruiting trail. 

Recruits have been grouped by team. They are listed alphabetically alongside the weight listed in USA Wrestling’s registration, the state they represent, and their graduating class. The # next to a wrestler’s name denotes their MatScouts Big Board ranking in their respective class. 

We’ve sorted through six or seven thousand entries to bring you these previews, so there could be a recruit or two that slipped through the cracks. If that’s the case, please let me know. Earl@matscouts.com 

Additionally, no preview or historical analysis for anything Fargo-related could be done without some assistance from Jason Bryant’s massive Fargo Guide. There’s still time to get yours!

Appalachian State

132 lbs: #215 Jarvis Little (Tennessee) - Class of 2024

157 lbs: Ayson Rice (South Dakota) - Class of 2024

Before heading to Boone, a pair of incoming freshmen will compete in Fargo to put the finishing touches on their high school resumes. Ayson Rice has stood out in Greco and was third in 16U Greco-Roman in 2021. Earlier that year, Rice made the finals of the UWW U17 Trials in Greco. A year later, Rice placed for a second time at UWW’s. 

Jarvis Little is a three-time Tennessee state champion who has made the podium at the NHSCA grade-level tournament in each of the last three years. He finished with an appearance in the Senior National finals. 

Bellarmine

285 lbs: Tyler Schott (Indiana) - Class of 2024

157 lbs: Kyle Wojcicki(Kentucky) - Class of 2024

Both of Bellarmine’s recruits are attempting to make a name for themselves on a national stage for the first time. Tyler Schott was an Indiana state qualifier in 2024, but he made the state finals in both of the international styles, winning at freestyle. 

Kyle Wojcicki was a Kentucky state fifth-place finisher during the 2023-24 high school season. He then was a runner-up in both freestyle and Greco-Roman - at the state level. 
 

Campbell

138 lbs: #193 Maximus Brady (Florida) - Class of 2025

138 lbs: #93 EJ Solis (Florida) - Class of 2025

A pair of nationally ranked wrestlers from the Class of 2025 carry the flag for Campbell. EJ Solis got onto the Fargo podium twice in 2022 and hopes to get back. That year, Solis was fifth in 16U freestyle and third in 16U Greco-Roman. Last spring, Solis was an NHSCA Sophomore national champion. 

NHSCA’s is where Maximus Brady has excelled and made his mark on the national scene. He was seventh at the sophomore tournament and third as a junior. Brady will be aiming for his fourth Florida state title in 2025. 
 

Chattanooga

126 lbs: Easton Cooper (Wisconsin) - Class of 2024

190 lbs: #202 Landon Jones (Georgia) - Class of 2024

157 lbs: Brayden Leach (Tennessee) - Class of 2025

215 lbs: Kyle Oliveira (Alabama) - Class of 2024

Some of the most notable members of the Chattanooga Class of 2024 will be in the FargoDome along with a recent commit from the Class of 2025. Landon Jones, the only one to appear on the 2024 Big Board, hasn’t placed at Fargo but was fourth at the Super 32. 

Easton Cooper was a Fargo All-American last year taking eighth place in 16U Greco-Roman at 120 lbs. Cooper was a two-time Wisconsin state medalist and finished as a runner-up his senior season.

Kyle Oliveira was an Alabama state champion who finished his high school career in folkstyle with a seventh-place showing at NHSCA Senior Nationals. At the recent Junior Duals, Oliveira wrestled in both styles, but was undefeated in Greco. 

The only member of the Class of 2025 is Tennessee state champion Brayden Leach. Leach was seventh at NHSCA Junior Nationals. He wrestled in both styles at the Junior Duals and ended up unbeaten in freestyle. 
 

Davidson

150 lbs: #226 Anderson Heap (Florida) - Class of 2024

144 lbs: Blake Reihner (Pennsylvania) - Class of 2024

Davidson had a staggering three Big Boarders during their recruiting Class of 2024, one of which was Florida’s Anderson Heap. Heap has never placed in Fargo but was sixth at NHSCA Sophomore’s and is a two-time Powerade placer. During the high school season, Heap clinched his third Florida state championship. 

Joining Heap in the Class of 2024 is Blake Reihner a two-time Pennsylvania state medalist (5,7). Reihner was also fourth at the NHSCA Sophomore National tournament. 

The Citadel

144 lbs: #131 Kyrel Leavell (Indiana) - Class of 2024

The Citadel signed one of their top recruits in some time by getting Kyrel Leavell who finished the year ranked in the top-150 on the Big Board. Leavell was a four-time state placewinner in Indiana’s one-class championship. He captured a pair of state titles and never finished lower than third in the state. Leavell’s best showing at a national event was when he was fifth at NHSCA Sophomore Nationals. 
 

VMI

120 lbs: Waylon Rogers (Virginia) - Class of 2024

120 lbs: Cody Tanner (Colorado) - Class of 2024

In-state prospect, Waylon Rogers, comes to Fargo as a four-time Virginia state placewinner - winning as a junior and never finishing lower than fourth place. Rogers did get on the NHSCA Senior Nationals podium by taking fifth place. Cody Tanner is a Colorado state fourth-place finisher. He did capture a state title in freestyle in 2024 after falling in the finals last year.

New Campbell assistant coach, TJ Dudley, joins us to talk about his new role with the Camel program. Dudley explains how his relationship with head coach Scotti Sentes has developed over the past two years, getting to work with some talented upperweights, his attitude towards training, and coaching role models. Looking at his career, we discuss how he grew to be a Big Ten recruit coming out of South Carolina, some changes he needed to make in-career to become a title contender, his final NCAA tournament, and hanging it up on the Senior level (or did he?). His Campbell wrestlers better watch out because he gets competitive at handball, ping pong, and overlooked sports. 

For the full interview:

The 2023-24 season is in the record books, but before moving on, it’s time to salute the top performers in each conference. We've already hit on the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 , EIWA , MAC and Pac-12. Let's finish up with the SoCon!

SoCon Wrestler of the Year: Taye Ghadiali (Campbell)

He got his hand raised 36 times throughout the 2023-24 season, but none was bigger for Taye Ghadiali than when it happened in the NCAA bloodround after a win over #5 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) the EiWA champion. In doing so, Ghadiali became just the second Campbell wrestler to earn NCAA All-American honors and the first under current head coach Scotti Sentes. Earlier in the tournament, Ghadiali earned wins over both ACC finalists. He would go on to finish eighth in the nation. 

One of the highlights of the regular season for Ghadiali was a third-place finish at the loaded Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. In six matches, Ghadiali notched wins over four eventual national qualifiers. 

Coming into Vegas, Ghadiali started the year 7-0 with bonus points in each of his seven contests - including three falls over eventual NCAA qualifiers. 

In the SoCon, Ghadiali was head and shoulders above the competition. None of his regular season duals or conference tournament matches went the full seven minutes. That meant that Ghadiali made his fourth SoCon final and captured his third title with little resistance. 

Ghadiali finished the season with a 36-6 record and was 62-11 over the past two years. 

SoCon Freshman of the Year: Isaiah Powe (Chattanooga)

Prior to the 2024 SoCon Championships, you have to go back to 2017 to find a freshman who ended up winning the conference. This year had two; both of which were true freshmen. With apologies to Appalachian State’s Tomas Brooker, we’re focusing on Chattanooga’s 141 lber Isaiah Powe. 

The Alabama native suffered a loss during his first weekend of collegiate competition, then only lost one other time before the NCAA Tournament. One of the highlights from Powe’s regular season was a third place finish at the 2024 Southern Scuffle - in front of his home crowd. Post-Scuffle, Powe went 11-0 and failed to earn bonus points in only two regular season matches. 

In his three SoCon Championship matches, Powe combined to score 46 points. One of those wins came over Gardner-Webb’s national qualifier Todd Carter - an opponent that Powe defeated for the third time this season. 

At nationals, Powe was able to tally a win before his elimination. In the consolations, Powe downed #16 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), a two-time EIWA finalist. 

Powe finished his first campaign in Chattanooga with a 25-4 record and plenty of hope for the future. 

SoCon Coach of the Year: JohnMark Bentley (Appalachian State)

In one of the more difficult decisions of the entire awards section, we’re going with Appalachian State’s leader JohnMark Bentley. The Mountaineers went 10-4 during the 2023-24 campaign; however, they wrestled a difficult out-of-conference schedule that featured the top three teams from the ACC and EIWA champion Cornell. In the middle of December, Appalachian State defeated North Carolina for a second consecutive season. 

After losing the SoCon dual title to Campbell, it appeared as if the Camels were the favorite to regain the championship at the SoCon meet. That wasn’t the case as the Mountaineers stunned their rivals and the rest of the SoCon running away with the title 114 to 97.5. 

Appalachian State finished the conference tournament with half of the ten champions, one of which was a true freshman at 184 lbs (Brooker). 

At the 2024 NCAA Championships, the Mountaineers had three of their five qualifiers win multiple matches. They were led by 157 lber, Tommy Askey, who advanced to the NCAA Round of 12, despite starting as the 19th seed. Along the way, Askey defeated the #11 (Brayton Lee) and #14 (Cody Chittum) seeds. 

