ITHACA, N.Y. – After qualifying eight wrestlers for the 2015 NCAA Championships next weekend in St. Louis by virtue of automatic bids in winning the program's ninth straight EIWA title, junior Duke Pickett was selected as an at-large pick at 174 pounds to match a school record of nine wrestlers headed to the national meet. The selections, seedings and brackets were announced last night by the NCAA.

Six of Cornell's nine NCAA qualifiers earned a top 12 seed in their respective weight class, with No. 1 seed Gabe Dean at 184 and No. 2 seeds Nahshon Garrett (125) and Brian Realbuto (157) leading the way. In addition, senior Chris Villalonga is the No. 5 seed at 149 and Jace Bennett is the No. 9 seed at 197. All five won EIWA crowns last weekend at Lehigh. Rounding out the seeded wrestlers is sophomore Dylan Palacio, the No. 12 seed at 165.

Joining Pickett and the six seeded wrestlers in the field is 133-pounder Mark Grey, who advanced to the All-America round a season ago, as well as first-time qualifier senior Jacob Aiken-Phillips at heavyweight.

Garrett, sporting a 28-3 overall record and three straight EIWA titles in his pocket, will be looking for his third All-America nod and his first national championship when he begins his tournament against Nebraska's Tim Lambert in the first round. Alan Waters of Missouri, who handed Garrett one of his two losses at 125 this season, was the No. 1 seed. Defending national champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois is unseeded and wrestling on the other side of the bracket.

At 17-10, EIWA third-place finisher Grey will open his tournament against 15th-seeded Nick Soto of Chattanooga, who is 28-9 on the season. The winner will get either Wisconsin's second-seeded Bradley Taylor or Duke's Mitch Finesilver in the second round.

Villalonga will put his 27-3 record on the line against Duke's Marcus Cain, who enters the tournament with a 21-7 mark. It will be the first meeting of the season between the two. Second round opponent on the winner's side could include Penn State's No. 12 seed Zack Beitz or Chattanooga's Shawn Greevy.

As the No. 2 overall seed, Realbuto begins his attempt for his second All-America nod and first national title against Arizona State's Oliver Pierce, then would meet the winner of Brown's 15th-seeded Justin Staudenmayer and Oklahoma State's Anthony Collica.

EIWA runner-up Palacio is 19-2 while wrestling just half the season after spending the fall with the Big Red men's soccer team. He opens his tournament with Pitt's Troy Reaghard, then would meet wither Bo Jordan of Ohio State, the No. 5 seed, or Michigan's Garrett Sutton, with a win in the second round.

Pickett will enter the tournament unseeded and starts action against No. 9 seed Cody Walters of Ohio, who is 30-1 in the regular season. The winner would face No. 9 seed Tyler Wilps of Pitt or Matt Reed of Oklahoma.

Dean, who placed third at NCAAs as a freshman and is riding a 23-match win streak into the tournament, open the first round  with a matchup against Patrick Kissel of Purdue. The winner would meet either Brown's returning All-American Ophir Bernstein or Nebraska's 16th-seeded Timothy Dudley of Nebraska.

Bennett is in search of his first All-America honor, and his quest begins when he opens the national championships against Northern Colorado's Trent Noon. Waiting for the winner will be either No. 8 seed Max Huntley of Michigan or Northern Illinois' Shawn Scott.

Kicking off the heavyweight battles will be Aiken-Phillips meeting No. 8 seed James Lawson of Penn State. Waiting in the wings is either Minnesota's ninth-seeded Michael Kroells or Columbia's Garrett Ryan, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

Wrestling begins Thursday, March 19 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.