SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Campbell has been selected fifth in the Southern Conference preseason poll and Ville Heino earned a spot on the preseason all-conference team at 184-pounds.
"I don't think any coach wants to sit in fifth place in the conference," stated head coach Cary Kolat. "Our goal at this point is to win the conference. We have guys who now have a year of wrestling under their belt, they are seasoned and their training has been going well. We'll see when we hit the mat's how we compete - that's the real gauge, how we start the year. We'll see with WV coming up and the duals up there against Pitt, Ohio and WVU."
Campbell is slotted fifth, four points above The Citadel and five points behind SIUE. Appalachian State and Chattanooga tied for first place in voting with 44 points and three first-place votes each.
Heino, the 2016 champion at the 184-pound weight class, earned the top spot in the preseason poll for his weight class. Heino defeated John Lampe of UT-Chattanooga, 6-5, in the finals of last year's tournament. He qualified for the NCAA Championships last season but dropped both of his matches in the competition.
"Ville sitting at 184 at the top is great, it's good for him," said Kolat. "It's good for our program and a boost of confidence for him and he needs to wrestle like he's the top guy."
Last season, Campbell finished fifth with a 3-4 record during last season. It took victories at against The Citadel (19-16), Davidson (42-3), and at VMI (24-15).
The Fighting Camels open the season Nov. 6 at West Virginia for a series of duals against West Virginia, Ohio, and Pittsburgh
Full preseason poll and all-conference team listed below.
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2016-17 SoCon Wrestling Preseason Coaches Poll
School (First-place votes) Points
T1. Appalachian State (3) 44
T1. Chattanooga (3) 44
3. Gardner-Webb (2) 40
4. SIUE 29
5. CAMPBELL 24
6. The Citadel 20
7. VMI 16
8. Davidson 7
2016-17 SoCon Wrestling Preseason All-Conference Team
125 Freddie Rodriguez, SIUE^
133 Irvin Enriquez, Appalachian State
141 Mike Pongracz, Chattanooga
149 John Fahy, SIUE^
157 Aaron Walker, The Citadel*+
165 Forrest Przybysz, Appalachian State
174 Nick Kee, Appalachian State^
184 VILLE HEINO, Campbell^
197 Scottie Boykin, Chattanooga^
HWT Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State^*
