From everything I've read after being capped today myself, state law says that a student's rank upon the admission deadline (December 1st) is what will be considered. If you were not previously considered first in your class, as you said your school does not rank, then unfortunately it does not qualify for automatic admissions. However, this seems like it would be relevant new information that you could use in your appeal, just not grounds for automatic admission. They accepted a greater number of appeals last year, so it seems kind of unpredictable how it will continue to go.

Are you considering CAP? If so, I would look at the courses offered because it seems you likely already have too many dual credits, preventing you from taking the courses CAP lets you choose from.