BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell will kick off the 2022-23 wrestling season at the Battle in the River City duals, taking on No. 14 Iowa State, Little Rock and Buffalo. Action begins at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 5, at Swisher Gymnasium on the campus of Jacksonville University.
THE SCHEDULE
The Camels will face Little Rock in Saturday's opener, followed by 14
th-ranked Iowa State at 2:00 p.m. CU will close out competition at 4:00 p.m. against Buffalo.
No. 12 Wisconsin and Chattanooga will also compete in the event.
Watch the Battle in the River City in its entirety on
Rokfin.
LOOKING BACK AT 2021-22
Campbell heads into the 2022-23 season coming off its fourth straight Southern Conference 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 Shannon Hanna at 141 pounds,
Caleb Hopkins at 184 and
Taye Ghadiali at heavyweight. The Camels have sent at least six qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in each of the last four seasons.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
As a team, the Camels are receiving votes in the NWCA poll, while coming in at No. 29 in the Intermat dual rankings.
Individually, five Camels are ranked in the Intermat preseason top-30 at each weight class. Taye Gha-diali comes in at No. 12, followed by No. 18 Shannon Hanna at 141 and No. 20
Caleb Hopkins at 184.
Austin Murphy is also No. 20 at 174, while Anthony Molton is tabbed No. 27 at 125.
THE BATTLE IN THE RIVER CITY FIELD
A total of 14 nationally ranked wrestlers are projected to compete in the field.
The Camels will meet Iowa State for the first time since downing the
then-No. 11 Cyclones 22-14 in 2020 at the Duals on the Diamond, hosted by Arizona State at Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks in a first of its kind event.
The Cyclones will be led by a trio of top-10 ranked wrestlers, including No. 3 David Carr at 165 pounds, No. 5 Marcus Coleman at 184 and No. 6 Yonger Bastida at 197.
Campbell will be taking on Little Rock for the first time, and squaring off with Buffalo on just the third occasion, and first time since 2014.
PRESEASON SOCON FAVORITES
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.
NEXT UP
The Camels will host the
Battle at Bragg, on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11, at the Pope Army Airfield at Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, N.C.
The event will be streamed live, globally, via
UFC Fight Pass, in association with Cage Fury Fighting Championships. CU will be joined on the mat for head to head duals by No. 5 Michigan (5:00 p.m.) and No. 16 North Carolina (7:30 p.m.).
Fighting Camels wrestling season tickets are on sale now at
GoCamels.com/Tickets. The 2022-23 home opener is set for Sunday, December 4 at 4:00 p.m. at Gore Arena as Campbell entertains the University of Virginia Cavaliers.
CAMPBELL PROBABLE LINEUP
125: No. 27 Anthony Molton (R-Jr.) or Zak Thompson (R-Fr.) or Zander Phaturos (Fr.)
133: Domenic Zaccone (R-Jr.) or
Gabriel Hixenbaugh (R-Jr.)
141: No. 18 Shannon Hanna (Sr.)
149: Chris Rivera (R-So.) or Callum Sitek (R-Fr.)
157:
Troy Nation (R-Sr.) or Hagen Heistand (Fr.)
165: Dom Baker (Fr.) or Riley Augustine (R-So.)
174: Cole Rees (R-Fr.)
184: No. 20
Caleb Hopkins (R-Sr.)
197:
Levi Hopkins (R-Jr.) or Brandon Hosleton (R-Fr.)
HWT: No. 12
Taye Ghadiali (R-Jr.) or Chad Nix (R-So.)
Individual rankings according to Intermat (as of 11/2/22)
Team rankings according to NWCA (as of 10/28/22)
