Nick Soto (left) in action during the SoCon championships, is one of three UTC wrestlers still alive in the consolations at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Sean Boyle (top) remains alive for the Mocs in the 126-pound weight class in the consolation bracket.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Scottie Boykin (left) remains active in the 197-pound weight class consolations at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Three Mocs are still alive at the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. Seniors Sean Boyle and Nick Soto and sophomore Scottie Boykin look to advance in the consolation brackets in tomorrow’s action.
The fifth-seeded Boyle opened with a tough battle against Lehigh’s Scott Parker. Parker took an early lead with a takedown in the first, but Boyle countered with a takedown of his own before the first buzzer.
The match was tied at 5-5 after the second period, and Boyle escaped quickly in the third. He fought off a scramble at the end to advance to the second round.
There he met Edinboro’s Kory Mines. Mines is the No. 12 seed, and Boyle already had a win over him (5-2) at the Virginia Duals. Three takedowns and two back points in the first period gave Mines an 8-3 lead. Boyle could not get back on track and scored only one takedown in the 12-7 loss.
Boyle faces another familiar foe in tomorrow’s backdraw. He is pitted against The Citadel’s Joaquin Marquez in the consolations. He had major decision wins in the two meetings with Marquez in the regular season.
Soto was upset in the first round of the main draw when he was pinned by Cornell’s Mark Grey in the first period. Seeded 15th, Soto responded with an 8-4 win over North Carolina’s Troy Heilmann in the backdraw. He had lost to Heilmann twice in the regular season.
Soto next faces Kent State’s McKenzie McGuire. He scored a narrow 5-4 win over McGuire at the Eastern Michigan Duals early in the season.
Boykin opened with a tall task against top-seeded and defending NCAA Champion J’Den Cox of Missouri. The match was tight for the first two periods as Boykin only gave up a takedown and an escape to trail 3-0. Cox added a pair of takedowns and riding time in the final frame for the 8-1 win.
That loss put Boykin in a pigtail match in the consolations against South Dakota State’s Nathan Rotert. An escape in the second, plus riding time, was all the scoring in Boykin’s 2-0 win.
His final victory on the day was an impressive 8-6 win over No. 10 Elliott Riddick of Lehigh. Boykin jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Riddick came back to tie it at 5-5 early in the third period. Boykin scored a take down late in the final period and added riding time for the 8-6 win.
Boykin is now pitted against Nebraska’s 15th-seeded Aaron Studebaker in tomorrow’s backdraw action.
Senior Shawn Greevy (149) and sophomores Michael Pongracz (141), Sean Mappes (174) and Jared Johnson all went 0-2 in their first trips to the NCAA Tournament. Of their eight combined matches, six were against seeded opponents.
The Mocs are back in action tomorrow with consolation rounds beginning at 11:00 a.m. (E.D.T.). Check the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com for a link to the ESPN3 broadcast and live scoring from Trackwrestling.com.
Chattanooga Results
125 – Sean Boyle – No. 5 Seed
Scott Parker (Lehigh) – W-D, 6-5
No. 12 Kory Mines (Edinboro) – L-D, 7-12
133 – Nick Soto – No. 15 Seed
Mark Grey (Cornell) – L-Fall (2:53)
Troy Heilmann (UNC) – W-D, 8-4
141 – Michael Pongracz
No. 12 Joseph Ward (UNC) – L-D, 0-4
No. 5 Josh Dziewa (Iowa) – L-MD, 3-12
149 – Sean Greevy
No. 12 Zack Beitz (Penn State) – L-MD, 1-10
Marcus Cain (Duke) – L-Fall (0:36)
174 – Sean Mappes
No. 7 Zach Epperly (VT) – L-D, 3-8
No. 10 Mark Martin (Ohio State) – L-D, 3-6
197 – Scottie Boykin
No. 1 J’Den Cox (Missouri) – L-D, 1-8
Nathan Rotert (SDSU) – W-D, 2-0
No. 16 Elliott Riddick (Lehigh) – W-D, 8-6
285 – Jared Johnson
No. 4 Austin Marsden – L-D, 1-6
Ryan Solomon (Pitt) – L-D, 4-6