The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is set to host the 2018 Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear, on Jan. 1-2. Billed as the top in-season collegiate wrestling tournament in the nation, the Southern Scuffle is held in the McKenzie Arena.
Gates open at 9:00 a.m. (E.S.T.) and wrestling starts each day at 10:00 a.m. The full schedule of events and information on tickets and the new hospitality passes are available on TheSouthernScuffle.com.
The field is stacked with representatives from 26 teams, including eight of this week's NWCA/USA Today Top 25. These include No.
1 Penn State, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 5 N.C. State, No. 6 Lehigh, No. 10 Virginia Tech, No. 14 Northern Iowa, No. 20 Lock Haven and No. 24 North Carolina. The Wolfpack, Hokies and Tar Heels are all sending partial teams. Navy, Utah Valley and Drexel are also receiving votes in the poll and are in the Scuffle field.
Others participating with Chattanooga include Air Force, Appalachian State, Cal State Bakersfield, Campbell, The Citadel, Cleveland State, Duke, Gardner-Webb, George Mason, Hofstra, Northern Colorado, Stanford and Virginia.
All totaled, there are 20 All-Americans, seven NCAA Champions, 61 currently ranked in the top-20 and 32 ranked in the top 10.
There are four No. 1 wrestlers in the field, according to the Dec. 20 Flo Rankings. These include Penn State's Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157), Vicenzo Joseph (165) and Bo Nickal (184).
For a complete list of teams and #LetsScuffle news, visit www.TheSouthernScuffle.
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.
Head Coach Heath Eslinger is in his ninth year at UTC. A two-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year, he owns a 96-57 (.627) career dual record, including a 49-4 (.925) tally in league matches. He has guided the Mocs to six SoCon regular season and six SoCon tournament titles.
Senior Bryce Carr is No. 12 at 184, while senior Scottie Boykin is No. 14 at 197 in this week's Flo Rankings. Both have 10-3 overall records.
This is the seventh 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.
2017 - 11th (46.0)
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)
CHATTANOOGA PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Alonzo Allen (Jr. – 8-3)
Fabian Gutierrez (Fr. - 2-4)
133: Jake Huffine (Jr. – 0-3)
Wade Cummings (So. – 2-6)
141: Michael Pongracz (Sr. – 8-6)
Chris Debien (Jr. – 5-7)
149: Roman Boylen (Jr. - 5-4)
Zach Shareef (Jr. - 2-2)
157: Dylan Forzani (Jr. – 3-6)
Jake Adcock (Fr. - 3-4)
165: Chad Pyke (Sr. – 10-5)
Drew Nicholson (Fr. - 0-0)
174: Justin Lampe (Sr. – 9-6)
184: No. 12 Bryce Carr (Sr. – 10-3)
Rodney Jones (Jr. - 3-5)
197: No. 14 Scottie Boykin (Sr. – 10-3)
Ben Stacey (So. – 1-4)
Jared Walker (Fr. - 0-2)
285: Connor Tolley (Jr. - 7-5)
UTC is coming off a 7-9 record last season. The Mocs return five starters to a team that finished 5-2 in SoCon regular season duals and fourth in the league tournament.
Senior Scottie Boykin is back in the lineup at 197 after redshirting last season. He won the league as a junior in 2016, when he was ranked as high as No. 9 in the country. He is off to a 10-3 start after winning the Hokie Open and Black Knight Invite.
Also coming off a redshirt year is senior Michael Pongracz. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier who was 22-6 at 141 in 2015-16. He is 8-6 overall and finished third at the Hokie Open.