The UTC wresting team had another strong showing this weekend with six Mocs finishing in the top 3 in their respective weight classes at the Wolfpack Open in Raleigh, N.C. The Mocs were led by senior Joey Knox who won the 157 class with a 4-0 record.
Taking on a field that included wrestlers from No. 19 Virginia, No. 21 Old Dominion, No. 23 Virginia Tech, Hofstra, North Carolina, Newberry, Gardner-Webb, Auburn, The Citadel and Utah Valley, Chattanooga went up against a very strong field.
Putting six in the top three at the event is even more impressive considering that neither of the Mocs’ two ranked competitiors took part in the action this weekend. No. 11 Cody Cleveland did not compete at 141. Freshman Jake Young, ranked No. 19 at 174, also sat out this weekend’s competition.
Knox dominated the 157 bracket, only giving up one point in four matches. He defeated Old Dominion’s Derek Gallagher 5-0 in the opening round and had a bye in the round of 16. He scored an 11-0 major decision over Gardner-Webb’s Alex Medved (11-0) to advance to the semifinals where he got past The Citadel’s Turtogtokh Luvsandorj 6-0. In the finals, he defeated ODU’s Dan Rivera 3-1 to take the title. Knox improved to 7-2 on the year with his four wins.
Juniors Bond Davis and Carlos Baron also competed at 157. Davis was impressive, finishing with a 4-2 mark to place seventh in the event. He fell to ODU’s Rivera in his first match 3-2 before making a run through the wrestle-back bracket. Back-to-back pins over teammate Baron and Auburn’s Terry Long set him up against GWU’s Medved where he scored a 1-0 decision. He then pinned ODU’s Gallagher before advancing by forfeit against Virginia Tech’s Hayden Countryman. He fell to The Citadel’s Luvsandorj in his final match of the day 4-2 in overtime. Baron went 0-2 in his matches at 157.
Sophomore Demetrius Johnson also had a strong outing in the 125 bracket. He placed second with a 1-1 official record. After an opening round bye, Johnson defeated The Citadel’s Richard Alacorn 6-2. He then got past teammate Paul Garza with a 12-3 major decision. Garza was wrestling unattached in the event. Johnson went on to fall to No. 11 Ben Kjar of Utah Valley 11-4 to place second.
The 133 bracket featured freshman Josh Sandoval and senior Josh Statum. Sandoval went 1-2 in his three matches while Statum posted a 2-1 mark. He was knocked out of the event by freshman teammate Jeremy Sandoval who was competing unattached. Jeremy Sandoval went on to place fifth in the bracket overall.
Freshman Dean Pavlou represented the Mocs well with a third place finish at 149. Pavlou defeated UNC Greensboro’s Aaron Smith with a 10-2 major decision in the opening round. He fell to No. 19 Justin Accordino of Hofstra by a narrow 3-2 mark in the round of 16. He went on to score four more wins on his way to a third place showing.
The Mocs also had a quality performances in the 165 bracket with sophomore Brandon Wright placing second and freshman Josh Condon finishing third. Both Condon and Wright won their first two matches before facing each other in the semifinals. Wright won that head-to-head match 4-1. Wright went on to fall to Hofstra’ P.J. Gillespie 4-1 in the finals. Condon won his last two matches in the wrestle-back to place third overall. Freshman Mikey Fuller also competed at 165, posting a 1-2 record.
UTC did not have any wrestlers competing at 174 and only sophomore Tyler Roberson competed at 184. He went 2-2 in his four matches. Junior Stephen was the lone Moc to wrestle at 197, posting an 0-2 mark.
Junior Tom Minwell had a solid performance after placing second in the heavyweight division. He advanced to the semifinals before falling to Gardner-Webb’s Dustin Porter 9-3. He posted two more wins to earn third place in the bracket.
Chattanooga will next travel to the Indiana Duals on Nov. 28 in Bloomington, Ind. The Mocs’ next home event is set for Saturday, Jan. 16, when they host No. 8 Missouri in Maclellan Gym at 7 p.m.