ASHLAND – In the final polls of the regular season released this week, the Southern Oregon men's wrestling team landed at No. 6 in the NAIA Top 25 with 10 nationally-ranked individuals and four on top of the Cascade Conference in their respective weight classes.

SOU will enter the CCC Championships – hosted by Corban on Feb. 20-21 in Salem – as the favorite to defend its title with 185 ½ conference poll points, a good chunk ahead of challengers Providence (Mont.) (162 points) and Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) (161).

The Raiders' final NAIA ranking is their highest since they were No. 4 at the end of the 2014-15 regular season. They finished their dual schedule with a 16-1 record and the fourth-highest winning percentage (.941) in team history.

Based on final conference rankings, they'll presumable have CCC Championship top seeds at 149 pounds in No. 12-ranked Kolton Malone, 157 pounds in No. 6 Avant Stepherson, 184 pounds in No. 4 Adrian Chavez-Morales, and 197 pounds in No. 4 Asher Ruchti.

The NAIA also announced on Thursday that a total of 47 automatic national bids will be on the line at the CCC Championships. They were allocated based on the conference's number of ranked wrestlers per weight class – six at 125, three at 133, six at 141, four at 149, six at 157, four at 165, six at 174, three at 184, four at 197, and five at 285.

The NAIA Championships are set for March 5-7 in Park City, Kan.

SOU INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
C – Cascade Conference ranking; N – NAIA ranking
125 – 2C/7N Isaac Hampton, 4C/17N Kyle Sieminksi
141 – 2C/22N Tyler Rhue, 9C Dylan Clark
149 – 1C/12N Kolton Malone
157 – 1C/6N Avant Stepherson, 7C Dylan Straley
174 – 3C/11N Braylin Ruchti, 5C/22N Jackson Potts
184 – 1C/4N Adrian Chavez-Morales
197 – 1C/4N Asher Ruchti, 3C/13N Elias Corona

 

TREND	RANK	LAST	INSTITUTION	POINTS
▲	1	2	Grand View (Iowa)	260
▼	2	1	Life (Ga.)	256
●	3	3	Southeastern (Fla.)	229
▲	4	5	Oklahoma City	172
▼	5	4	Indiana Tech	164
●	6	6	Southern Oregon	152
●	7	7	Cumberlands (Ky.)	145
●	8	8	Campbellsville (Ky.)	144
●	9	9	Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)	134
●	10	10	Missouri Valley	133
●	11	11	Doane (Neb.)	125
▲	12	13	Providence (Mont.)	116
▼	13	11	Cumberland (Tenn.)	109
▲	14	15	Central Methodist (Mo.)	97
▲	15	17	Marian University (Ind.)	89
●	16	16	Concordia (Neb.)	85
▲	17	18	Friends (Kan.)	68
▲	18	20	Saint Mary (Kan.)	62
●	T-19	19	Wayland Baptist (Texas)	57
▲	T-19	20	Keiser (Fla.)	57
▼	T-19	14	Arizona Christian	57
▲	T-19	23	Georgetown (Ky.)	57
▼	T-23	20	Corban (Ore.)	56
▲	T-23	25	Eastern Oregon	56
▼	25	24	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	55

Receiving Votes: Missouri Baptist 46, Montana State-Northern 45, Reinhardt (Ga.) 42, Morningside (Iowa) 42, William Woods (Mo.) 38, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 37, Baker (Kan.) 35, Midland (Neb.) 35, Dickinson State (N.D.) 23, Rio Grande (Ohio) 20, Rochester Christian (Mich.) 19, Cornerstone (Mich.) 18, Northwestern (Iowa) 17, William Penn (Iowa) 14, Cleary (Mich.) 14, Simpson (Calif.) 14, St. Ambrose (Iowa) 14, Montreat (N.C.) 14, Briar Cliff (Iowa) 12, Ottawa (Kan.) 12, Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 10, Graceland (Iowa) 10, Hastings (Neb.) 10, St. Thomas (Fla.) 8, Avila (Mo.) 6, Lourdes (Ohio) 4, Westcliff (Calif.) 2, Evergreen State (Wash.) 2, Siena Heights (Calif.) 2.