App State hosts the 2022 SoCon Championships where 15 bids to the NCAA Championships will be claimed!

App State, Campbell, The Citadel, Davidson, Gardner-Webb, Presbyterian, Chattanooga and VMI will be in Boone, North Carolina to crown 10 individual and one team champion. 

Quick Links

• Preview 
• Championship brackets
• Championship seeds
• Live video: ESPN+ (prelims, championship)
• #SoConWR
• Record book
• Tickets

See the number of automatic qualifying bids to the NCAA Championships available in each weight class at the Socon Championships: Look at the table directly below!

FloWrestling NCAA D1 Rankings

125 Pounds

2 AQs

#1 Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga (Flo HM)

#2 Caleb Smith, App State (Flo HM)

#3 Korbin Meink, Campbell (Flo HM)

#4 Aedyn Concepcion, Gardner-Webb

#5 Malik Hardy, The Citadel

#6 Bernardino Gomez, Presbyterian

#7 Cameron Chicella, VMI

#8 Hale Robinson, Davidson

This is one of the most brutal brackets of the entire conference championship weekend (click here to read a breakdown of all the toughest brackets). One of the three ranked wrestlers here will not earn a bid at the tournament and will have to rely on an at-large bid. 

That will make the expected showdown between Smith and Meink in the semis all the more important. 

Additionally, whoever loses in the semis will want to make sure they finish third, as they'll be competing with everyone else in the nation who didn't earn an auto-bid and there will be little margin for error.

133 Pounds

2 AQs

#1 Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga (Flo HM)

#2 Codi Russell, App State (Flo HM)

#3 Todd Carter, Gardner-Webb

#4 Kyle Gorant, Davidson

#5 Domenic Zaccone, Campbell

#6 Jake Rotunda, The Citadel

#7 Dominic Chavez, Presbyterian

#8 Patrick Maglathlin, VMI

Though the conference has but the two ranked wrestlers for the two AQs, the next three seeded wrestlers are all NCAA Tournament caliber.  

Carter, Gorant, and Zaccone have all either spent time in the rankings or been right on the bubble. Additionally, Gorant is Davidson's best chance at a qualifier. 

141 Pounds

1 AQ

#1 Shannon Hanna, Campbell

#2 Heath Gonyer, App State

#3 Trevon Majette, Gardner-Webb

#4 Franco Valdes, Chattanooga

#5 Nick Cambria, Davidson

#6 Freddy Junko, VMI

#7 Jackson Bradford, The Citadel

#8 Khalid Brinkley, Presbyterian

The battle for the single AQ is going to make for a thrilling bracket. Hanna has a strong argument for being ranked, while Gonyer, Majette, and Valdes have shown similar capabilities at various times this season.

149 Pounds

2 AQs

#1 Jonathan Millner, App State (Flo #8)

#2 Josh Heil, Campbell (Flo #9)

#3 Noah Castillo, Chattanooga

#4 Gavin Demasco, Davidson

#5 Brandon Bright, Gardner-Webb

#6 Reid Stewart, Presbyterian

#7 Ethan Willis, The Citadel

#8 Luke Fegley, VMI

The SoCon's two best shots at getting an All-American are both in the same weight class. They've both been solid all year long, and both have notched wins over ranked ACC rivals Josh Finesilver of Duke and Zachary Sherman of UNC.

Milner won the head-to-head battle in the fantastic late-season dual meet between the two programs. The semifinals will be the most important round with regards to qualifying for the NCAA Tournament (win and you're in) but that finals rematch will also be one to watch. 

157 Pounds

1 AQ

#1 Dazjon Casto, The Citadel (Flo HM)

#2 Cody Bond, App State

#3 Jojo Aragona, Campbell

#4 Lincoln Heck, Chattanooga

#5 Bryce Sanderlin, Davidson

#6 Seth Fillers, VMI

#7 Zachary Phillips, Presbyterian

#8 Taylor Parks, Gardner-Webb

Casto is the Citadel's only number one seed of the tournament, and the only one ranked in the conference at 157, but his path to Detroit won't be easy. 

