Bellarmine's AJ Rallo named SoCon Wrestler of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Bellarmine’s AJ Rallo has been selected as the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week for the week of Jan. 22-28.  

A native of Wildwood, Missouri, Rallo captured a commanding opening SoCon dual win over Shannon Hanna of Campbell, who is a two-time SoCon champion, on Jan. 24.  

Rallo claimed the win by a 9-5 decision, over the 21^st-ranked Hanna. Rallo’s win marked the first for the Knights in the dual against Campbell, with two of his teammates picking up individual wins later on during Campbell’s 29-10 victory. 

The redshirt freshman improved to 7-2 on the season. As of Jan. 23, Rallo is ranked seventh among SoCon Wrestlers in the 141-pound weight class, according to FloWrestling. 

With this selection, Rallo becomes the first Bellarmine wrestler to be named SoCon Wrestler of the Week since Cole Nance in March 2023. Rallo is only the third Bellarmine wrestler to receive the honor since the Knights joined the conference in 2020. 

Bellarmine will continue its SoCon slate on Jan. 31 against App State.  

Also nominated: Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb), Wynton Denkins (Campbell), Aldo Hernandez (App State), Ty Tice (Chattanooga), Gylon Sims (The Citadel), Patrick Jordon (VMI)  

2024-25 SoCon Wrestler of the Week   

Nov. 6 Patrick Jordon, So., VMI 

Nov. 13 Braxton Lewis, Jr., VMI 

Nov. 20 Taye Ghadiali, Gr., Campbell 

Nov. 27 Patrick Brophy, R-So., Citadel 

Dec. 11 Chad Bellis, Sr., App State  

Dec. 18 T.K. Davis, R-Fr., Gardner-Webb 

Dec. 25 Shannon Hanna, Gr., Campbell 

Jan. 1 No Nominations 

Jan. 8 Sergio Desiante, So., Chattanooga 

Jan. 15 Wynton Denkins, So., Campbell  

Jan. 22 Luke Uliano, R-Jr., App State  

Jan. 29 AJ Rallo, R-Fr., Bellarmine