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Campbell wins third straight SoCon wrestling championship title
13 SoCon wrestlers advance to the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships
BOONE, N.C.– Campbell claimed its third straight Southern Conference Wrestling Championship on Sunday at the Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, North Carolina. The Camels picked up three individual titles and head coach Scotti Sentes earned coach of the year honors. Chattanooga’s Andrew Nicholson (165) was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler and took home the 165-pound crown.
Campbell led the tournament with 92 points, with App State In a close second with 87. Chattanooga was third with 64 points, followed by Gardner-Webb (50), The Citadel (43.5), VMI (18) and Presbyterian (6.5).
Sentes, in his first year leading the Camels, was named the Southern Conference coach of the year after leading the Camels to the 2021 regular-season title with an undefeated league record (7-0).
The Camels had three champions in Austin Murphy (174), Caleb Hopkins (184) and Chris Kober (197). No. 1 Murphy defeated No. 2 Thomas Flitz in a 9-3 decision, allowing Campbell to hold on to a narrow team lead. Hopkins, the only wrestler to earn wrestler of the week honors twice this season, entered Sunday’s championship as the No. 1 seed and upheld the title with a 5-2 decision over No. 3 Matthew Waddell of Chattanooga. No. 1 Kober closed out the night as the 197-pound champion with a 3-1 decision over Chattanooga’s Logan Andrew, who was seeded third. Campbell’s Joshua Heil (149) and Taye Ghadiali (HWT) were the runner-up champions in their respective weight classes, both securing their spots at the NCAA championships. Heil took the remaining allocation at 149 pounds after defeating No. 4 Selwyn Porter in the true second place match.
Campbell’s Hopkins was the tournament’s Pinnacle Award winner, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team. The redshirt sophomore from Palmer, Alaska, majors in cyber security and holds a 3.763 GPA.
Tournament runner-up App State collected five first-place titles in Codi Russell (125), Sean Carter (133), Anthony Brito (141), Jonathan Millner (149) and Cody Bond (157). No. 1 Russell took the 125-pound title after an 11-4 decision over Campbell’s No. 3 Zurich Storm. The senior beat No. 4 Bernardino Gomez in a 14-4 major decision that advanced him to the final match against Storm. No. 2 Carter kept the momentum going for the Mountaineers and took down No. 1 seed Jake Rotunda from The Citadel in a hard fought 3-1 battle, leading him to the championship title. App State’s Millner won the Mountaineers’ first individual title of the day with a 2-0 decision over Campbell’s Heil. Millner is the defending champion at 149 pounds after defeating No. 2 seed Tanner Smith of Chattanooga last season, while Heil took home the weight class title in 2019.
No. 2 Brito began the match with a two-point takedown against Campbell’s Shannon Hanna, the No. 4 seed, before closing the match with a 7-3 decision for the crown. The matchup at 157 pounds included the top-two seeds, No. 2 Bond from App State and No. 1 Benjamin Barton from Campbell. After an escape in the second period from Barton, the two wrestlers entered the only tiebreaking final matchup of the night. Ultimately, Bond came out on top with the 10-5 decision.
Chattanooga saw the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler Andrew Nicholson take home gold at 165 pounds. No. 3 Nicholson defeated Gardner-Webb’s RJ Mosley, the No. 2 seed, in the quarterfinal match with a narrow 3-2 decision. The junior went on to defeat No. 4 Dazjon Casto in the finals with another 3-2 decision. The Mocs’ Waddell (184) and Logan (197) were the runner-ups in their respective weight classes, with Waddell securing the second 184 NCAA allocation and will compete at the NCAA Championships.
Michael McAleavey (HWT) led The Citadel with an individual title, upholding his No. 1 seed and becoming the first Bulldog to capture a SoCon championship since 2015. McAleavey secured a 1:32 fall against App State’s Michael Burchell in the semifinals, after receiving a bye in the quarterfinals. In the finals against No. 3 Taye Ghadiali of Campbell, he secured the 5-3 decision and finished the match as the 2021 champion.
In addition to the 10 individual champions, three other SoCon wrestlers earned automatic NCAA berths.
The NCAA Wrestling Selection Show will air on NCAA.com at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10. The 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, March 18-20.
Team standings
1. Campbell – 92.0
2. Appalachian State - 87.0
3. Chattanooga - 64.0
4. Gardner-Webb – 50.0
5. The Citadel - 43.5
6. VMI – 18.0
7. Presbyterian – 6.5
Individual champions/NCAA qualifiers
125 – Codi Russell, App State
133 – Sean Carter, App State
141 – Anthony Brito, App State
149 – Jonathan Millner, App State
157 – Cody Bond, App State
165 – Andrew Nicholson, Chattanooga
174 – Austin Murphy, Campbell
184 – Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
197 – Chris Kober, Campbell
HWT – Michael McAleavey, The Citadel
Additional NCAA allocations
149 – Joshua Heil, Campbell
184 –Matthew Waddell, Chattanooga
HWT – Taye Ghadiali, Campbell
Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Scotti Sentes, Campbell
Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler
Andrew Nicholson, 165, Chattanooga
Pinnacle Award (student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team)
Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
Campbell led the tournament with 92 points, with App State In a close second with 87. Chattanooga was third with 64 points, followed by Gardner-Webb (50), The Citadel (43.5), VMI (18) and Presbyterian (6.5).