Bond has been on the top 33 bubble all year long, and Aragona was a top recruit and former starter at Rutgers who may have needed a change of scenery and weight class to reach his full potential. 

165 Pounds

2 AQs

#1 Drew Nicholson, Chattanooga

#2 Will Formato, App State (Flo #18)

#3 RJ Mosley, Gardner-Webb

#4 Selwyn Porter, The Citadel

#5 Blake Showers, VMI

#6 Troy Nation, Campbell

#7 Jaden Hardrick, Davidson

#8 Logan Spell, Presbyterian

Nicholson earning the #1 seed is huge as with just two AQs available, the semifinals become 'go-to' bouts. The winner will 'go-to' the NCAAs. 

Nicholson earned that seed by beating both Formato and Mosely in the regular season, but Mosley took both Nicholson and Formato to tiebreakers. Porter is no slouch, but Nicholson defeated him 9-1, whereas Formato and Mosley were both OT victories. Given all that, this is still one of Gardner-Webb's best shots at getting a qualifier (the lightweights are also all possibilities).

Troy Nation also proved capable of beating NCAA caliber wrestlers, defeating Brian Meyer of Lehigh this season, who himself beat Jake Wentzel and Anthony Valencia. 

174  Pounds

1 AQ

#1 Thomas Flitz, App State (Flo HM)

#2 Austin Murphy, Campbell (Flo HM)

#3 Carial Tarter, Chattanooga

#4 Evan Schenk, Gardner-Webb

#5 Jon Hoover, VMI

#6 Ben Haubert, The Citadel

#7 Mason Watkins, Presbyterian

#8 Lachlan Rosato, Davidson

Another brutal bracket where at least one ranked SoCon competitor will have to rely on an at-large bid to wrestle at NCAAs. Murphy beat Flitz in the head-to-head at the App State Campbell grudge match dual, but Flitz beat UNC's Clay Laut, who beat NC State's Hayden Hidlay. So be prepared to be surprised! 

184 Pounds

1 AQ

#1 Caleb Hopkins, Campbell (Flo HM)

#2 Thomas Sell, Chattanooga

#3 Jha’Quan Anderson, Gardner-Webb

#4 Barrett Blakely, App State

#5 Gavin Henry, Davidson 

#6 Cole Burke, The Citadel

#7 David Bertrand, Presbyterian

#8 Joel Diaz, VMI

The weight class looks simple, with 1 AQ and one ranked entrant, but the upper weights have been anything but simple this season. 

197 Pounds

1 AQ

#1 Chris Kober, Campbell

#2 Matthew Waddell, Chattanooga

#3 Tyler Mousaw, VMI

#4 Anthony Perrine, Gardner-Webb

#5 Finlay Holston, Davidson

#6 Wyatt Miller, App State

#7 Ben Stemmet, The Citadel

#8 Aiden Jean, Presbyterian

Only one spot up for grabs again, and with no prohibitive favorites in the bracket. Kober has pole position but Waddell is a two-time qualifier at 184, and Mousaw is the Keydets standard-bearer and best chance the program has for a qualifier. 

285 Pounds

2 AQs

#1 Taye Ghadiali, Campbell (Flo #24

#2 Michael McAleavey, The Citadel (Flo HM)

#3 Michael Burchell, App State

#4 Mitchell Trigg, Davidson

#5 Peyton McComas, Gardner-Webb

#6 Matthias Ervin, Chattanooga

#7 Josh Evans, VMI

#8 Airin Spell, Presbyterian

Heavyweight is a little more predictable than 184 and 197, and there's a good chance Ghadiali and McAleavey, the two top seeds and only ranked wrestlers in the bracket, qualify for Detroit at SoCons. 

That said, it's the postseason, so anything's possible!