SOCON Thoughts After Pre-Seed Release: 2021

 First things first, I am saddened that Davidson will not be attending this year.  I'm not going to try and save face by pretending that I believe the Wildcats would've sent a lot on through to the NCAA tournament. Matter of fact, I don't think they would have.  I do however think that 133 lbs'er Kyle Gorant had potential to have a good tournament.  No guarantee and he would have had to have outwrestled his seed, but I do believe he had potential to finish in third place. 

With that said, let's look at the weights. 


125 lbs 

The NCAA has only allotted one qualification at this weight and it'll be an all out war to see who gets it. #1 Codi Russell of Appalachian State and #2 Fabian Gutierrez of Chattanooga will be every bit of the battle that it was when Russell barely edged Gutierrez 4-3 earlier this season.  It'll be one of the best finals of the night, if not the best one.  The runner-up here should be in contention for an at large bid, regardless of who it is. Both of these guys finished as SOCON runner-ups last season, Gutierrez at 125 and Russell at 133.  Both look to trade in their silvers for gold.  


133 lbs 

The Citadel's #1 Jake Rotunda looks to have a fairly smooth ride into the finals, although I do believe that #2 Sean Carter of Appalachian State will give him a run for his money.  Again, even though the NCAA only has one spot allotted, I feel a good chance for an at large bid. 


141 lbs 

The #1 seed goes to Chattanooga's Francisco Valdes on account of an undefeated 9-0 record.  I give merit to the possibility of #2 Anthony Brito of Appalachian State perhaps knocking him off in the finals as well as the possibility of him getting knocked off earlier on.  Spencer Leonhardt the backup to #4 Shannon Hanna of Campbell took Valdes into sudden victory in a 4-2 loss.  This weight may be more up for grabs than anticipated.  Only see the one allotment going here.  Don't think this weight will get an at large. 


149 lbs 

The parity of this weight class seeds #3 through #7 makes my head spin.  Yet I'm not sure if it really matters of if it's worth getting into because there's not much reason to think that third place will get an at large selection. The weight has allotted two NCAA qualifications and both #1 Jon Milner of Appalachian State and #2 Josh Heil of Campbell, who both won SOCON titles last season (Heil at 141, Milner at 149) are distinctively above the rest.   

IF...third place is allotted an at large bid, it'll be interesting to see who earns it.  While Job Chishko of VMI is seeded #3, keep in mind that he lost 4-0 to #5 Aiden Murphy of Chattanooga and Gardner Webb's #6 Brandon Bright tech'd him 17-0.  A case of  A beat B, B beat C, C beat A and everything else in between.  Chaos. 


157 lbs 

If it wasn't for that damn 7-3 loss to #3 seed Weston Wichman of Chattanooga, I would've been pretty much sold on the idea of #1 Ben Barton of Campbell walking away with the SOCON title.  He defeated #2 Cody Bond 5-4, who dropped a 5-4 decision to Wichman.  Honestly, all three in my opinion have a shot at winning the SOCON title.  Don't see any at larges here, so winner take all. 


165 lbs 

I think this weight class could shape up to be interesting. Will Formato of Appalachian State takes the #1 seed going into the championships, but his last two matches with #2 Rodrick Mosley of Gardner-Webb have been close.  A 2-1 decision the last time the two met and a 3-2 decision the time before that.   
It's also conceivable that Formato doesn't even make the finals.  In the semis he'll have #4 Dazjon Casto of the Citadel, who took Formato into overtime in a tight 3-1 loss.   

Casto lost 5-3 to #3 Drew Nicholson of Chattanooga this season, but is 2-3 against him in five matches.  

If this weight class goes according to seeds, with the champion being allotted, I say that we'll for sure see one at large bid here.  If there are upsets, I can see as many as one allotted, plus three at large bids, for a total of four qualifiers.   


174 lbs 

The final between #1 Austin Murphy of Campbell and #2 Thomas Flitz of Appalachian State should prove to be a good one.  Murphy edged Flitz, a SOCON runner-up last year, earlier this season 5-4.  


184 lbs 

#1 Caleb Hopkins of Campbell looks to be in pretty good shape here as he owns a 4:27 fall over #2 Jah'Quan Anderson of VMI & a 5-2 victory over #3 Matt Waddell of Chattanooga.   The Semi-final between Anderson and Waddell, who have yet to meet in their careers, should prove to be a good one. Waddell was a SOCON runner-up last season. 


197 lbs 

#1 seed Chris Kober of Campbell should have a smooth sail into the finals, but may have some trouble once he gets there against either #2 Tyler Mousaw of VMI or #3 Andrew Logan of Chattanooga, who he only defeated 3-2  earlier this season.   The Semi between Mousaw and Logan should be good. 


HWT 

It was all the way back in the 2018-2019 season when #1 Michael McAleavey of the Citadel and #2 Anthony Perrine of Gardner-Webb met on the mat, where McAleavey won a tight 6-5 decision.  Should be a good match.