The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team took part in the annual Blue-Gold Match at Maclellan Gym tonight. A crowd of nearly 500 Mocs wrestling fans came out to get an early start on Homecoming weekend and were treated to some quality competition.
The Blue team consisted of most of the projected starters and handled the Gold squad 28-7. There were no huge wins, but half of the matches did result in bonus points for the Blue team.
"Great crowd and great atmosphere," stated head coach Heath Eslinger.
"There were some entertaining matches for the fans and we as coaches were able to see a lot of areas that need work. It is always nice to come out of an event like this injury-free and with some good wrestling."
Senior John Lampe (184), junior Jared Johnson (285) and freshmen Chris Debien (133) and Kamaal Shakur (157) all had major decisions in their matches.
Juniors Michael Pongracz (141), Sean Mappes (174), Scottie Boykin (197) and freshman Alonzo Allen (125) also had wins in the event.
Freshman Andrew Webb and sophomore Barrett Walthall won for Gold at 149 and 165, respectively. Webb shut out freshman Zach Shareef 10-0 in his victory. Walthall escaped freshman Dominic Lampe at the buzzer for his 5-4 victory.
Shakur and Boykin head to Atlanta this weekend to take part in the NWCA All-Star Classic. They are competing in the under-card on Sunday, Nov. 1, at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion.
The first home dual of the year is Saturday, Nov. 7, against No. 24 Stanford. Action begins at 11:00 a.m. (E.S.T.) and tickets are on sale now on GoMocs.com or by calling the UTC Ticket Office at (423) 266-MOCS (6627).
Blue 28-Gold 7
125: Alonzo Allen (Blue)- Dec. 12-9 - Cody Minnick (Gold)
133: Chris Debien (Blue) – MD 11-3 - Alex Ward (Gold)
141: Michael Pongracz (Blue) – Dec. 7-4 - Roman Boylen (Gold)
149: Andrew Webb (Gold) – MD 10-0 - Zach Shareef (Blue)
157: Kamaal Shakur (Blue) – MD 14-6 - Demarco Gatti (Gold)
165: Barrett Walthall (Gold) – Dec. 5-4 - Dominic Lampe (Blue)
174: Sean Mappes (Blue) – Dec. 6-0 - Bryce Carr (Gold)
184: John Lampe (Blue) – MD 20-8 - Chad Solomon (Gold)
197: Scottie Boykin (Blue) – Dec. 7-2 - Clay Dent (Gold)
285: Jared Johnson (Blue) – MD 8-0 - Connor Tolley (Gold)