posted November 5, 2009
Five-time defending Southern Conference wrestling champion Tennessee at Chattanooga is the pre-season choice to win a sixth straight title in a vote by the conference coaches announced Wednesday by the Southern Conference.
The Mocs received four of the six first place votes, while Appalachian State received the other two votes.
Pre-season all-conference went to Demetrius Johnson (125), Cody Cleveland (141), Joey Knox (157) and Jason McCroskey (184). Cleveland was picked to be the outstanding wrestler.
All four wrestlers won SoCon titles and competed in the NCAAs in 2009 as McCroskey was freshman of the year and Cleveland was co-wrestler of the year and the 2009 SoCon tournament outstanding wrestler.
Cleveland is a two-time SoCon champion, while the other three won their first last season.
Predicted Order of Finish: (1) UTC (4, 24) 2. Appalachian State (2, 22) 3. UNC-Greensboro (16) 4. The Citadel (13) 5. VMI (9) 6. Davidson (6).
Notes:
Outdoor Wrestling: The NHL has held a few outdoor hockey matches in recent years and the UTC wrestling team will now follow suit.
Coach Eslinger would like for the 2010 Blue-Gold scrimmage to be part of a wrestling-basketball-football home triple header next fall. The date of the home event is yet to be determined.
“Absolutely we can wrestle outside in late October or early November and it would be great for the base fans of Mocs basketball and football to watch our guys wrestle,'' said Eslinger.
“It will be an historic event for the program with an outdoor event (at the First Tennessee Bank Pavilion) and a little chill in the air never bothered a wrestler, especially a UTC wrestler.''
This year's Blue-Gold match was this past Friday night in Maclellan Gym and drew more than 600 fans.
Early Signing Period: Tues. Nov. 11 is a red letter date for the UTC coaches as as it is the first day of the national early signing period for high school wrestlers. UTC can sign high school wrestlers to scholarships during the eight day period, Nov. 11-18. The Mocs look to sign a handful of top quality wrestlers from the Southeast who are strong on the mat and in the classroom.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net
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