BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Brackets have been announced for the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

2018 Southern Conference heavyweight champion and automatic qualifier Jere Heino will face 16^th-seeded Matt Stencel (28-13) from Central Michigan in round one, with the winner advancing against either two-time defending NCAA champion, No. 1 Kyle Snyder (12-1) of Ohio State, or Pittsburgh's Ryan Solomon (20-9).

Quentin Perez, who received an at-large berth at 165 pounds, will square off with No. 6 seed Richie Lewis (18-4) of Rutgers in the opening round, with the winner taking on either No. 11 Isaiah White (23-6) of Nebraska or Utah Valley's Demetrius Romero (25-7).

Additionally, Campbell's Andrew Morgan has been added as an alternate at 174 pounds. If a member of the 33-man field is unable to compete, Morgan will be inserted into the bracket.
Both Heino and Perez will be making return trips to the NCAA Championships, with Heino receiving an at-large berth and Perez earning the SoCon title and automatic bid in 2017.
Heino cruised to three victories at the SoCon Championships, including a pin to top Appalachian State's Cary Miller in just 1:48 in the finals to secure his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships.

The SoCon's No. 1 seed at heavyweight, Heino was named to the All-SoCon Team, going 21-5 overall in the regular season while running the table in SoCon matches, going a perfect 7-0. Of his seven SoCon victories, five came in bonus fashion, including three pins, a tech fall and a major decision. The Helsinki, Finland native has won 22 of his last 24 bouts, and is ranked No. 28 at 285 by the NCAA's coaches panel with a 24 RPI.

Perez made the SoCon podium for the second straight season last weekend, pinning VMI's Blake Hohman at the 4:13 mark to advance to the consolation final. In the third place match, the junior topped Appalachian State's Laken Cook 11-7, for the second time of the day, earning bronze.

Perez is 25-8 on the season, going 5-1 in SoCon duals during the regular season. An Arlington, Texas native, Perez was ranked No. 32 by the NCAA coaches panel, and owned a RPI of 25 heading into the SoCon Championships.

Morgan was the SoCon runner-up at 174 pounds, falling 3-2 to Appalachian State's Forrest Przybysz for the conference title. The redshirt sophomore topped VMI's Cade Kiely with a pin (3:33) in round one, then, as the No. 3 seed, took down No. 2 seed Justin Lampe from Chattanooga in overtime, advancing to the finals with a 3-1 decision.

Heading into the SoCon Championships, Morgan was ranked No. 31 in the nation at his weight class by the NCAA coaches panel, and has gone 20-10 on the season with a 4-2 SoCon record.

View the full 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships brackets here.