After wrapping up its 14th Southern Conference Regular Season Championship, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team is set to compete in the 2013 SoCon Wrestling Tournament this weekend in Lexington, Va. VMI is the host of the 76th annual event on Saturday, March 9, at Cameron Hall.
The Mocs have won the SoCon Tournament 26 times since joining the league in 1978, including each of the last two years and seven of the last eight. UNCG was the last team to knock UTC off the podium in 2010.
Chattanooga won the regular season race with a perfect 7-0 league mark and 11-6 overall. Despite winning by a two-match cushion, UTC will have a strong challenge from The Citadel (7-6, 5-2 SoCon) this weekend. Both teams placed five on the All-SoCon squad. The Mocs have six No. 1 seeds in the tournament while The Citadel has the other four.
Doors open at 9:00 a.m. (E.S.T.) on Saturday with action beginning at 10:00 a.m. By the end of the day, all 10 individual champions will be crowned and 13 automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament handed out.
TICKETS
Prices are $15 for adults, $10 for youth and non-SoCon students with ID. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets at a group rate of $8 per person. Students from any of the Southern Conference schools can pick up a ticket free of charge simply by showing their school ID. Tickets can be purchased online at VMITickets.com or by calling the ticket office at 540-464-7266.
LIVE STREAMING & UPDATES
The Southern Conference will provide a live stream of the action free of charge. A link is available on the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com. For live updates be sure to follow Mocs wrestling on Twitter @UTCWrestling.
CHATTANOOGA PROBABLE LINEUP:
125: No. 18Nick Soto (So. - 24-6)
133: Alex Ward (Fr. - 8-4)
141: Dean Pavlou (Sr. - 22-11)
149: Alex Hudson (Jr. - 12-5)
157: Trey Stavrum (So. - 11-15)
165: Josh Condon (Sr. - 9-5)
174: John Lampe (Fr. - 13-10)
184: Robert Prigmore (Sr. - 11-12)
197: No. 18 Niko Brown (Sr. - 27-3)
285: Kevin Malone (So. - 16-9)
Head Coach: Heath Eslinger (45-28 - 4th Year)
The Mocs finished the regular season with an 11-6 overall record and went 7-0 in SoCon matches. The league began recording regular season records and championships in 1994 and this is the 10th time UTC has posted a perfect record in SoCon duals.