The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team hosted the inaugural Chattanooga Duals in Maclellan Gym today. The Mocs dropped a pair of matches to Army and Illinois in the tri-meet.
UTC battled hard in its first match against Army before falling 18-12. The Black Knights opened the event earlier in the day with a 19-15 win over Illinois. The Mocs closed out the day with a 22-10 loss to the Fighting Illini.
“Overall, I am proud of our guys,” stated UTC head coach Kyle Ruschell. “They came out and pushed the pace in every match. They didn’t sit back. They weren’t playing the edge.
They were going out there to score and win.
“That is what we have to expect them to do every match and every dual meet. Make sure that these guys, the next time they wrestle us, they don’t want to. I think we did that overall today.”
The UTC-Army dual was tied 12-12 with two matches left, before the Cadets closed out the win. Junior Fabian Gutierrez open with a 3-1 decision over Trey Chalifoux at 125. After two Army wins, sophomore Tanner Smith tied the match with a 2-0 decision over P.J. Ogunsanya at 149.
Army won again at 157, but sophomore Drew Nicholson tied it again with a 5-4 decision over Mason Smith at 165. Sophomore Hunter Fortner gave an outstanding effort for the Mocs at 174. He lost to No. 8 Ben Harvey in a 1-0 match.
Sophomore Matthew Waddell, a transfer from Oklahoma who joined the Mocs this season, scored the first of his two wins on the day to even the match at 12. He defeated Luke Hodsden 11-5.
“Matthew Waddell had a great day,” added Ruschell. “He needs to continue to push the pace and build on what he has accomplished because he has a lot more in him. Overall, we are proud of the way he went out there and looked to score. We just have to finish and separate ourselves.”
Illinois jumped out to a 9-0 in the final dual of the day with UTC. Sophomore Mason Wallace got the Mocs on the board with a 7-2 decision at 149. The match was tied 1-1 when Wallace threw Mousa Jodeh on his back for a six-point swing. That gave UTC two wins by two different individuals at 149 for the day.
“We have a battle right there,” said Ruschell when asked about the performance of Wallace and Smith at 149. “It is just like 125 last year. Sometimes iron sharpens iron, and these guys are both battling and pushing each other every day.”
Illinois took the next three before Waddell won again at 184. Senior Rodney Jones closed out the UTC scoring with a major decision at 197. He recovered with a win after dropping his earier match to Army.
“That was huge, especially as a senior captain,” commented Ruschell on Jones recovering after the earlier loss. “These guys respect him a lot. Him bouncing back and winning with a major decision in the second match, that is what leaders do.”
The Mocs are back in action next Sunday, Nov. 17, at Iowa. The next home dual is Sunday, Dec. 1 against Ohio. Tickets for the Ohio match and the Southern Scuffle are available through the “Tickets” tab at the top of the page.
Illinois 22 - Chattanooga 10
Chattanooga Duals – Nov. 10, 2019
Maclellan Gym – Chattanooga, Tenn.
125: Justin Cardani (ILLI) over Fabian Gutierrez (UTC) (Dec 5-2)
133: No. 10 Travis Piotrowski (ILLI) over Franco Valdes (UTC) (Dec 6-2)
141: We Rachal (ILLI) over Aidan Murphy (UTC) (Dec 5-3)
149: Mason Wallace (UTC) over Mousa Jodeh (ILLI) (Dec 7-2)
157: No. 20 Eric Barone (ILLI) over George Carpenter (UTC) (Dec 8-5)
165: Dan Braunagel (ILLI) over Andrew Nicholson (UTC) (Dec 5-3)
174: No. 15 Joseph Gunther (ILLI) over Hunter Fortner (UTC) (Dec 4-0)
184: Matthew Waddell (UTC) over Zach Braunagel (ILLI) (Dec 8-6)
197: Rodney Jones (UTC) over Matt Wroblewski (ILLI) (MD 14-4)
285: Luke Luffman (ILLI) over Grayson Walthall (UTC) (MD 17-3)
Army 18 - Chattanooga 12
Chattanooga Duals – Nov. 10, 2019
Maclellan Gym – Chattanooga, Tenn.
125: Fabian Gutierrez (UTC) over Trey Chalifoux (ARMY) (Dec 3-1)
133: Lane Peters (ARMY) over Franco Valdes (UTC) (Dec 8-4)
141: Corey Shie (ARMY) over Aidan Murphy (UTC) (Dec 5-2)
149: Tanner Smith (UTC) over PJ Ogunsanya (ARMY) (Dec 2-0)
157: Luke Weiland (ARMY) over George Carpenter (UTC) (Dec 6-1)
165: Andrew Nicholson (UTC) over Mason Smith (ARMY) (Dec 5-4)
174: Ben Harvey (ARMY) over Hunter Fortner (UTC) (Dec 1-0)
184: Matthew Waddell (UTC) over Luke Hodsden (ARMY) (Dec 11-5)
197: Alex Hopkins (ARMY) over Rodney Jones (UTC) (Dec 8-2)
285: Robert Heald (ARMY) over Grayson Walthall (UTC) (Dec 5-3)
Army 19 – Illinois 15
Chattanooga Duals – Nov. 10, 2019
Maclellan Gym – Chattanooga, Tenn.
125: Trey Chalifoux (ARMY) over Justin Cardani (ILLI) (Dec 7-2)
133: No. 10 Travis Piotrowski (ILLI) over Lane Peters (ARMY) (Dec 5-1)
141: Corey Shie (ARMY) over We Rachal (ILLI) (Fall 0:42)
149: PJ Ogunsanya (ARMY) over Mousa Jodeh (ILLI) (MD 11-2)
157: Luke Weiland (ARMY) over No. 20 Eric Barone (ILLI) (Dec 8-3)
165: Dan Braunagel (ILLI) over Mason Smith (ARMY) (Dec 12-5)
174: No. 8 Ben Harvey (ARMY) over No. 15 Joseph Gunther (ILLI) (Dec 7-3)
184: Zach Braunagel (ILLI) over Luke Hodsden (ARMY) (Dec 6-2)
197: Matt Wroblewski (ILLI) over Alex Hopkins (ARMY) (SV-1 3-1)
285: Luke Luffman (ILLI) over Robert Heald (ARMY) (Dec 8-5)