Previous Award Winners

SoCon Wrestler of the Year

2023: Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State)

2022: Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State)

SoCon Freshman of the Year

2023: Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State)

2022: Heath Gonyer (Appalachian State)

SoCon Coach of the Year

2023: JohnMark Bentley (Appalachian State)

2022: JohnMark Bentley (Appalachian State)

Hey besties and happy Bracket Day,

I hope the Sunday Scaries didn’t hit y’all too bad this weekend - I know it did a number on me. Conference championships + daylight savings + working = rough times. But it’ll be nothing compared to the fun times that are about to be had in Kansas City: good wrestling, good food, and (my favorite part of it all) good people. But first, let’s talk about the conference championships. 

This weekend had EVERYTHING: upsets, true freshman champions, true second-place matches, and plenty of challenge bricks thrown.

125: Champion - Brayden Palmer (UTC)

The day started off strong for the top four seeds of the bracket - starting out with quarterfinal wins. The semifinals saw an unprecedented upset: Drew West (GWU) pinned Anthony Molton (CAMP). It could be argued that West had Molton pinned earlier in the match - but after a hard switch, West had Molton flat on his back, punching his ticket to the finals. Chad Bellis (APP) and Brayden Palmer (UTC) last met in February, where Bellis bested Palmer 10-0 in the dual. Fast forward to March 9th, Palmer then beats Bellis 5-2 in the semis. Palmer ultimately outshined his opponent in the finals by a 14-2 major decision victory, and will be making his second NCAA appearance in Kansas City.

133: Champion - Ethan Oakley (APP)

The 133lb bracket was (in my opinion) the most difficult - because of the three automatic qualifying slots. So if you lost one of your first matches, the wrestle-back for third mattered very much. The #5 seed from VMI Dyson Dunham (whose mother Billie Sims wrestled in StreetLeague), lost in the semi-final against Domenic Zaccone (CAMP). In the consolation final, Dunham had a rematch with his first-round opponent Tyson Lane (GWU), where he finished the evening with a hefty black eye and the pride of being VMI’s first NCAA qualifier since Neal Richards in 2020 (shout out to VMI’s SID for having that stat readily available). Now we look at the championship side of the bracket: Ethan Oakley’s semifinal bout against UTC’s Blake Boarman ended in a 5-4 decision, much improvement from the results of their last match where Boarman pinned Oakley. Oakley and Zaccone had a rematch from the dual in February, where Oakley had beaten Zaccone via a major decision. The score was substantially closer this time around, Oakley winning 5-4, and ended with Oakley being a conference champion. 

141: Champion - Isaiah Powe (UTC)

True freshman Isaiah Powe finished the season in style - topping off an undefeated conference schedule with a conference championship title and a ticket to KC. Powe earned his victories via technical fall and decision over Presbyterian’s Ryan Luna and Campbell’s Wynton Denkins. Gardner Webb’s Todd Carter’s road to the finals mirrored Powe’s, brandishing a tech fall and decision victory over opponents from Davidson and VMI. “It’s big, I’m happy I did it and put in the work. It’s a blessing to get to go to Nationals,” Powe said. 

Wrestling in the Convocation Center was a new experience for Powe, with his first arena-style wrestling experience being the Southern Scuffle earlier this season. “It’s a little more nerve-wracking, but I got through it.” Powe’s influences in the room are Noah Castillo (149) and Brayden Palmer (125), leaning on some seasoned starters as a true freshman in the lineup. His favorite moment of the season? Winning a conference title.

149: Champion - Cody Bond (APP)

App State’s Cody Bond has been around for quite some time - a seventh-year senior and now a two-time Southern Conference champion, also received the Pinnacle Award. Bond beat The Citadel’s Jeff Boyd, a grad transfer from WVU. Boyd turned around for a true second match against GWU’s Zach Price, where Boyd became The Citadel’s first NCAA qualifier since 2022. 

157: Champion - Tommy Askey (APP)

This bracket was most interesting to watch unfold: in the Earnest (CAMP) vs Peake (DC) semifinal, there was a bit of a tussle at the edge of the mat, resulting in Earnest’s disqualification - not from the tournament, just the match. Peake, a U20 Puerto Rico World Team member, lost by a 9-2 decision to App State’s Tommy Askey. 

165: Champion - Will Miller (APP)

One of the first matches wrestled in the evening, the Miller (APP) vs Baker (CAMP) final ended with Miller on top, winning via 8-3 decision. Campbell’s Dom Baker went on to wrestle UTC’s Kam Munro for true second. Baker and Munro battled head-to-head all three periods, finishing with a 1-0 victory for Baker, who will represent the Camels at the NCAA Championships.

174: Champion - Austin Murphy (CAMP)

Austin Murphy came into the tournament ready to rumble - remaining undefeated in conference competition, Murphy presented a pin over Josh Williams (PRES) in the quarters, and defeated Luke Uliano (APP) 10-8, who went on the wrestle back for third place. #2-seed Braxton Lewis (VMI) wrestled back for a fourth-place finish, after an 8-4 semifinal loss to UTC’s Sergio Desiante. Desiante fell short, after a tough 5-4 battle against Murphy. 

184: Champion - Tomas Brooker (APP)

The true freshman was on top - Tomas Brooker avenged his 0:54 pin loss to Caleb Hopkins (CAMP) earlier this season, scoring an exhilarating takedown at the last second of the championship bout, ending the match with a 5-4 victory. The upset of the day came from Presbyterian’s Caleb Roe, pinning #2-seeded Jha’Quan Anderson in 1:35. Anderson went on to wrestle back for third place. Both Brooker and C. Hopkins served up tech falls in their quarterfinal matches, while Hopkins beat Davidson’s Wyatt Ferguson 7-0, and Brooker posted his first fall of the day against Roe (PRES). In an incredibly tense match, Brooker and Hopkins battled it out until the very last second. 

197: Champion - Levi Hopkins (CAMP)

Levi Hopkins was surely Jagger’s MVP of the weekend - winning a conference title in (I believe) five minutes and six seconds, he made quick work of his finals match, pinning his opponent, Patrick Brophy (CIT) in 0:30. Carson Floyd lost to Brophy in the semifinals 14-10, wrestling back for third place. 

HWT: Champion - Taye Ghadiali (CAMP)

The Southern Conference Wrestler of the Year was at the top of the podium yet again after pinning App State’s Sartorio in the finals bout. Ghadiali has credited leaning on his faith as being an integral part of his season, expressing thankfulness for his teammates and the continued growth they’ve experienced as a program. Ghadiali ends the season as the highest-ranked wrestler in the conference, #9 per the coaches’ poll and InterMat rankings. 

Overall this weekend was a mix of emotions - we laughed, we cried, we had high heart rates, but we had a great time. I’m so thrilled to see y’all in Kansas City!!

xoxo

2024 SoCon Championships

Team Scores

1. Appalachian State  114

2. Campbell  97.5

3. Chattanooga  63.5

4. Gardner-Webb  49.5

5. The Citadel  44.5

6. Davidson  23

7. VMI  18

8. Presbyterian  5.5

Championship Finals

125 lbs - Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) maj Drew West (Gardner-Webb)  14-2

133 lbs - Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) dec Dom Zaccone (Campbell)  5-4

141 lbs - Isaiah Powe (Chattanooga) dec Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb)  14-8

149 lbs - Cody Bond (Appalachian State) dec Jeff Boyd (The Citadel)  2-0

157 lbs - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) dec Tanner Peake (Davidson)  9-2

165 lbs - Will Miller (Appalachian State) dec Dom Baker (Campbell)  8-3

174 lbs - Austin Murphy (Campbell) dec Sergio Desiante (Chattanooga)  5-4

184 lbs - Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State) dec Caleb Hopkins (Campbell)  5-4

197 lbs - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec Patrick Brophy (The Citadel)  Fall :30

285 lbs - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) fall Jacob Sartorio (Appalachian State)  5:40
 

Third Place Bouts

125 lbs - Anthony Molton (Campbell) dec Chad Bellis (Appalachian State)  14-10

133 lbs - Dyson Dunham (VMI) dec Tyson Lane (Gardner-Webb)  8-5

141 lbs - Jacob Silka (The Citadel) dec Isaac Byers (Appalachian State)  5-2

149 lbs - Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) dec Justin Rivera (Campbell)  8-4

157 lbs - Lincoln Heck (Chattanooga) maj Hayden Watson (The Citadel)  16-8

165 lbs - Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga) fall Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson)  2:42

174 lbs - Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) fall Braxton Lewis (VMI)  5:22

184 lbs - Jha’Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) maj Caleb Roe (Presbyterian)  11-0

197 lbs - Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) maj Josh Evans (VMI)  12-2

285 lbs - Ben Stemmet (The Citadel) dec Jake Fernicola (Davidson)  4-1SV

True-Second Place Matches

149 lbs - Jeff Boyd (The Citadel) dec Zach Price (Gardner-Webb)  5-2

165 lbs - Dom Baker (Campbell) dec Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga)  1-0
 

NCAA Qualifiers

Appalachian State - Ethan Oakley (133), Cody Bond (149), Tommy Askey (157), Will Miller (165), Tomas Brooker (184)

Campbell: Dom Zaccone (133), Dom Baker (165), Austin Murphy (174), Levi Hopkins (197), Taye Ghadiali (285)

Chattanooga - Brayden Palmer (125), Isaiah Powe (141)

The Citadel - Jeff Boyd (149)

VMI - Dyson Dunham (133)

It’s time to head up the mountain this week, back to Boone, North Carolina for yet another Southern Conference Championship. The Camels were crowned the regular season Conference Champions - with an undefeated 8-0 record, after posting up a 40-0 shut-out against VMI on the final weekend of the regular season. Campbell and Appalachian State finished the season in InterMat’s rankings at #22 and #28, respectively, while the final NWCA poll had the two ranked at #22 and #24 - the Camels and the Mountaineers sending off the season with top-25 rankings.

