For Chattanooga wrestling coach Chris Bono and the Mocs the goal is to wrestle in St. Louis in March at the NCAAs.

And there are a few steps and 15 weeks to make wrestling’s Big Dance.

Even thought the Mocs lost to No. 8 Missouri, 24-10, at home Sunday afternoon – the first home loss since the same Tigers won here in Feb. 2006 – this is the type competition they will surely face in St. Louis.

“These are the guys we have to beat to be an All-American,’’ said Bono in a near empty Maclellan Gym where an hour earlier a solid home crowd of 2,000 fans were cheering for the home blue and gold.

“Missouri wrestled hard from start to finish and didn’t give us anything and that’s what we will see at the Midlands (Dec. 29-30) and the Nationals Duals (Jan. 12-13) as we focus on St. Louis,’’ said Bono.

The Mocs started well, winning two of the first three – Javier Maldonado (125) and Cody Cleveland (141) – for a 6-3 lead, but could only garner one other victory – a major decision by No. 16 undefeated (10-0) senior Lloyd Rogers (174) – among the remaining seven matches.

‘‘They (Missouri) are by far the toughest team (eight nationally ranked wrestlers) we have faced in the first half of the season,’’ stated Bono, whose No. 10 Mocs (5-1) have a 19-16 triumph against then No. 8 Ohio State on November 10 and the first place trophy at the Keystone Classic (Philadelphia) on Nov. 18.

‘‘The Tigers are well coached and this (mid-December) is a great time to wrestle them and see how we stack up,’’ he stated. “Our crowd was really into it and we need more of these national powers in our gym.’’

The Mocs also have strong tests with Northern Iowa (Jan. 6), Oklahoma (Jan. 18), Virginia Tech (Feb. 9) and Central Michigan (Feb. 17) as well as the Southern Conference foes before the SoCon tourney at McKenzie Arena, Saturday, March 8.

Bono will send the guys home for the Christmas break on Thursday, but there is work to be done before buying presents and being with family.

“We will get back to work on Monday afternoon and drill the basics hard,’’ he stated.

‘’The Midlands tourney is 13 days away.’’

Moc Notes: Five of the 10 matches were decided by three or less points, with Missouri winning three, including a six-overtime match at 197 ... UTC has scheduled Oklahoma for a home match (date not determined) during the 2008-09 season … Lunch with Bono is Wednesday at 11:45 a.m. at T-Bones … According to Missouri coach Brian Smith, former two-time Tennessee state prep champion Brandon Wright (Houston High School) has decided to leave Missouri at the end of this semester … Wright, a freshman, is red shirting this season, but Smith said Wright has did well in open tournaments.

Contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net

Moc fans.
- Photo2 by Greg Davick