The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team scored three individual Southern Conference titles on its way to a second-place finish at the 2018 SoCon Championships in Charleston, S.C. today.
Seniors Bryce Carr and Scottie Boykin and junior Alonzo Allen led the Mocs at The Citadel's McAlister Field House. UTC and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville tied for the most individual champions, while Appalachian State won the team title.
Carr started off the finals against Appalachian State's Alan Clothier. Two takedowns in the first period gave him a 4-1 cushion that he kept throughout the match. He added a takedown and riding time in the third for his second SoCon title at 184. He will enter the NCAA Championships with a 26-5 overall record.
Boykin won his second league crown at 197 pounds with an impressive performance that included a fall and a major decision. He took on The Citadel's Sawyer Root in the finals and carried a 4-2 lead into a wild second period.
After choosing down, Root escaped and then took down Boykin. Boykin quickly reversed Root to take a 6-5 lead with 40 seconds left. Boykin then scored another takedown for a 10-8 lead. An escape and takedown in the final frame sealed the win, as Boykin improved to 26-6.
Allen had an outstanding tournament with a fall and two decisions at 125 to punch his first ticket to the NCAAs. He defeated Appalachian State's DeAndre Swinson-Barr 9-5 in the finals. After and even 3-3 first period, Allen scored an escape and two takedowns in the second for an 8-4 cushion. He kept the pressure on in the third and added a riding time point. Allen is a career-best 21-8 overall.
"No one wants to finish second after the amount of work we put into it, but this is a really special group of guys," stated UTC head coach Heath Eslinger. "There are a lot of things to be excited about today, especially the next few weeks for Scottie, Bryce and Alonzo.
"I thought Chad Pyke wrestled well, but that is just our sport. You can go from the Mountain top to the valley in a breath and I just feel for those guys."
Appalachian State wrapped up the team title with some outstanding wrestling early in the day that saw eight Mountaineers advance to the finals. However, ASU only record two wins in those eight matches. They finished with 110 team points, out pacing the Mocs who were second with 88. Campbell finished third with 88 points.
Senior Chad Pyke was runner-up at 165 pounds. The Mocs had four finish in third place, including juniors Chris Debien (133) and Connor Tolley (285) and seniors Michael Pongracz (141) and Justin Lampe (174). Junior Roman Boylen placed fourth at 149 pounds.
"We have two weeks to get ready for the national tournament," added Eslinger. "I think we have guys who can get on the podium. At-large sections come out on Tuesday. With the type of schedule we wrestled, hopefully we can get one or two more in."
Up next for the Mocs is the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, March 15-17. Check back to GoMocs.com for any information on at-large bids and pre-championship notes.
2018 Southern Conference Championships
125 – Alonzo Allen – 1st Place
Michael McClelland (Davidson) – W-Fall (1:47)
Zachary Gentzler (SIUE) – W-D, 12-7
DeAndre Swinson-Barr (App.
St.) – W-D, 9-5
133 – Chris Debien – 3rd Place
Hunter Starner (VMI) – W-D, 3-1
Codi Russell (ASU) – L-D, 5-11
Philip Anderson (GWU) – W-D, 4-1
Nathan Boston (Campbell) – W-D, 5-0
141 – Michael Pongracz – 3rd Place
Michael Hulcher (VMI) – W-Fall (4:46)
Irvin Enriquez (Appalachian State) – L-D, 1-3
Dustin Runzo (Davidson) – W-D, 5-0
Douglas Gudenburr (Citadel) – W-D, 3-0
149 – Roman Boylen – 4th Place
Tyler Buckiso (Citadel) – L-D, 3-9
Kevin Keaveney (VMI) – W-Fall (2:28)
Zachary Barnes (Campbell) – W-D, 7-3
Tyler Buckiso (Citadel) – L-D, 2-7
157 – Jake Adcock
Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) – L-Fall (2:05)
Ethan Phillips (The Citadel) – W-TF, 22-7 (5:00)
Austin Kraisser (Campbell) – L-MD, 2-10
165 – Chad Pyke – 2nd Place
Hunter Costa (Davidson) – W-Fall (1:50)
Quentin Perez (Campbell) – W-D, 10-6
Nate Higgins (SIUE) – L-Fall (4:38)
174 - Justin Lampe – 3rd Place
Noah Satterfield (Davidson) – W-Fall (1:20)
Andrew Morgan (Campbell) – L-D, 1-3 (SV1)
Bryce Shewan (SIUE) – W-D, 13-6
Cade Kieley (VMI)- W-MD, 10-2
184 - Bryce Carr – 1st Place
Michael Lopouchanski (Citadel) – W-Fall (0:54)
Christopher Beck (VMI) – W-D, 4-1
Alan Clothier (App. St.) – W-D, 8-2
197 - Scottie Boykin – 1st Place
Konner Pritchard (Davidson) W-Fall (1:49)
Chris Kober (Campbell) – W-MD, 12-4
Sawyer Root (Citadel) – W-D, 13-9
285 - Connor Tolley – 3rd Place
Tommy Helton (SIUE) – W-D, 9-5
Cary Miller (App. St.) – L-MD, 0-11
Lathan Bumgarner (GWU) – W-D, 5-3
Michael McAleavey (The Citadel) – W-D, 3-2