Now let’s talk about these allocations: there are 14 - FOURTEEN - total for the Southern Conference. Let’s not forget the 47 at-large bids that will be up for grabs after the weekend has concluded. Get your calculators out, because we’re about to do some math (or try to, at least), and let’s see what’s in store for the weekend.

2024 Southern Conference Pre-Allocations and At-Large Bids

125

This weight was kind of turned upside-down at the end of November when Brayden Palmer’s (UTC) redshirt was pulled following a season-ending injury for Logan Ashton, putting him in the starting lineup at a new weight class. Palmer, with a 5-1 conference record, his lone loss from App State’s Chad Bellis. Now Campbell’s Anthony Molton appears to have had an undefeated conference schedule. After reviewing the stats from his season, I noticed that Molton v Palmer didn’t occur in this year’s conference dual series - Zander Phaturos (CAMP) was the starter for that dual. Chad Bellis (APP) has wrestled a full conference season, ending with a 7-1 record. His lone loss of the season was to Molton via tech fall, but defeated Palmer by a 10-0 major decision. That will give him the second seed. These three seem to be the top contenders in the weight, but despite Molton and Palmer finishing the season in the Coaches’ Rankings, there is only one pre-allocation for the weight. Expect a dog fight, and expect some tough wrestling. (shameless plug).

Seeds:

1. Anthony Molton - Campbell
2. Chad Bellis - App State
3. Brayden Palmer - Chattanooga
4. Drew West - Gardner- Webb
5. Malik Hardy - The Citadel
6. Tony Burke - Virginia Military Institute
7. Enis Ljikovic - Davidson
8. Trenton Dominguez - Presbyterian 

133

Another weight with three top contenders in its class, 133 lbs earned three allocations for the NCAA tournament - meaning the top three placements will head to Kansas City. Campbell, App State, and Chattanooga all deliver the top three seeds - Domenic Zaccone, Ethan Oakley, and Blake Boarman. Zaccone zipped through the season with one loss against Oakley, and 9 tech fall victories in dual competition - putting him at the #8 slot in the national leaderboard for technical falls. App State’s Oakley topped off the season 6-1, his only loss was against UTC’s Boarman. Boarman finished his season with a 6-2 record, his losses from Zaccone and the weight’s darkhorse - Dyson Dunham (VMI). Dunham ended the season with a 5-3 record, his losses coming from Rosas (CIT), Lane (GWU), and Zaccone (CAMP). Maybe we’ll see Dunham and Oakley meet during the tournament for a sizzling semifinal match.

Seeds

1. Domenic Zaccone - CAMP 
2. Ethan Oakley - APP
3. Blake Boarman - UTC
4. Tyson Lane - GWU
5. Dyson Dunham - VMI
6. George Rosas - CIT
7. Hale Robinson - DAV
8. Brayden Adams - PRES

141

Earning one pre-allocation, Isaiah Powe (UTC) ended the season in a POWErful way (haha see what I did there), undefeated in SoCon Competition (8-0). I see him earning the top seed for the weight class and Ike Byers (APP) with the #3-seed. Byers ended the season 6-1, his lone loss from Powe. But a sleeper? Wynton Denkins (CAMP). A true freshman who started in five conference duals, resulting in a 4-1 record - his lone loss against UTC’s Powe. Gardner Webb’s Todd Carter comes in as the second-seed for the tournament - we’ll likely see a Byers/Carter semifinal, which would be their first time facing off in conference competition. 

Seeds

1. Isaiah Powe - UTC 
2. Todd Carter - GWU
3. Ike Byers - APP
4. Jacob Silka - CIT
5. Wynton Denkins - CAMP
6. Patrick Jordon - VMI
7. Josh Viarengo - DAV
8. Ryan Luna - PRES

149

This weight has everything: a seventh-year senior, a world team member, and a grad school transfer. Cody Bond (APP) ended the season undefeated in conference action. Noah Castillo (UTC) also had an unscathed conference record, though he started only two of the conference dual meets. Notably, he also was a world team member for Puerto Rico. The Citadel’s grad transfer from WVU Jeff Boyd is coming into the tournament with the #2-seed. Boyd’s top win this season was over Campbell’s Justin Rivera. This weight has two allocations, so likely it’ll be wrestled first with 165 to determine whether or not there will be a wrestle-off for “true second” or the NCAA-qualifying slot. These feel like some of the most nerve-wracking experiences to watch during finals. Seeing the joy and relief of being finished with wrestling versus the disappointment of defeat coupled with recovering to get back on the mat and get the job done. Anyway - we’ll see 149 and 165 wrestle first (and possibly last) for finals. 

Seeds

1. Cody Bond - APP
2. Jeff Boyd - CIT
3. Noah Castillo - UTC
4. Justin Rivera - CAMP
5. Zach Price - GWU
6. Ryan Vigil - VMI
7. Tyler-Xavier McKnight - DAV
8. Trenton Donahue - PRES

157

Another weight, another world team member. Tanner Peake comes in as the #2 seed this year, after being Davidson’s first finalist in four years as a true freshman. He represented Puerto Rico as well on the U23 team, making him the third SoCon wrestler to be a world team member this season (shout out to Shannon Hanna with Team Bahamas and Mr. Blue and Yellow aka Dre Simon). App State’s Tommy Askey boasted a 7-0 conference record. I imagine we see an Askey/Peake final, with the potential for an at-large bid to be earned at this weight. 

Seeds

1. Tommy Askey - APP
2. Tanner Peake - DAV
3. Chris Earnest - CAMP
4. Hayden Watson - CIT
5. Lincoln Heck - UTC
6. Tyler Brignola - GWU
7. Eli Holiday - PRES
8. Josh Yost - VMI

165

I’ve noticed not all starters listed for the tournament have wrestled the full conference schedule, but 165 is a special case. The top seed, Will Miller (APP) had an undefeated conference schedule (8-0, including Bellarmine). Miller and the #2-seed Dom Baker (CAMP) are familiar competitors, their last meeting ending with an 8-2 decision in Miller’s favor in Buies Creek. #3-seeded Ben Haubert will likely end up in the semis against Miller as well, they last wrestled in Boone where Miller garnered an 8-0 major decision victory. This weight has two allocations - which means a true second-place match could occur. (See the explanation in 149).

Seeds

1. Will Miller - APP 
2. Dom Baker - CAMP
3. Ben Haubert - CIT
4. Bryce Sanderlin - DAV
5. Kamdyn Munro - UTC
6. Andrew Wilson - GWU
7. Michael Ramirez - PRES
8. Caleb Chandler - VMI

174

Austin Murphy (CAMP) made a triumphant return this season after not competing for the ‘22-’23 season, finishing the season undefeated and ranked top-25 between InterMat’s and the Coaches’ Rankings. VMI’s Braxton Lewis takes the second seed, followed by Desiante (UTC) and Uliano (APP). Lewis has a win over Desiante under his belt, and has not wrestled against Uliano this season. Murphy and Desiante, however, have wins over Uliano. This bracket will be a fun one to watch - and I’ve [finally] realized that next season I think I’ll have to make a starter stat tracker…or something like that. 

From here through heavyweight, there is only one allocation for each weight left.

Seeds

1. Austin Murphy - CAMP
2. Braxton Lewis - VMI
3. Sergio Desiante - UTC
4. Luke Uliano - APP
5. Brodie Porter - CIT
6. Marc Koch - DAV
7. Sam Mora - GWU
8. Brandon Jacoby - PRES

184

Honestly, I’m a little surprised there weren’t two allocations for 184 - both Hopkins (CAMP) and Anderson (GWU) have had really strong showings this season; when the two met in Buies Creek last month, Hopkins scored a narrow 1-0 victory over Anderson, earning an escape at the beginning of the second period of their bout. Matches that close sometimes show just how tough the competitors are - and I’m really looking forward to this rematch in the finals (fingers crossed). Anderson made history for the Runnin’ Bulldogs this season, after he became the program’s first Southern Scuffle Champion. Freshman Tomas Brooker (APP) has made a splash this season, finishing the season 6-2 in SoCon competition, only recording losses to Anderson and Hopkins. 

