The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team had a strong opening day at the Virginia Duals. The Mocs scored wins over Grand Canyon and Rider to advance to Saturday's Gold Bracket.
UTC opened with a 21-9 win over Grand Canyon, but it was the 24-13 victory against Rider that was the most impressive to this point in the season. The Broncos were coming off a fifth place showing at the Midlands Championships and had four ranked individuals in their probable lineup.
"I thought we responded really well after the first match," stated head coach Heath Eslinger.
"We are pretty worn out after the Scuffle and traveling, but you have to give a great effort, even when you don't feel your best."
UTC junior Scottie Boykin took out one of Rider's ranked individuals with a 4-3 decision over No. 20 Ryan Wolfe. That win sealed the deal against the Broncos and stopped a potential comeback.
"Scottie struggled in his first match, then came back and beat a top-20 guy," added Eslinger. He responded really well and got a big win for us."
Freshman Alonzo Allen opened the match against Rider with a 10-3 decision against Zach Valcarce, but the Broncos came back with a major decision at 133. Junior Michael Pongracz sparked Chattanooga with a pin at 141 that gave the Mocs a 9-4 lead.
Newcomer Chase Zemenak followed with a tech fall at 149. That really put the Mocs in control with a 14-4 lead. It was Zemenak's second win of the day. The sophomore from Nazareth, Pa., just transferred in during the semester break from Bloomsburg.
"Chase stepped right in and gave us two wins at 149," said Eslinger. "I think he is settling in and will be a good addition for us."
Freshman Kamaal Shakur stretched the margin to 18-4 after a major decision at 157. FreshmanDominic Lampe just missed a big upset before falling 9-7 to No. 20 Connor Brennan at 165. Rider took the next two to close the gap to 18-13, but Boykin put the match out of reach with his win at 197. No. 11Jared Johnson improved to 16-3 overall with his win at heavyweight to close out the match.
UTC won seven against the Antelopes, but no bonus points in the first dual. Pongracz, Zemenak, Shakur, Lampe, juniors Sean Mappes and McCoy Newberg and Boykin all had wins in the first outing.
Chattanooga advances to the Gold Bracket tomorrow where it faces No. 15 Iowa State. The Cyclones are 5-2 overall and feature three ranked individuals. Match time is set for 2:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va.
Links to Flowrestling live video and Trackwrestling live scoring are both available on the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com. Arizona State and No. 3 Virginia Tech are on the other side of the championship bracket and the finals/consolations are set for 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Chattanooga 21 – Grand Canyon 9
125: Trayton Libolt (GCU) – Dec. 5-3 - Cody Minnick (UTC) – GCU 3-0
133: Juaquin Olivas (GCU) – Dec. 5-1 - Cody Hill (UTC) – GCU 6-0
141: Michael Pongracz (UTC) – Dec. 3-0 - Steven Abayon (GCU) – GCU 6-3
149: Chase Zemenak (UTC) – Dec. 1-0 - Blake Monty (GCU) – Tied 6-6
157: Kamaal Shakur (UTC) – Dec. 7-2 - Zackary Velasquez (GCU) – UTC 9-6
165: Dominic Lampe (UTC) – Dec. 6-1 - Casey Larson (GCU) – UTC 12-6
174: Sean Mappes (UTC) – Dec. 3-1 - Kenneth Moore (GCU) – UTC 15-6
184: McCoy Newberg (UTC) – Dec. 4-0 - Austin Trujillo (GCU) – UTC 18-6
197: Scottie Boykin (UTC) – Dec. 9-8 - Austin Gaun (GCU) – UTC 21-6
285: Daniel Chaid (GCU) – Dec. 8-2 - Connor Tolley (UTC) – UTC 21-9
Chattanooga 24 – Rider 13
125: Alonzo Allen (UTC) Dec. 10 -3 - Zach Valcarce (Rider) – UTC 3-0
133: Robert Deutsch (Rider) – MD 19-5 - Cody Hill (UTC) – Rider 4-3
141: Michael Pongracz (UTC) – Fall 3:38 - Paul Kirchner (Rider) – UTC 9-4
149: Chase Zemenak (UTC) – Tech Fall 19-4 - Jimmy Morris (Rider) – UTC 14-4
157: Kamaal Shakur (UTC) – MD 14-5 - Jesse Rodgers (Rider) – UTC 18-4
165: No. 20 Connor Brennan (Rider) – Dec. 9-7 - Dominic Lampe (UTC) – UTC 21-7
174: Wayne Stinson (Rider) – Dec. 6-3 – Sean Mappes (UTC) – UTC 18-10
184: Michale Fagg-Daves (Rider) – Dec. 7-5 - McCoy Newberg (UTC) – UTC 18-13
197: Scottie Boykin (UTC) – Dec. 4-3 - No. 20 Ryan Wolfe (Rider) – UTC 21-13
285: No. 11 Jared Johnson (UTC) – Dec. 2-0 - Greg Velasco (Rider) – UTC 24-13
=======================================================