Five Binghamton University wrestlers will travel to St. Louis, Mo. for the NCAA Championships with the eyes of an entire city on them, and with basketball season officially over at BU, the focus has shifted to the mat.

Colonial Athletic Association champions 149-pound junior Donnie Vinson, 157-pound senior Justin Lister, heavyweight freshman Nick Gwiazdowski and CAA runner-up 184-pound junior Nate Schiedel earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. Sophomore 197-pound Cody Reed received an at-large berth to give the Bearcats another national qualifier.

For the first time in program history, two Binghamton wrestlers have earned seeding in the tournament — Vinson will carry the No. 4 seed in the 149-pound bracket, while Lister has been named the No. 9 seed in the 157-pound bracket. Of the 33 wrestlers in each weight class, only the top 12 are given the honor of earning seeds.

The five Bearcats who will compete brings BU’s list of NCAA qualifiers to 17 over just the past three seasons.

But despite the overall success, a notable name missing from Binghamton’s list of competitors is 165-pound senior Matt Kaylor, who has been to the NCAA Championships twice in his BU career. Kaylor will end his career with 112 victories, tied for second most in program history.

Binghamton head coach Pat Popolizio said he was very disappointed in Kaylor’s snub.

“The kid has poured his heart and soul into this program,” Popolizio said. “He has proved that he is one of the best kids in the country and one of the top kids as far as qualifying for a national tournament is concerned, but unfortunately it comes down to some people’s decisions. They do not know what he is capable of and they do not know how hard the kid works, so it’s unfortunate.”

Gwiazdowski (25-6), on the other hand, has achieved a rare feat by qualifying for the NCAA tournament as a “true” freshman — one who has not sat out a season of collegiate wrestling as a redshirt.

“I expected him to qualify when we recruited him,” Popolizio said. “I knew he was going to be a true freshman and I knew when I recruited him I thought he was good enough to get where he is at right now. Now the true test will come for him at the NCAA Championships. He is good enough to place in the national tournament, but he is the one that has to believe that and he is the one that has to do that.”

At the 2010 tournament, Lister (26-5 this year) placed fourth as an unseeded wrestler. Popolizio said he thinks Lister can replicate that kind of success this year.

“I think Justin Lister is one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the country,” Popolizio said. “He can end matches quick … and he’s the kind of guy you do not want to wrestle, especially at the national tournament. You make one mistake and he capitalizes on that and he can end the match, it doesn’t matter who he is wrestling, he is good enough to pin anybody at any given time.”

Vinson will enter the tournament having won 17 out of his last 18 matches, as well as having plenty of experience at the NCAA Championships. Having already been to the championships twice, Vinson’s nerves will not be an issue, according to Popolizio.

“I think Donnie Vinson is wrestling the best he ever has in his career,” Popolizio said. “It’s a great time for him to be doing that. If I was Donnie Vinson, I would feel great about the draw and feel great about how dominant he has been over the last couple of weeks. He just needs to carry that right into the national tournament.”

The NCAA Wrestling Championship is set to begin on March 14 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and will continue through March 17.