Seeds

1. Caleb Hopkins - CAMP
2. Jha’Quan Anderson - GWU
3. Tomas Brooker - APP
4. Wyatt Ferguson - DAV
5. Adam Ortega - CIT
6. Tyler Schoffstall - VMI
7. Caleb Roe - PRES
8. Jackson Hurst - UTC

197

Another weight where I felt that the conference deserved two allocations…but I’m also incredibly pro-SoCon. Anyway - Hopkins is a returning Southern Conference Champion, who ended the season top-ten in the country in falls this season along with another undefeated record. Hopkins defeated #2-seed Carson Floyd (APP) by a 7-2 decision, and Floyd beat the #3 seed, Brophy (CIT). 

Seeds

1. Levi Hopkins - CAMP
2. Carson Floyd - APP
3. Patrick Brophy - CIT
4. Josh McCutcheon - GWU
5. David Harper - UTC
6. Cameo Blankenship - DAV
7. Josh Evans - VMI
8. George Hopkins - PRES

285

Heavyweight has the highest-ranked wrestler in the conference: Taye Ghadiali (CAMP). Ghadiali also finished the season undefeated, the 10th most dominant wrestler in the NCAA, ranked 5th in falls, and 10th in tech falls. The odds are high that Ghadiali will make the podium this year in Kansas City, but let’s also talk about the rest of the bracket. Second-seed Jacob Sartorio (APP) finished the season 5-2, his losses from Ghadiali and Thad Huff (BU, injury default).

Seeds

1. Taye Ghadiali - CAMP
2. Jacob Sartorio - APP
3. Ben Stemmet - CIT
4. Jake Fernicola - DAV
5. Tyler Mousaw - VMI 
6. Kaleb Snodgrass - UTC
7. Peyton McComas - GWU
8. Morvens Saint-Jean - PRES

I can’t wait to see y’all this weekend - if you’re coming to Boone, don’t be shy, come say hi! 

xoxo

Hi besties, long time, no see. 

The season is ending almost as quickly as it began - with less than 10 duals left on the calendar, we’re less than 20 days away from the conference tournament (but who’s counting?)

This past weekend kicked off on Thursday, App State served up back-to-back SoCon Shutouts, with road victories over Presbyterian (54-0) and Davidson (44-0). 

The Citadel continued with their success on Friday, advancing to a 5-2 record after a 19-14 win over Gardner-Webb. The dual kicked off at 197, where The Citadel scored the first six points for the dual via decisions at 197 and heavyweight. The Runnin’ Bulldogs’ Drew West (125) answered with a major decision victory over Malik Hardy - followed by two victories via decision by Tyson Lane (133) and Todd Carter (141). Arguably one of my favorite pastimes is watching matches go into sudden-victory - and the 149-pound bout did not disappoint. Jeff Boyd and Zach Price battled it out - with Boyd cinching the 5-2 victory. Two more decisions were up on the board from The Citadel’s Hayden Watson (157) and Brodie Porter (174). Lest we forget Ben Haubert’s 13-1 major decision win over Andrew Wilson at 165. Jha’Quan Anderson brought a finale of fireworks with a 12-1 major decision victory over Adam Ortega. The Citadel will be back in action one last time against Presbyterian College on Thursday, February 22.

Davidson, bouncing back from a tough loss against App State, took to the road against VMI and surged through with a 24-19 victory. The dual was tied 19-19 after eight bouts, with notable pins from Wyatt Ferguson (184, Davidson), Dyson Dunham (133, VMI), and Ryan Vigil (149, VMI) - the Wildcats then pulled away at 157, after Tanner Peake’s major decision victory, and Bryce Sanderlin (165) closing out the dual with a technical fall. 

Campbell continues with their unscathed conference record after they defeated Chattanooga 33-6 on Saturday. The Mocs scored six points at 125 and 141, with #29 Brayden Palmer and Isaiah Powe bringing home the wins of the day. There were some close matches, notably at 133 - #24 Domenic Zaccone  (CU) earned the SoCon Wrestler of the Week for his 5-2 win over #25 Blake Boarman (UTC). On Sunday Campbell traveled to Presbyterian, where they shut out the Blue Hose 55-0.

Gardner-Webb hosted VMI and celebrated senior day on Sunday - picking up their second conference win, 28-10. The dual started off at 197, where Josh McCutchen (GWU) set the tone for the match with a 5-1 decision over Josh Evans (VMI). Heavyweight Tyler Mousaw (VMI) answered with 6 team points - pinning Peyton McComas (GWU). The Runnin’ Bulldogs dominated from 125 through 165 and 184, but at 174 VMI’s Braxton Lewis defeated Sam Mora by 10-1 major decision. VMI will wrestle again this upcoming weekend - hosting Campbell in Lexington. 

And surprise, surprise, guess who found herself in Boone last weekend. After a long weekend at North Carolina’s State Tournament (it’s States not State by the way), the family decided to take a trip up the mountain for the double-header in Varsity Gym. The Mountaineers wrestled Bellarmine first, winning 38-6 - giving up six points via injury default at heavyweight. #9 Cornell was the main event of the afternoon - the Mountaineers fought hard but lost to the Big Red 36-6. #27 Ethan Oakley (133) and #22 Will Miller (165) were the two wins for the Mountaineers. 

We’ll have a few more dual meets to watch before we wrap up the regular season - then it’ll be time for the Matness to begin!

xoxo

Ladies and gents, we’re back and we’re rocking and rolling with the SoCon regular season schedule - the weekend began on Friday, with Bellarmine hosting Presbyterian  College, besting the Blue Hose 40-9. The dual weighed heavily in the Knights’ favor,  winning eight out of the ten bouts. Key moments in the match for Presbyterian were at 141  and 184 - Rey Ortiz (141, PC) secured 6 team points after pinning Shay Korhorn (BU),  followed by 184 lber Caleb Roe (PC), clinching a 9-3 victory over Sam Schroeder (BU).  

Bellarmine had one pin, four technical falls, two major decisions, received a forfeit, and a partridge in a pear tree. Wait - that was last month… But back to the action - the  Knights had a stellar showing, pushing forward with an undefeated 11-0 season.  

Chattanooga traveled to Durham to face off against the ACC’s Duke University, picking up the first of two wins of their weekend on the road. This was the Mocs’ first ACC  victory since a 2016 victory over UVA, winning 8 out of 10 bouts. #23 Brayden Palmer  (125), whose redshirt was pulled in December, kicked off the dual with a 9-0 decision over Logan Agin (Duke). The Mocs were set up to win the following six matches - and one last win at 197. It was a bonus-point bonanza - Boarman (133), Powe (141), and  Desiante (174) served up technical falls; while #25 Noah Castillo (149), Heck (157), and  Harper (197) followed suit with major decision victories.  

The action picked back up on Sunday - with four duals on the calendar. Chattanooga was yet again victorious over VMI, winning the dual 31-13. We saw an upset at 133 -  sophomore Dyson Dunham (VMI) snagged a 7-4 decision over #28 Blake Boarman (UTC),  scoring a takedown in the last minute of the third period. The tide turned back in the  Mocs’ favor at 141, where Isaiah Powe (UTC) pinned Patrick Jordon (VMI), followed by another at  165 where Kamdyn Munro (UTC) pinned Caleb Chandler (VMI) in the first period. The Keydets had back-to-back victories at 174 and 184, with a final slim victory of 1-0 at heavyweight. 

The Fighting Camels were ready to rumble at Davidson, besting the Wildcats 31-9. The match started off at heavyweight, where #10 Taye Ghadiali set the tone with a second-period tech fall, #26 Anthony Molton (125) and #22 Domenic Zaccone (133) followed suit with tech falls as well. #19 Levi Hopkins delivered a first-period fall to finish off the evening. Notable Wildcat wins were welcomed at 149, 157, and 184. Tanner Peake  (157), a member of Puerto Rico’s World Team, defeated Chris Earnest 6-1. A matchup to watch out for again this season? 165: #33 Dom Baker (CAM) bested Bryce Sanderlin  (DC) in sudden-victory overtime. This will be a fun rematch to watch in March.  

Presbyterian hosted Queens University of Charlotte, downing the Royals 30-15.  Recovering from their Friday night loss, the Blue Hose won seven out of ten bouts.  Bonus points were scored via a tech fall at 141, falls at 149 and 174, and a major decision at 184. We haven’t seen Dom Chavez hit the mat for the past two duals.  Chavez had a historic conference tournament last season, being the program’s first-ever finalist in the conference tournament. Hopefully, we can see that 125lb slot filled by their next competition against VMI. 

I traveled to Boone this past Sunday, where the temps were cold but Varsity Gym was hot hot hot! (If you know, you know.) App State hosted a doubleheader against The 

Citadel and Greensboro College, moving forward with two more dual victories under their belt. The Mountaineers took on the Bulldogs first, closing the dual with a 33-4  victory. The lone win for The Citadel came in at 141 - Jacob Silka scored an 11-2 major decision over Riley Edwards. 

“I felt good out there, rode him on top and scored in neutral…it was probably one of the better matches I had this year,” said Silka in some post-match remarks. His mindset for the remainder of the season is to “just keep wrestling hard, it’s [this win] is a good way to start things off, and I’ll just keep rolling on. It was really cool to see how we stack up against them [App State], our guys up against their ranked guys. Some really close matches we could’ve won, so it’s cool to  see how much we’ve improved over the years - being a newer team with a bunch of new guys, we’re looking really good this year.” 

