ICYMI, the recap from Saturday in Boone, where App State won a SoCon team trophy for the 25th time:#ReAchTheSummithttps://t.co/yx7ZJ9MEou
— App State Wrestling (@AppWrestling) March 5, 2023
12 SoCon wrestlers advance to the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships
BOONE, N.C. - App State won the Southern Conference Wrestling Championship on Saturday at the Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, North Carolina. The Mountaineers' victory was their first title since 2018 and ended Campbell's quest for a fifth straight championship. App State head coach, JohnMark Bentley, earned SoCon Coach of the Year for the sixth time, while Chattanooga's Brayden Palmer (133) was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler after taking home the 133-pound crown as a No. 3 seed.
App State won the tournament with 103 points, with Campbell coming in second place with 78.5 points. Chattanooga was third with 52 points, followed by Gardner-Webb (42.5), The Citadel (33.5), Presbyterian (18.5), VMI (18) and Davidson (17).
The Mountaineers picked up three individual titles from Caleb Smith (125), Jon Jon Millner (149) and Tommy Askey (157), along with one NCAA allocation at 174 pounds by Will Miller. App State's Ethan Oakley was the tournament's Pinnacle Award winner, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team.
Tournament runner-up Campbell had four individual champions in Shannon Hanna (141), Caleb Hopkins (184), Levi Hopkins (197) and Taye Ghadiali (HWT). Each wrestler was named to the all-conference team earlier this week and came into the championship as the No. 1 seed in their respective weight class. Ghadiali was the only wrestler in the field to win each of his matches via pin during the championship. The Camels' Domenic Zaccone won an NCAA allocation at 133 pounds.
Chattanooga saw two wrestlers win individual titles, with Palmer and Rocky Jordan clinching titles at 133 and 174 pounds, respectively. Palmer defeated each of the top two seeds, Oakley and Zaccone, in his weight class en route to the title, while Jordan, the No. 1 seed at 174 pounds, won with a pin in the quarterfinals against Gardner-Webb's Andrew Wilson, a 13-0 majority decision versus Davidson wrestler Jaden Hardrick in the semifinals and a 4-2 decision over App State's Will Miller in the finals.
RJ Mosley (165) led Gardner-Webb with the team's lone individual title, winning his second-straight title at the SoCon championship. No. 2 Mosley outlasted No. 1 Will Formato, 3-1, in the finals to avenge his loss to Formato from earlier in the season.
The NCAA Wrestling Selection Show will air on NCAA.com on Wednesday, March 8 at 8 p.m. ET. The 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on March 16-18.
Team standings
1. Appalachian State - 103.0
2. Campbell - 78.5
3. Chattanooga - 52.0
4. Gardner-Webb - 42.5
5. The Citadel - 33.5
6. Presbyterian - 18.5
7. VMI - 18.0
8. Davidson - 17.0
Individual champions/NCAA qualifiers
125 - Caleb Smith, App State
133 - Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga
141 - Shannon Hanna, Campbell
149 - Jon Jon Millner, App State
157 - Tommy Askey, App State
165 - RJ Mosley, Gardner-Webb
174 - Rocky Jordan Chattanooga
184 - Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
197 Levi Hopkins, Campbell
HWT - Taye Ghadiali, Campbell
Additional NCAA allocations
133 - Domenic Zaccone, Campbell
174 - Will Miller, App State
Southern Conference Coach of the Year
JohnMark Bentley, App State
Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler
Brayden Palmer, 133, Chattanooga
Pinnacle Award (student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team)
Ethan Oakley, R-Fr., App State