BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Winner of the last four Southern Conference championships, Campbell has again been picked atop the league in the 2022-23 SoCon Wrestling Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Four Camels were also named to the preseason All-SoCon team, also selected by the conference's head coaches. Campbell's four preseason selections are a league high.

2022 SoCon champs Shannon Hanna at 141 pounds, Caleb Hopkins at 184 pounds and heavyweight Taye Ghadiali were all picked to repeat their league titles. Levi Hopkins was also named preseason All-SoCon at 197 pounds.

Campbell (59 points) earned four of the available nine possible first place votes to edge out App State (57 points), which picked up two first place nods. Chattanooga (55) also received three first place votes to finish third in the poll. Gardner-Webb (41), The Citadel (32), Davidson (30), VMI (22), Bellarmine (14) and Presbyterian (14) rounded out voting.

Campbell is coming off its fourth straight SoCon tournament championship, and fifth conference tournament title in the last six seasons. All 10 Camels in the 2022 field wrestled for medals, with nine earning spots on the podium, including  individual championships from Hanna at 141 pounds, Hopkins at 184 and Ghadiali at heavyweight.

The Camels have sent at least six qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in each of the last four seasons.

Campbell also finished fifth in the 2021-22 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division I Scholar All-America team rankings, an all-time high for the program, and posted two Scholar All-Americans, including 2022-23 returner Caleb Hopkins.

The Camels will begin the 2022-23 season at the Battle at the River City Duals in Jacksonville, Fla. on November 5. CU will make its home debut on Sunday, December 4 at 4:00 p.m., hosting Virginia.

2022-23 SOCON WRESTLING PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
School (First-place votes), Points 
1. Campbell (4) 59
2. App State (2) 57
3. Chattanooga (3) 55
4. Gardner-Webb 41
5. The Citadel 32
6. Davidson 30
7. VMI 22
T8. Bellarmine 14
T8. Presbyterian 14

2022-23 SOCON WRESTLING PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
125: Caleb Smith, App State
133: Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga
141: Shannon Hanna, Campbell
149: Jonathan Millner, App State
157: Cody Bond, App State
165: RJ Mosley, Gardner-Webb
174: Rocky Jordan, Chattanooga
184: Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
197: Levi Hopkins, Campbell
HWT: Taye Ghadiali, Campbell