There were two nail-biting, barn-burner,  back-to-back matchups at 149 and 157: #24 Cody Bond (APP) beat Jeff Boyd (CIT),  going into overtime, settling the score at 2-1. After Bond’s victory via rideout, #20  Tommy Askey (APP) was able to score a takedown in sudden-victory over Hayden Watson (CIT). 

Leading up to the overtime period, Askey said “It wasn’t pretty, but got to go to overtime and got it done. I knew I had to keep attacking because I could tell he was fading.” 

High-pressure situations come easy to Askey. “Drilling every day helps a lot in the mat room, we get in these situations all the time where we’re down by 4, 5, 6, and have to score with short time left. Just practicing in these positions really helped  me out.” The Mountaineers recorded bonus-point wins at 125, 165, 174, 184, and heavyweight.  

To close out the weekend, App State wrestled Division III’s own Greensboro College.  With the lone loss at 141 lbs, #2-ranked Josh Wilson (GC) won via 4-1 decision over Ike Byers (APP). #25 Ethan Oakley (APP) was the only wrestler to compete in both duals,  while the other 9 weights debuted fresh talent on the Mountaineer’s mat.  

Rankings Updates:  

125 

#23 Brayden Palmer - UTC 

#26 Anthony Molton - CAMP 

133 

#22 Dom Zaccone - CAMP 

#25 Ethan Oakley - APP 

141 

#34 Isaiah Powe - UTC 

149 

#30 Cody Bond - APP 

#31 Noah Castillo - UTC 

157 

#22 Tommy Askey - APP

165 

#31 Will Miller - APP 

#32 Dom Baker - CAMP 

174 

#26 Austin Murphy - CAMP 

184 

#28 Jha-Quan Anderson - GWU 

197 

#20 Levi Hopkins - CAMP 

HWT 

#10 Taye Ghadiali - CAMP

Dual 

#27 App State 

#29 Campbell

Hi besties, I hope y’all had a marvelous first few weeks of wrestling - I know I did. 

We kicked off the season on the first of November, when the Fighting Camels made their debut against Army West Point at The Battle at Liberty, pulling forward with a 25-9 victory. The upset of the evening came from #20 Caleb Hopkins (184) over #13 Ben Pasiuk via an 8-0 major decision, meanwhile freshman Chris Earnest (157) started his career with a bang, defeating #25-ranked Nate Lukez 9-6. Heavyweight Taye Ghadiali served up a fall for the crowd, earning the Outstanding Wrestler belt for the evening. This was the first event of the season streamed on UFC Fight Pass, which has been uploaded to watch again. 

Presbyterian College wrestled in this event as well, facing off against #3-ranked NC State. The Blue Hose lost the dual 48-0, notably with a forfeit at 125. Unsure of Dom Chavez’s whereabouts this season, but hopefully we see him return to the mat soon. 

The Citadel hosted Allen University and Montreat College - grabbing their first dual wins of the season. The Bulldogs bested Montreat 50-4, scoring bonus-point victories in all their wins for the evening. The wins kept coming for The Citadel, as they served up the first #SoConShutout of the season against Allen University, with bonus point victories at all weights.  

Moving on to Friday, App State hosted the then-ranked #3 NC State Wolfpack in Varsity Gym. This was my first time watching the new rules in practice this season - and the three-point takedown (in my humble opinion) has really helped to reward tough wrestling. It’s definitely making a difference in the point spread, and is fun to hear people get mixed up and yell “TWOOOO” but quickly correct themselves to “THREEE.” Varsity Gym, described as a “hostile environment” by many, was rocking and rolling - standing room only, t-shirt tosses, a push-up contest, and deluxe mat-side seating. Watching the evolution of the fan experience for college wrestling is truly exciting - for the individual programs and the sport alike. But back to the match - the Mountaineers dropped a tough dual 40-3, with their sole win of the evening coming from Ethan Oakley (133), who came through with a 4-2 decision over three-time NCAA qualifier Jarrett Trombley.  

Saturday the action kicked back up at the Southeast Open - where Campbell, Chattanooga, Davidson, and VMI competed. The Camels took home fifteen placewinner, with two champions at heavyweight and 165 - Taye Ghadiali and Dom Baker were undefeated for the day.  

Chattanooga racked up the hardware as well, with seven placements in the freshman/sophomore division - with redshirt freshmen Kamdyn Munro (165), Sergio Desiante (174) placing second, leading true freshman Isiah Powe (141) and redshirt freshman Austin Paradise (157) to third place finishes. Keydet Braxton Lewis took home the title in the 174 freshman/sophomore division, behind him were seven other placers ranging from senior Tyler Mousaw, making his debut at heavyweight, to the fresh faces of the program. 

Last but not least, Davidson had two second-place finishes in the freshman/sophomore division - Tyler Xavier McKnight (149) and Wyatt Ferguson (184). 

Bellarmine brought the action with four first-place finishes at the Patriot Open - two of those from freshmen Shay Korhorn (133) and Gray Ortis (157) in the freshman/sophomore division, while in the open division, Cole Nance beat teammate Grant O’Dell (165) for the title, and Sam Schroder won the 184 bracket.  

The Clarion Open was truly an event to behold - upsets upon upsets, but the SoCon’s star of the show was Brayden Palmer. He made his debut at 125 lbs, but not in a Chattanooga singlet - it’s looking like Palmer could redshirt for part of the season. My new bold prediction is that his redshirt (depending on his performance prior to the Scuffle) could be pulled as early as January - but that’s if he’s redshirting this season. We love the “what if” game. This title earned Palmer SoCon Wrestler of the Week for the first week of the season. 

Gardner-Webb’s Zach Price (149) brought home a third-place finish for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, with his lone loss of the day coming from Ohio State’s Dylan D’Emilio. 

The Battle at the Citadel took place, where three Bulldogs had podium finishes for the weekend: John Chesser (285) battled for a second-place finish against George Mason’s Chad Nix, while Josh Stillings (174) and Patrick Brophy (197) earned third place finishes. App State true freshman Tomas Brooker took home the 184-pound title, wrestling against teammate Hunter Adams in the final. Mountaineers Noah Luna (125, 2nd place), Chad Bells (125), Kaden Keiser (141), and Jeremiah Price (149) placed third, and Ike Byers had a fourth-place finish at 141. 

Bellarmine shut out Kentucky Wesleyan at their home opener this past Friday, with just shy of 2,000 fans in attendance. Again - it’s so awesome to see the growth of our sport and to see programs have that investment from their athletic departments. True freshman Kalob Johnstone (197) started his career with a bang - racking up a 15-0 technical fall over Cameron Fleming.  

Campbell fell to Nebraska 37-4, with the lone win from Taye Ghadiali - picking up a 24-12 major decision win. 184-pound Caleb Hopkins lost a close 6-5 bout against Lenny Pinto. 

The Camels will be back in action at the Battle at the Barn on UFC Fight Pass - which will be wrestled against Wyoming in a barn. It’s slated to be a great matchup, and a great production, be sure to tune in.  

The Mountaineer Invitational was a SoCon-Studded event - where Cody Bond (149), Tommy Askey (157), and Jacob Sartorio (285) all won individual titles, resulting in Bond being awarded SoCon Wrestler of the Week for the second week of the season. Six runners-up and five third-place finishes later, the Mountaineers will be back in action at the Keystone Classic this weekend. Presbyterian had eight in action at the Invitational, with one fourth-place finish from sophomore Caleb Roe. Davidson senior Dan Yetsick took home a first-place finish at 157 pounds, while freshman Brock Carey (149) placed second, and John Hager (133) finished in third place. Gardner-Webb came out with a pair of second-place finishes, Jha’Quan Anderson (184) and Todd Carter (141) were the two placewinners for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.  

Chattanooga wrestled a doubleheader against Ohio University and DII program Ashland. The Mocs battled hard, though losing the Ohio dual 23-19. Noah Castillo (149) picked up a ranked win over then-ranked #19 Derek Raike, 16-0. The team turned around to dominate against Ashland, winning 32-9, dropping a decision at 184 and an injury default at 197.  

The Citadel had a strong showing at the George Mason duals. After their first loss against George Mason (18-17), the Bulldogs turned around and defeated Williams College (39-10), and Clarion 17-17 (64-62 tiebreaker), and ended the day with another shutout against Millersville (55-0). A nail-biter match, the Clarion dual went into total points scored in tiebreaker criteria. The Citadel will be back in action this weekend at the Navy Classic.  

VMI traveled to the Navy Quad, picking up a dual win over the Morgan State Bears (33-9) following back-to-back losses from Navy (40-6) and Pitt (47-0). Standout performances from the Morgan State match include Braxton Lewis (174) winning by technical fall, while Josh Yost (157) scored a major decision win over his opponent.  