Sentes, in his first year leading the Camels, was named the Southern Conference coach of the year after leading the Camels to the 2021 regular-season title with an undefeated league record (7-0).
The Camels had three champions in Austin Murphy (174), Caleb Hopkins (184) and Chris Kober (197). No. 1 Murphy defeated No. 2 Thomas Flitz in a 9-3 decision, allowing Campbell to hold on to a narrow team lead. Hopkins, the only wrestler to earn wrestler of the week honors twice this season, entered Sunday’s championship as the No. 1 seed and upheld the title with a 5-2 decision over No. 3 Matthew Waddell of Chattanooga. No. 1 Kober closed out the night as the 197-pound champion with a 3-1 decision over Chattanooga’s Logan Andrew, who was seeded third. Campbell’s Joshua Heil (149) and Taye Ghadiali (HWT) were the runner-up champions in their respective weight classes, both securing their spots at the NCAA championships. Heil took the remaining allocation at 149 pounds after defeating No. 4 Selwyn Porter in the true second place match.
Campbell’s Hopkins was the tournament’s Pinnacle Award winner, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team. The redshirt sophomore from Palmer, Alaska, majors in cyber security and holds a 3.763 GPA.
Tournament runner-up App State collected five first-place titles in Codi Russell (125), Sean Carter (133), Anthony Brito (141), Jonathan Millner (149) and Cody Bond (157). No. 1 Russell took the 125-pound title after an 11-4 decision over Campbell’s No. 3 Zurich Storm. The senior beat No. 4 Bernardino Gomez in a 14-4 major decision that advanced him to the final match against Storm. No. 2 Carter kept the momentum going for the Mountaineers and took down No. 1 seed Jake Rotunda from The Citadel in a hard fought 3-1 battle, leading him to the championship title. App State’s Millner won the Mountaineers’ first individual title of the day with a 2-0 decision over Campbell’s Heil. Millner is the defending champion at 149 pounds after defeating No. 2 seed Tanner Smith of Chattanooga last season, while Heil took home the weight class title in 2019.
No. 2 Brito began the match with a two-point takedown against Campbell’s Shannon Hanna, the No. 4 seed, before closing the match with a 7-3 decision for the crown. The matchup at 157 pounds included the top-two seeds, No. 2 Bond from App State and No. 1 Benjamin Barton from Campbell. After an escape in the second period from Barton, the two wrestlers entered the only tiebreaking final matchup of the night. Ultimately, Bond came out on top with the 10-5 decision.
Chattanooga saw the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler Andrew Nicholson take home gold at 165 pounds. No. 3 Nicholson defeated Gardner-Webb’s RJ Mosley, the No. 2 seed, in the quarterfinal match with a narrow 3-2 decision. The junior went on to defeat No. 4 Dazjon Casto in the finals with another 3-2 decision. The Mocs’ Waddell (184) and Logan (197) were the runner-ups in their respective weight classes, with Waddell securing the second 184 NCAA allocation and will compete at the NCAA Championships.
Michael McAleavey (HWT) led The Citadel with an individual title, upholding his No. 1 seed and becoming the first Bulldog to capture a SoCon championship since 2015. McAleavey secured a 1:32 fall against App State’s Michael Burchell in the semifinals, after receiving a bye in the quarterfinals. In the finals against No. 3 Taye Ghadiali of Campbell, he secured the 5-3 decision and finished the match as the 2021 champion.
In addition to the 10 individual champions, three other SoCon wrestlers earned automatic NCAA berths.
The NCAA Wrestling Selection Show will air on NCAA.com at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10. The 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, March 18-20.
Team standings
1. Campbell – 92.0
2. Appalachian State - 87.0
3. Chattanooga - 64.0
4. Gardner-Webb – 50.0
5. The Citadel - 43.5
6. VMI – 18.0
7. Presbyterian – 6.5
Individual champions/NCAA qualifiers
125 – Codi Russell, App State
133 – Sean Carter, App State
141 – Anthony Brito, App State
149 – Jonathan Millner, App State
157 – Cody Bond, App State
165 – Andrew Nicholson, Chattanooga
174 – Austin Murphy, Campbell
184 – Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
197 – Chris Kober, Campbell
HWT – Michael McAleavey, The Citadel
Additional NCAA allocations
149 – Joshua Heil, Campbell
184 –Matthew Waddell, Chattanooga
HWT – Taye Ghadiali, Campbell
Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Scotti Sentes, Campbell
Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler
Andrew Nicholson, 165, Chattanooga
Pinnacle Award (student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team)
Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
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