The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team will close out the home portion of its non-conference schedule with another top-10 opponent this afternoon at 2 at Maclellan Gym as the Mocs host. No. 6 Illinois (4-0, 0-0).
This is a quick turnaround for the Mocs, after hosting the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1-2 in McKenzie Arena. The Fighting Illini are the seventh top-10 team to visit the Scenic City this fall. Penn State (1), Oklahoma State (2), Minnesota (3), Missouri (6) and Cornell (7) were all in town for the Scuffle while the Mocs hosted No. 4 Iowa in a dual match on Nov. 16.
Tickets
Tickets are $5 for the match and available at the gate or on GoMocs.com. Doors open at 1:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS & MOCSVISION VIDEO
A link for live stats is available on the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com. There is live video through MocsVision on GoMocs.com.
CHATTANOOGA PROBABLE LINEUP:
125: No. 7 Nick Soto (So. - 16-5)
133: Marvin Lopez (Fr. - 7-7)
141: Dean Pavlou (Sr. - 16-8)
149: Alex Hudson - (Jr. - 4-5)
157: Trey Stavrum (So. - 7-10)
165: Josh Condon (Sr. - 2-4)/John Lampe (Fr. - 8-9)
174: Jake Young (Jr. - 7-9)
184: Robert Prigmore (Sr. - 5-9)/John Shrader (Fr. - 6-7)
197: No. 16 Niko Brown (Sr. - 19-3)
285: Kevin Malone (So. - 9-7)
The Mocs are 4-4 on the year with wins over Ohio (21-12), Anderson (37-6), Cumberland (49-0) and Princeton (27-10). Three of the four losses have come against ranked teams in No. 16 Virginia (9-26), No. 2 Iowa (6-37) and No. 2 Oklahoma State (9-41).
NO. 9 ILLINOIS PROBABLE LINEUP:
125: No. 5 Jesse Delgado (So. - 12-1)
133: No. 11 Daryl Thomas (Sr. - 16-3)/Logan Arlis (So. - 14-6)
141: No. 3 B.J. Futrell (Sr. - 18-1)
149: Caleb Ervin (Fr. - 16-4)
157: Matt Nora (Fr. - 8-4)
165: No. 8 Conrad Polz (Sr. - 11-3)
174: No. 8 Jordan Blanton (Sr. - 14-2)
184: No. 19 Tony Dallago (Jr. - 11-4)
197: No. 12 Mario Gonzalez (Jr. - 6-1)
285: Chris Lopez (Fr. - 10-5)
Illinois is currently 3-0 in dual meets with wins over Princeton (46-0), Maryland (31-6) and Binghampton (39-10). All three wins came at the Journeyman Duals in Troy, N.Y. on Nov. 24.
The Fighting Illini are coming off a win at the Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30 in Evanston, Ill. Five wrestlers placed in the top seven, including Jesse Delgado (125) and B.J. Futrell (141) finishing second, Jordan Blanton (174) third, and Conrad Polz (165) and Mario Gonzalez (197) fifth.
There are seven ranked wrestlers on Illinois' roster, led by Futrell's No. 3 ranking at 141. Delgado is No. 5 at 125 while Polz and Blanton are No. 8 at 165 and 174, respectively. Daryl Thomas is No. 11 at 133, followed by No. 12 Mario Gonzales at 197 and No. 19 Tony Dallago at 184.
MOCS VS. ILLINOIS
UTC is 0-9 all-time against Illinois in dual meets, including last year's 30-6 loss in Champaign on Dec. 18. Nick Soto scored a big win in that match, upsetting No. 4 Futrell (5-3) at 133 pounds. There will not be a rematch as Soto has moved down to 125 and Futrell is up to 141. Kevin Malone also had a win at heavyweight, defeating Patrick Walker (6-3).