It was a family affair in Hilton Coliseum on Sunday evening - head coach Nate Carr, Jr. alongside Marcus Coleman - headed home to Ames as the Wildcats wrestled the #10 Iowa State Cyclones. Coach Carr was in the corner coaching against his brother, National Champion 

, and All-American David Carr, with Coleman and Director of Ops Erica Andorf at his side. The ‘Cats lost the dual 50-0, with the Cyclones picking up bonus-point wins at every bout.  

Besties - next week I’ll have an extra-special recap/preview for y’all. And I hope to see y’all out and about real soon…until then, be safe, be well, kick your feet up and go check out our Live Streaming Guide for all your wrestling needs this weekend. 

Xoxo,  

Rachel G

The season kicks off tonight, November 1 at The Battle at Liberty - hosted by Campbell University, streaming on UFC Fight Pass. 

Campbell University

The Camels are coming into the ’23-’24 season with a bang - kicking off their dual season with The Battle at Liberty, where they’ll face off against Army. They’ll also likely settle the debate of “who’s America’s team?” In the SoCon preseason poll - five returning members were named to the all-conference team, Shannon Hanna (141), Austin Murphy (174), brothers Caleb (184) and Levi Hopkins (197), and heavyweight Taye Ghadiali, with the program coming out on top in the preseason poll. This schedule is absolutely stacked this season - the Camels head out West to Wyoming where they’ll actually wrestle in a barn. The Fighting Camel Duals will take place in December, where Gore Arena will be host to Purdue, Stanford, and North Dakota State’s programs for an action-packed day of duals. It’ll be a fierce Fight Pass Friday in February when App State travels to The Creek for a dual meet. This conference rivalry has been so fun to watch develop and continue - the wrestling keeps getting better and the energy between these two fan bases is unmatched. The Fighting Camels will also host conference foes Chattanooga to cap off their home dual series. This lineup (if we’re looking at returning starters) is filled with well-seasoned competitors, it’ll be exciting to see how this more mature team matches up with the younger rosters in the 

conference. 

Preseason rankings:

133: Domenic Zaccone (12)

141: Shannon Hanna (23)

174: Austin Murphy (30)

184: Caleb Hopkins (20)

197: Levi Hopkins (27)

HWT: Taye Ghadiali (15)

VMI 

Wrestle-offs, intrasquad matches, whichever you prefer to call them, used to be more low-key events. Programs like VMI have gotten creative, hosting their intrasquad match in the barracks. The Keydets are headed into the ’23-’24 season following a 9-8 season, with a 2-6 conference record, picking up victories against Presbyterian and Davidson. Home duals begin at Cormack Hall in November against Limestone and Marymount - DII and DIII program, and will kick off conference competition in January, hosting Chattanooga. The Keydets will see upperweight stars Tyler Mousaw and Josh Evans return to the mat this season, alongside SoCon placewinners Braxton Lewis and Ryan Vigil. Both were freshmen in 2022-23. A crowd favorite is the rivalry between VMI and The Citadel - which will be held in Charleston this year. The Keydets will also be in attendance at the Soldier Salute, hosted by the University of Iowa. 

Preseason rankings:

None

Gardner-Webb

The Runnin’ Bulldogs kick off their season hosting Kent State and Ohio University, the conference season will begin for them in February, when the Chattanooga Mocs travel to Boiling Springs for a SoCon showdown. Gardner-Webb will also host Davidson, The Citadel, and will round off their hosting duties for the season with a dual against VMI. Returning to the mat this season, we’ll see Jha’Quan Anderson (184) and Zach Price (141), who ended their seasons with second-place finishes at the conference tournament, Anderson making his second appearance at the NCAA Championships via an at-large bid. The Runnin’ Bulldogs had a 4-4 conference record last season, clinching victories against Bellarmine, The Citadel, VMI, and Davidson, and will look to avenge last season’s losses to Chattanooga and Presbyterian. 

Preseason rankings:

133: Todd Carter (33)

184: Jha’Quan Anderson (32)

The Citadel

We’ve talked about the Runnin’ Bulldogs, now it’s time to talk about The Bulldogs of The Citadel. Finishing off the ’22-23 season with an overall 7-5 record, and a 3-5 conference record, The Citadel picked up wins over Presbyterian, Davidson, and military academy rivals VMI. Returning stars include Ben Haubert (165) and John Chesser (HWT), following third-place finishes at the conference tournament. The Bulldogs will host four conference duals this season: a military matchup against VMI, Bellarmine, Davidson, and Presbyterian. 

Preseason rankings:

None

Presbyterian

Presbyterian will enter their fifth season led by Dominic Chavez (125), selected for the preseason All-SoCon team. Chavez made history for the Blue Hose last season, becoming the first finalist in program history. He finished the season as Southern Conference runner-up at 125, but is on top at the beginning of the ’23-’24 campaign. The Blue Hose are slated to be featured at The Battle at Liberty, wrestling against NC State following the Campbell vs Army dual. Presbyterian picked up their sole conference win last season against Gardner-Webb, besting the Runnin’ Bulldogs 19-18. That rematch will take place in Blue Hose territory this season. 

Preseason rankings:

None

It’s that time of year again - the air gets colder, the leaves change color, and wrestling mats are rolled out. We’re about to dive into four of the schools in the Southern Conference. Last season, Appalachian State clinched another conference title, followed by Campbell then Chattanooga. 

Appalachian State

Appalachian State returns starters at seven out of ten weights this year, following an undefeated conference season. The Mountaineers were 12-2 overall, recording losses to ACC foes NC State and Virginia Tech. Returning starters include national qualifier Ethan Oakley (133), reigning conference champion Tommy Askey (157), and runner-up Will Miller (174). Who can we hope to see step back out on the mat this season? None other than Sean Carter (133) who was faced with a season-ending injury during the Virginia Tech dual. Sophomore Carson Floyd (197) is another familiar face to look out for. As a freshman, he held a 24-9 record (7-1 in conference), was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, and a conference finalist. 

Varsity Gym will be home to four conference duals (The Citadel, VMI, Bellarmine*, Gardner-Webb), and will yet again host the Southern Conference Championship in Holmes Convocation Center on March 9. 

Another matchup you won’t want to miss? The first-ever showdown between App State and Cornell will take place in Boonetown on February 18 after the Bellarmine dual. Newly-minted assistant coach Hunter Richard, a Cornell alumnus, joins JohnMark Bentley’s coaching staff alongside returning assistants Jarrod Patterson and Randall Diabe. 

Preseason rankings: 

133 - Sean Carter (12)

149 - Cody Bond (26)

157 - Tommy Askey (19)

197 - Carson Floyd (31)

Davidson

The Davidson Wildcats return this season with a new look and a new room, following rebranding and renovations to the wrestling facility unveiled in September. Nate Carr, Jr. will start his second year at the helm, alongside assistants Ty Eustice and Marcus Coleman. The ‘Cats finished their ’22-’23 campaign with a 1-7 conference record and 2-11 overall, recording wins over Presbyterian College (SoCon) and Queens University of Charlotte. Tanner Peake (157) returns to the mat this season, following a 15-4 record between 157 and 165-lb weight classes. Peake broke the mold when he became Davidson’s first conference finalist since 2019 - four years may not seem like long, but it’s a milestone nonetheless. Incoming freshmen to watch out for? At 141 lbs, we’ve got 5A Georgia state champ Tyler McKnight, 149 lbs, 3A North Carolina state champion Brock Carey, and at heavyweight, 2A North Carolina state champ DJ Spring II. Carr and company head home to Ames, Iowa where they’ll wrestle Iowa State on November 12. Notable duals for Davidson include: a home opener against Duke on December 8, and rematches against Bellarmine* (Feb 2) and The Citadel (Feb 11), hopeful to avenge last season’s losses against these programs. 

Preseason rankings:

None ranked

Chattanooga

Chattanooga returns after a third-place season finish, where we should see four starters head back to the mat. National qualifier Brayden Palmer (133) will enter his third season with the Mocs, following a 22-8 season, where he had some stiff competition - beating Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) in the Southern Scuffle, and Joe Hellmann (Rutgers) in the first round of the national tournament. Noah Castillo (149) will be a top contender in the bracket as well, with his lone conference loss last season coming from Jon Jon Millner (App State). Others returning to the lineup this season include Logan Ashton (125), Lincoln Heck (157), and heavyweight Logan Andrew. 

The Mocs will open their season at home against Little Rock on December 16, with four conference home duals to follow (Davidson, The Citadel, Presbyterian, App State). As always, the Southern Scuffle will take place on January 1st and 2nd, the best way to kick off the New Year, in my professional opinion. Last but certainly not least, head coach Kyle Ruschell and assistant Kyle Massey welcome Devin Skatzka to the coaching staff. Skatzka comes to Chattanooga after coaching with Cornell for the past three years. Prior to that, he wrestled at Indiana and Minnesota, finishing his career with 102 career wins, four national tournament appearances and earned All-America status at 174. 

