Top-Ranked Oklahoma State Leads Southern Scuffle Field

Collegiate Wrestling's Scuffle is Sunday-Monday at McKenzie Arena

  • Saturday, December 31, 2016
  • B.B Branton
Cornell's Gabe Dean is a former NCAA and Southern Scuffle champion and will compete this weekend
Cornell's Gabe Dean is a former NCAA and Southern Scuffle champion and will compete this weekend
photo by Cornell Athletics

Oklahoma State has won 34 NCAA wrestling titles in its 101 years of competition but never the Southern Scuffle presented this year by Compound Clothing.

Hall of Fame coach John Smith and the Cowboys look to change that this weekend with a full 10 man roster plus 10 non-starters (highest finish in each weight class scores team points for that school) including three top seeded wrestlers -  Kaid Brock (133), Dean Heil (141).and Austin Schafer (285).

Other top 10 teams in this year’s strong field are No. 5 Missouri, No. 8 Cornell, No. 9 Lehigh plus No. 13 Minnesota, No. 16 Stanford, No. 21 Appalachian State, No. 22 Northern Iowa, No. 24 Virginia and No. 25 Drexel.

Gates open at 9 a.m. (E.S.T.) both Sunday and Monday (Jan.1-2) and wrestling starts each day at 10 a.m.  The full schedule of events and tickets are both available on TheSouthernScuffle.com.

Sunday Jan, 1 – wrestling starts at 10 a.m. … Championship Round of 16 – 2:15 p.m. Championship Quarterfinals – 7:30 p.m.

Monday Jan. 2 –wrestling starts at 10 a.m.

Championship Semifinals - Noon

Championship Finals – 7 p.m.

For a complete list of teams and #LetsScuffle previews of each weight class, visitwww.TheSouthernScuffle.com.

Tickets – 2 Day Pass – $35-$55

1 Day Pass – $20-$30

Get tickets at gomocs.com at McKenzie Arena the day of the event

By The Numbers

1 – a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist  - J’Den Cox (MIsouri) who is the top seed at 197

2 –  days of the best in-season collegiate wrestling in the nation here in Chattanooga

3 – NCAA champions – J’Den Cox (Missouri), Gabe Dean (Cornell) and Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) in this year’s event

3 – former Scuffle champs wrestling this weekend -  Oklahoma State's Dean Heil (141-'16), Cornell's Gabe Dean (184-'14, '15 & '16) and Missouri's J'Den Cox (197-'15).

3 – former Southern Scuffle team champions are competing this year  - Cornell (2008, 2009 & 2010 (tie)), Minnesota (2004, 2005 & 2007), Missouri (2003 & 2006) … 6-time winner Penn State is not competing this year

 3 – No.1 ranked wrestlers in the latest national rankings - Oklahoma State's Dean Heil (141), Cornell's Gabe Dean (184) and Missouri's J'Den Cox (197).

5 – teams which have competed in all 14 Scuffles including this weekend - • Appalachian State, Duke, North Carolina, The Citadel and Virginia  

 23 – teams in the years field … No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Missouri, No. 8 Cornell, No. 9 Lehigh, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 16 Stanford, No. 21 Appalachian State, No. 22 Northern Iowa, No. 24 Virginia and No. 25 Drexel.  

 
Others in the field along with Chattanooga are Air Force, Campbell, The Citadel, Cleveland State, Duke, Edinboro, Gardner-Webb, Navy, North Carolina, Northern Colorado, Penn and Utah Valley.


25 – All-Americans competing this weekend

40 – wrestlers ranked in the top 10

192 – Minnesota has the record for team points at 192 in its win in 2005. 

320+ - number of wrestlers in the 10 weight classes competing for titles
 
 
#LETSSCUFFLE
Be sure to use the hashtag #LetsScuffle when tweeting about the Southern Scuffle.  Follow @GoMocs and @UTCWrestling for the most up-to-date information on the 2017 Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Clothing.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Every match of the Southern Scuffle can be followed live via Flowresting.  Pay-per-view video is available through Flowrestling and live scoring and interactive brackets are available through FloArena.  Links to both are on the TheSouthernScuffle.com and the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com.  The Flowrestling video feed is now available on Roku and AppleTV.  

 

CHATTANOOGA MOCS PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Alonzo Allen (So. – 3-7)
133: Chris Debien (So. – 5-5)
           Jake Huffine (So. - 6-4)
141: Roman Boylen (So. – 4-5)
149: Dylanger Potter (Fr. – 5-5)
           Zach Shareef (So. - 0-0)
165: Justin Lampe (Jr. – 7-3)
174: Sean Mappes (Sr. – 7-5)
184: Bryce Carr (Jr. – 9-1)
           Barrett Walthall (Jr. - 2-3)
197: Clay Dent (Sr. – 3-4)
285: No. 14 Jared Johnson (Sr. – 10-1)
           Connor Tolley (So. - 2-4)

HEAD COACH HEATH ESLINGER
Head Coach Heath Eslinger is in his eighth season at UTC.  A two-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year, he owns an 89-48 (.650) career dual record.  He has guided the Mocs to six SoCon regular season and six SoCon tournament titles and has a 42-2 record in SoCon duals.
 
MOCS AT THE SCUFFLE
This is the sixth time the Mocs have hosted the Southern Scuffle and the eighth time they have competed in the event.  UTC's best showing was a sixth place finish in 2006 in Greensboro, N.C.
2016 - 20th (31.5)
2015 - 14th (43.5)
2014 - 16th (34.0)
2013 - 14th (31.5)
2012 - 7th (79.0)
2006 - 6th (75.5)
2005 - 13th (48.5)
 
JOHNSON LOOKING TO IMPROVE ON LAST YEAR'S FINISH
Senior Jared Johnson is currently 10-1 overall and No. 14 in the nation at heavyweight.  He is looking to improve on his fourth place finish at the 2016 Southern Scuffle.

CARR READY FOR A TEST
Junior Bryce Carr is off to a great start to his UTC career with a 9-1 record.  His lone loss was against Virginia Tech's No. 10 Zack Zavatsky (2-1) on Nov. 13.  The former junior college national champion could be a sleeper at this year's event.
 
SCUFFLE NOTES
• This is the 14th year of the Southern Scuffle.  It was held in Greensboro, N.C. from 2003-10 and moved to Chattanooga in 2012.
 
• Records do not show a Southern Scuffle in 2011, but the event did not skip a season.  The 2010 tournament was held in late December while the 2012 event was Jan. 1-2.
 
• Cornell's Gabe Dean is trying to join former teammate Kyle Dake (2009-13) and Minnesota's Cole Konrad (2003-06) as the only four-time winners of the Southern Scuffle. 
 
• Nine of the 10 brackets feature a potential top-5 matchup.  Both 141 and 197 have the top-2 ranked wrestlers in the country.  

contact B.B. Branton at wiliam.branton@comcast.net
 

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