BOONE, N.C. – The Citadel heavyweight Michael McAleavey picked up a pair of victories to capture the 2021 Southern Conference Championship at the Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State.
 
McAleavey is the first Bulldog to capture a SoCon championship since 2015.
 
The victory advances McAleavey to the NCAA Wrestling Championships March 18-20 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
 
McAleavey became the fifth Bulldog in program history to capture the SoCon heavyweight championship. Odie Delaney took home the heavyweight title in 2012 and 2013, Billy Linane won the championship in 2004 and 2005, Jim Ettari in 1983 and Chuck Pinto from 1980-82.
 
After receiving a bye in the opening round, McAleavey needed only 92 seconds to secure a fall in the seminfinal round against Michael Burchell of App State.
 
In the finals, McAleavey got an early takedown to jump out to a 2-0 lead. The match entered the third round tied 2-2 before McAleavey took the lead on an escape to start the round. McAleavey secured a takedown in the final minute to finish off the championship over Taye Ghadiali of Campbell.
 
McAleavey was one of three Bulldogs to reach the finals. Jake Rotunda qualified for the final at 133 and Dazjon Casto at 165.
 
Rotunda also received an opening-round bye as the top seed at 133. He narrowly defeated Gabe Hixenbaugh, 3-2, in the semifinals before suffering a tough 3-1 setback in the championship match to Todd Carter of App State.
 
Casto entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed and began his day with a late takedown to defeat Austin Kraisser of Campbell, 5-3. In the semifinals, Casto took on the top seed, William Formato of App State. In a very tight match throughout, Casto was able to secure a takedown in the final seconds of the match to take the 6-3 victory.
 
In the championship match, Casto was again locked in a tight match. This time, he was not able to muster any late match heroics in falling, 3-2, to Andrew Nicholson of Chattanooga.
 
At 149, Selwyn Porter began the tournament with a 9-3 victory in the opening round. He would fall to eventually champion Jonathan Millner in the seminfials.
 
Porter made his way through the consolation bracket with a victory over Jo Chishko (VMI) and then a second victory over Aidan Murphy in the third-place match. Porter had an opportunity to wrestle for true second, but came up just short in falling 4-3 to Joshua Heil.
 
Kyle Kretzer picked up a victory over Zach Brown (VMI) at 184 in the consolation bracket before falling in the third-place match.
 
Ben Stemmet picked up a victory in the consolation bracket at 197 to earn a spot in the third-place match.
 
Several Bulldog wrestlers will wait for the March 10 announcement for at-large bids to the NCAA Championships.