Preseason rankings:

133 - Brayden Palmer (10)

149 - Noah Castillo (33)

Bellarmine 

The Knights had a phenomenal ’22-’23 campaign - 12-4 overall dual record, 4-4 in conference duals, and a first-place finish at the NCWA Championships. While Bellarmine is still unable to compete for the conference championship or send qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, the Knights are setting themselves up for success as they continue to transition into Division I competition. Bellarmine is set to host six events this season, which include four conference duals and the NCWA regional tournament in March. The Knights picked up conference wins against Davidson, VMI, The Citadel, and Presbyterian last season, much improved from ’21-’22’s lone conference win over Presbyterian College. 

Who should we watch this season? Well, I’m glad you asked. Jack Parker (125), Zac Cowan (149), Cole Nance (165) and Devan Hendricks (174) are all returning NCWA national champions. Heavyweight Thadd Huff, an NCWA runner-up, will also return this season. It’s pretty cool to watch schools improve and prepare for the transition to Division I competition. Other schools we’ll be on the lookout for as well include Lindenwood and Queens University of Charlotte. It’s awesome to get to grow the sport!

*Bellarmine still is unable to compete for a conference championship or send qualifiers to NCAA Championships during their transition to Division I.

Chattanooga's 149 lber Noah Castillo sits down with Rachel Gallardo to discuss his upcoming competition representing Puerto Rico at the U23 World Championships. Castillo discusses how the opportunity came about and his training throughout the summer. He also discusses what to expect from the Mocs during the 2023-24 campaign, his weight situation, and much more:

Do you remember the summer after your freshman year of college? Maybe you traveled, maybe you worked, maybe you had an internship. Davidson’s Tanner Peake (157) has had a pretty unforgettable summer. After making Puerto Rico’s U20 national team at 74 kg in April, Peake hit the ground running, making preparations to compete at the Pan-American Championships in Santiago, Chile in July. The last time we spoke with Peake, he was wrapping up the Spring semester and getting training plans together with Head Coach Nate Carr Jr and Assistant Coach Ty Eustice, training through the newly-formed Charlotte RTC. As the semester came to a close, Tanner headed home to New Jersey to train at Rider and the NJRTC, to work with some of the same guys he grew up with.

While technique is an important aspect of wrestling, staying on track with strength and conditioning goals continues to elevate the craft. Pete Shebey, a coach of Peake’s since his sophomore/junior year of high school, has worked with Tanner this summer. Morning lifts came early at around five or six in the morning, consisting of strength training with movements and techniques focused on the development of more explosiveness and improved foot movement and speed. RTC practices varied - some days Peake would head to the NJRTC for 10:00am practices led by Reece Humphrey, while other days he would go to Rider’s 11:00am practices. Peake was able to train in a variety of environments this summer, ranging from more instruction and technique at the NJRTC, while Rider’s practices were mostly self-motivated. At the end of the day, Tanner made sure to top it off with some cardio - usually sprints.

Practicing in different rooms throughout the week was another way for Tanner to get to hang out with his best friend Mikey Wilson, who wrestles for Rider (174). When reflecting on the similarities in team culture and coaching styles, Peake says that “Coach Carr is very energetic, similar to Reece - he just has a lot of energy and you can tell they both love being in the room and coaching.” Preparations continued with the NCJ Camps hosted at Davidson - which included a week of training with the coaches and the team during these youth camps. 

The journey to the Pan-American Championships in Chile began with Coach Carr traveling to New Jersey for Peake’s final practices before heading south, real south. We’ve been experiencing quite the heat wave here in the States, and if you remember from science class the southern and northern hemispheres of Earth experience the opposite climates. That’s right - it’s wintertime in Chile. This was Peake’s first time traveling internationally - since Puerto Rico is a U.S. Commonwealth, it is considered domestic travel from the continental United States. (Y’all didn’t think you’d get science, travel, and history lessons did you?) After a 10.5-hour red-eye flight, Peake was finally in Chile. A few days later, Assistant Coach Ty Eustice arrived. 

Team Puerto Rico consisted of guys from all over, mostly with Puerto Rican roots. Some were from Pennsylvania, South Dakota, or even New Jersey but moved to Puerto Rico, while others may have moved away from the island but returned to wrestle. Tanner experienced wrestling at the Chilean Olympic Training Center - being around other world team members. “There’s a lot of pride that comes with this, I’m so grateful for the opportunity. And it’s so cool to look down and be able to see the Puerto Rican flag on my singlet, knowing I’m representing this group and doing well for them, so I was happy to be able to go and bring back a medal. I’m so grateful I was able to get this opportunity to compete and do what I love.” 

Peake finished out in Santiago with a 2-1 record, defeating Peru 10-0 in the quarterfinal, then was defeated by USA’s Mitchell Mesenbrink 12-0, finally bouncing back to bronze with a 10-0 win over Colombia. When dealing with the nerves, Tanner’s mentality is “It’s just another wrestling match, I try to keep my cool.” “Not a lot of people can say they got to this point or even be a Pan-American medalist.” When Tanner reflected on his experience, his gratitude toward his family, his coaches, and Davidson was what shined the most. 

The takeaways for Peake from Pan-Ams have him ready to go for the next round of competition. He was able to see how different countries wrestle and become familiar with their different styles, while also leaning into owning his own style. 

So, what’s next for Tanner Peake? He’s headed to the U20 World Championships set to be hosted in Jordan on August 14. Coach Carr will travel as his coach, and his support system - his parents Nydia and Chris, who wrestled for Rutgers. Peake even announced a partnership with Chain Wrestling - where you can order your exclusive Peake gear. Oh yeah, and Tanner plans on staying at 157 for the SoCon regular season this year - “I’m most looking forward to going back into the conference tournament at the end of the season, I’m excited to see the team grow - with these freshmen coming in who are hard workers and the current guys who put in such hard work…I think we’re going to shock some people in the SoCon and in the NCAA this year. I’m super excited.”

The newest Campbell verbal Aaron Ries in Fargo; Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com

Last week, InterMat looked closely at the Class of 2023 recruiting for the SoCon. Atop the conference rankings was Campbell University with a pair of wrestlers on the Big Board. Only ten days into July, head coach Scotti Sentes’ team appears to be running away from the rest of the conference in the race for the recruiting crown for the Class of 2024. 

The Camels also look like they may be worthy of mention in the 2024 recruiting rankings, an honor that has slipped by the team for the past two seasons. In 2021, Campbell was noted as an honorable mention for their signing class that included five Big Boarder’s, one of which was ranked amongst the top 100. 

On Sunday, the Class of 2024 continued to grow with a verbal commitment from heavyweight prospect Aaron Ries, currently ranked 96th in the class and 16th in the nation at 285 lbs. Ries’ commitment gives Campbell a pair of top-100 recruits (also #93 Kendrick Hodge) and three Big Boarder’s (#142 Brent Slade). In addition to three nationally ranked recruits, Campbell also has commitments from three other notables that warrant ranking consideration. 

The Campbell staff is on a bit of a hot streak on the recruiting trail as Ries’ commitment gives the Camels three new verbals within the last seven days. They also saw Colby Crouch (Triad, IL) and Mikey Trujillo (Wyoming Seminary, PA) recently pledge to the school in Buies Creek, North Carolina. Sometimes these commitments happen in bunches, so could there be another recruit or two in the near future that sees the high-quality wrestlers committing to Sentes’ team and jumping on in the next week or two. 

Ries, a 2022 16U freestyle national champion in Fargo, comes from a familiar school. He hails from Wadsworth, Ohio the same program that produced 2023 Big Board’er and Campbell signee Chris Earnest. The Campbell staff has cast a large net in the 2024 recruiting process as their current verbals hail from six different states. The South is represented by Georgia and Florida. Traditional powers Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio were tabbed, as well. Finally, Campbell has one verbal from Arizona via a Pennsylvania prep school. 

In our write-up regarding the 2023 Class, we mentioned how Campbell is looking to return to the top spot in the SoCon after a year in which Appalachian State went unbeaten in dual competitions and dominated the conference tournament. That class, plus this growing group, has to put the rest of the SoCon on notice. Thus far, only three Big Board’ers have committed to SoCon schools. One has verballed to Davidson, while the other two belong to Campbell. 

Having six verbal commitments at this time of year is not an easy task. Currently, only two service academies, plus Minnesota, Penn, Penn State, and Stanford, have that many. (These are only counting ones reported to InterMat. There may be others that haven’t been made public). Even with our disclaimer, the fact remains that Campbell is crushing it on the recruiting trail. Recruits obviously like what they’ve heard from the staff and are buying in. 

We’re a long way from the Class of 2024 contributing on the mat, which is where this really counts; however, there’s a lot to be optimistic about if you're a fan of the Camels. Six commits. Three Big Board’ers. Two in the top 100. And more?

Two weeks ago marked the release of our recruiting class rankings and last week we followed those up with five schools that earned honorable mentions. So, we’re all finished with the Class of 2023 recruiting? Not quite. 

Starting last week, we’ve drilled down a bit and looked further into each conference for more recruiting information. With some of the traditional superpowers consistently atop national recruiting rankings, this will be a way for more schools to get recognized for their recruiting efforts. 

Before getting to the SoCon, here are links to the conferences already covered:

ACC

Big 12

EIWA

MAC

Pac-12

SoCon on the Big Board

Appalachian State: #133 Jeremiah Price (Surry Central, NC), #199 Brysen Terrell (Bradley Central, TN)

Bellarmine: #173 AJ Rallo (Whitfield, MO)

Campbell: #112 Chris Earnest (Wadsworth, OH), #149 Wynton Denkins (Perrysburg, OH)

Chattanooga: #100 Isaiah Powe (Gardendale, AL)

The Class of 2023 has six Big Board’ers headed to the SoCon. That is less than in 2022 when double that amount signed with SoCon schools. Some of that deficit could be attributed to the fact that MatScouts Big Board went to 250 in 2022 and only 200 this year. Two wrestlers from 2022 ranked within that range. You could make an argument that four or five 2023 recruits could have fit into that span. With some of the schools in the SoCon on the incline and starting to hit their stride from a recruiting standpoint, I’d imagine this number grows slightly in the future. 

Under-the-Radar Signees

Appalachian State: Aldo Hernandez (Uwharrie Charter, NC)

Bellarmine: Anthony Strieb (Antioch, IL)

Campbell: Bentley Ellison (Cleveland, TN)

Chattanooga: Ethan Vergara (Mater Lakes, FL)

Davidson: Wyatt Ferguson (Oak Hills, OH)

Gardner-Webb: Charlie Sly (Stuart Cramer, NC)

Presbyterian: Connor Garren (Olentangy Orange, OH)

The Citadel: Gylon Sims (Joliet Catholic, IL)

VMI: Patrick Jordon (New Kent, VA)

SoCon Recruiting Rankings

1. Campbell

Recruits: Wynton Denkins (Perrysburg, OH), Chris Earnest (Wadsworth, OH), Bentley Ellison (Cleveland, TN), Oliver Fairchild (Easton, PA), Logan Heckert (Sycamore, TN), Mike Kinzel (Bowling Green, OH), Noah Lawrence (Great Bridge, VA), Landon Reaux (Southside, LA), Cooper Shore (Miami East, OH), Hudson Waldrop (McAdory, AL)

The Camels lead the way for the SoCon with a pair of top-150 recruits at the top of their Class of 2023. Those two, Wynton Denkins and Chris Earnest both finished in the top-three in Ohio’s largest classification. Denkins was also eighth at the Super 32 and Earnest was a placer at the Walsh Ironman. Bentley Ellison and Logan Heckert each made the podium after the 2023 high school campaign at NHSCA Seniors. This class really provides an infusion of talent into the lightweights for Campbell. Scotti Sentes’ team has juniors and seniors as projected starters at the first three weights, so youth is needed at those slots. Overall, this is a group that should help Campbell get back to the top of the SoCon, after a year dominated by rival, Appalachian State. 

2. Chattanooga

Recruits: Kendrick Curtis (Fairview, TN), Wyatt Gibbs (Brentwood, TN), Ethan Lipsey (Bradley Central, TN), Chaz McDonald (Jefferson, GA), Collin Mullins (North Paulding, GA), Yuta Otera (Landstown, VA), Isaiah Powe (Gardendale, AL), Ty Tice (Eastside, SC), Ethan Vergara (Mater Lakes, FL)

The conference’s top-ranked recruit and another strong get from the Class of 2022 make this a class that could legitimately challenge for the top spot in the conference. Three-time Alabama state champion, Isaiah Powe, was the only SoCon recruit that finished the year ranked in the top-100 nationally (at #100). Powe was a two-time NHSCA placewinner and won the tournament as a senior. The Mocs will also get the services of Ethan Vergara who grayshirted after graduating in 2022. Vergara is an excellent heavyweight prospect who AA’ed in Fargo’s Junior freestyle tournament twice (3rd/7th). Chattanooga also has four others that earned All-American honors at NHSCA Senior Nationals (Ethan Lipsey, Chaz McDonald, Collin Mullins, and Yuta Otero). Over the past couple of years, Appalachian State and Campbell have seemed to separate themselves from the rest of the SoCon. With this class and maybe another, Chattanooga could re-establish its place atop the league. 

3. Appalachian State

Recruits: James Bankston (Hillsdale, NC), Tomas Brooker (Hickory Ridge, NC), Jayden Dobeck (Pinecrest, NC), Logan Eller (Trion, GA), Aldo Hernandez (Uwharrie Charter, NC), Gunnar Pool (Centerville, OH), Jeremiah Price (Surry Central, NC), Bryson Terrell (Bradley Central, TN)

The Appalachian State Class of 2023 features two Big Board’ers in Jeremiah Price and Bryson Terrell. Both are good recruiting wins, as Price was initially committed to NC State and Terrell comes from enemy SoCon territory. Price has proven his mettle on the national stage with a fifth-place showing at the Walsh Ironman and eighth place in Fargo’s Junior freestyle tournament. Tomas Brooker, Logan Eller, and Aldo Hernandez all finished in the top-eight at NHSCA Seniors. Mountaineers head coach JohnMark Bentley and staff do as good of a job as anyone in the nation at developing unheralded recruits into quality collegiate wrestlers. This class gives the ASU staff a lot to work with going forward. That will be important as Appalachian has been hit hard with graduation in 2023. 

4. Davidson

Recruits: Robert Canterino (Christian Brothers, NJ), Brock Carey (Fred T Foard, NC), Bryce Clement (American School, Japan), Wyatt Ferguson (Oak Hills, OH), Johnny Hagar (Delbarton, NJ), Brady Joling (Chartiers Valley, PA), Enis Lijkovic (Barron Collier, FL), Ian McGehee (Memphis University, TN), Tyler McKnight (Cass, GA), Savoy New (Cardinal Gibbons, NC), Dylan Smith (Fred T. Foard, NC), DJ Spring (Maiden, NC)

The first full recruiting class for second-year head coach Nate Carr Jr. has to be the best in Davidson history. The Wildcat staff took care of business at home and signed three North Carolina state champions, but they also expanded their reach into some power states. State placers from New Jersey (Robert Canterino), Ohio (Wyatt Ferguson), and Pennsylvania (Brady Joling) will get some proven winners into the program. Georgia state champ Tyler McKnight had a great NHSCA tournament and was third as a Senior. Davidson last sent a wrestler to the NCAA Tournament in 2015. With the strides the team took in 2022-23 and a really solid recruiting class, that streak could come to an end soon. 

5. VMI

Recruits: Phoenix Alyea (Skyline, VA), Tyler Berish (Beth-Center, PA), Luke Bryant (Riverheads, VA), Sam Dickey (Sherwood, MD), Eric Doran (Great Bridge, VA), Riley Finck (St. Christopher’s, VA), Jason Flener (North Allegheny, PA), Patrick Jordon (New Kent, VA), Christian Moffett (Woodgrove, VA), Caleb Richardson (East Hamilton, TN), Wayne Rold (Camden Catholic, NJ), Hunter Salomon (Skyline, VA), Toby Schoffstall (Liberty Christian, VA), River Smith (Glenvar, VA), Jackson Stroud (Brentsville, VA), Caleb Swanson (Northside, VA), Mohammed Zangneh (Glen Allen, VA)

What a massive recruiting class for VMI! The Keydet staff did an excellent job at inking some of Virginia’s best wrestlers and keeping them at home. The top recruit is Patrick Jordon who won the Beast of the East and Trojan Wars tournaments as a senior, in addition to his third Virginia 3A state title. He would later take seventh at Senior Nationals. Another highly credentialed member of the class is Toby Schoffstall who won Senior Nationals at 195 lbs and made the 16U Greco-Roman finals in Fargo in 2021. Additionally, VMI will get the services of three others that were Virginia champions in 2023, along with New Jersey placer Wayne Rold and two Pennsylvania state qualifiers. For a school that generally doesn’t redshirt very often, I’d imagine that a large chunk of this class finds its way into the VMI lineup, on a regular basis, in 2023-24. The VMI staff really hustled to get a class of this size and caliber locked in and it really should benefit the program positively going forward. 

6. Gardner-Webb

Recruits: Brixon Burgess (North Iredell, NC), TK Davis (Rockmart, GA), Joey Giordano (Long Branch, NJ), Eddie Flores (North Iredell, NC), Tyler Hicks (Beavercreek, OH), Hunter Jones (Hickory Ridge, NC), Jackson Lusk (SPIRE Institute, OH), Drew Pepin (Northwest Guilford, NC), Ty Porter (Salem, VA), Charlie Sly (Stuart Cramer, NC), Josh Ward (Page, TN)

As NHSCA Senior Nationals concluded, Gardner-Webb’s Class of 2023 really came into focus. The future Runnin’ Bulldogs put a pair of wrestlers into the NHSCA Senior finals with TK Davis winning the 120 lb weight class and Drew Pepin making the 152 lb championship match. Both were also fifth at the Junior edition of the tournament. Eddie Flores also was an NHSCA All-American. For the most part, the Gardner-Webb class is from the south, which is often the case. One of the outliers is a good one as they’ve signed Joey Giordano, a New Jersey state fourth-place finisher and a three-time state qualifier. Gardner-Webb generally has a veteran class returning, so there isn’t a desperate need for this class to hit the mat immediately, they should have the opportunity to develop in the GWU room.