Four Mocs Advance to Day 2 Of Southern Scuffle

Missouri Leads Team Score, Mocs 10th Overall

  • Saturday, January 1, 2022
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Fabian Gutierrez led a group of four Mocs who advanced to day two of the 2022 Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear. Gutierrez posted three wins, including two pins, at 125 and will compete in the semifinals at 1 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, Jan. 2.

As a team, Chattanooga is 10th overall with 34 points. Missouri has a 22-point lead over North Dakota St. with 83.5 points. The Tigers have seven wrestlers remaining in championship competition and three in the consolation brackets.
The Bison are followed by Michigan State (61), South Dakota St. (58) and West Virginia (47.5).

Gutierrez entered the tournament as a No. 4 seed and opened with a pin against Rider’s Nieko Malone in just under four minutes. He followed that performance up with a second-straight pin, this time in 93 seconds over West Virginia’s Colton Drousias. He concluded his 3-0 performance with an 8-6 decision over Appalachian State’s No. 5 Caleb Smith. Tomorrow, he’ll face the top seed, West Virginia’s Killian Cardinale with a trip to finals on the line.

Brayden Palmer (133) dropped his first match to Cornell’s Corn Lajoie in overtime to move to the consolation brackets. The sophomore logged three-straight wins, including a strong 8-6 sudden victory decision over Gardner-Webb’s Todd Carter. Palmer was down 6-0 in the first period before two escapes, a takedown and a riding time point forced extra time. The Henderson, Tenn. native scored a takedown 1:11 into overtime to move on. He secured his spot in day two with a 3-1 decision in a second tiebreaker over App State’s Sean Carter.

Reigning Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, Weston Wichman found himself in the round of 16 at 157 pounds after two straight wins including a major decision to open the tournament. After dropping his third match of the afternoon, the sophomore battled back with a major decision and a 2-1 decision in a second tiebreaker to move on to day two.

Matthew Waddell is the fourth Moc who will see action tomorrow. Waddell began the tournament with a 10-1 major decision over Rider’s Evan Vazquez. He fell out of the championship bracket after a sudden victory setback to Oklahoma State’s Gavin Stika. Waddell won back-to-back decisions over App State’s Barrett Blakely and Penn State’s Donovon Ball.

UTC’s Noah Castillo went 2-2 with two of his matches going into overtime. Lincoln Heck went 3-2 in his first major tournament as a Moc. Drew Nicholson went 3-2 with a pin and a major decision. Heavyweight junior, Grayson Walthall picked up his first win of the 2021-22 campaign.

Doors open at 10:00 a.m. with competition beginning tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. in McKenzie Arena.  Tickets are on sale now on GoMocs.com or at the door. There is also a $10 finals only ticket that is available at the Gate 1 Box Office after 5:00 p.m. The semifinals are set for Noon, with the Medal Rounds at 7:00 p.m.  Follow all of the action on FloArena with every match broadcast by FloWrestling.

125
No. 4 Fabian Gutierrez
Nieko Malone (Rider-un) – W-Fall, 3:59
Colton Drousias (West Virginia) – W-Fall, 1:33
No. 5 Caleb Smith (App State) – W-DEC, 8-6

Alex Cottey
Drake Ayala (Iowa-un) – L-TF, 23-7, 3:57
Jayden Carson (Little Rock) – L-TF, 16-1, 6:11

133
Brayden Palmer
Dorn Lajoie (Cornell) – L-DEC, 2-0 SV
David Evans (Penn State) – W-DEC, 4-2
Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) – W-DEC, 8-6 SV
Sean Carter (Appalachian State) – W-DEC, 3-1 TB2

141
Franco Valdes
Patrick Rowland (Duke) – L-DEC, 2-1
Josh Saunders (Cornell) – L-DEC, 7-3

149
Noah Castillo
Matt Ryan (Buffalo-un) – W-DEC, 7-4
Victor Voinovich (Oklahoma State) – L-DEC, 3-2
Peyton Omania (Michigan State) – W-DEC, 3-1 SV
Eddie Homrock (Michigan State) – L-DEC, 7-5 SV

Hunter Noland
Matt Ryan (Buffalo-un) – L-DEC, 9-5
Jaden Enriquez (Michigan State) – L-Fall, 2:01

Matthew Williams
Daniel Kimball (SDSU) – L-DEC, 6-1
Caleb Rathejen (Iowa) – L-MD, 12-2


157
Lincoln Heck
Hunter Shaut (Buffalo-un) – W-DEC, 6-4
Cael Swensen (SDSU-un) – L-DEC, 8-3
Johnathon Viveros (CSU-Bakersfield) – W-DEC, 7-4
Wade Unger (Duke) – W-DEC, 3-1
No. 6 AJ Kovacs (NC State) – L-DEC, 7-5

Jackson Hurst
No. 5 Joe Lee (Penn State) – L-DEC, 10-5
Weston WIchman (UTC) – L-MD, 13-1

Weston Wichman
Johnathan Viveros (CSU-Bakersfield-un) – W-DEC, 8-1
Sebastian Robles (Iowa-un) – W-MD, 8-0
Jared Franek (NDSU) – L-DEC, 6-0
Jackson Hurst (UTC) – W-MD, 13-1
RJ Weston (Northern Iowa) – W-DEC, 2-1 TB2

165
Drew Nicholson
Braden Smelser (CSU-Bakersfield-un) – W-Fall, 4:32
Donald Cates (NC State) – L-DEC, 9-4
Joe Kelly (Iowa) – W-MD, 10-1
Gabe Dinette (Duke) – W-DEC, 10-5
Jake Null (NC State) – L-DEC, 12-5


174
Carial Tarter
Jake Lanning (Buffalo) – L-DEC, 5-4
Eric Beck (Bellarmine) – W-DEC, 3-1 SV
Adrien Cramer (Maryland) – W-DEC, 5-3 SV
Scott Joll (West Virginia) – L-DEC, 4-0

Thomas Sell
Brandon Swafford (Iowa) – L-MD, 8-0
Sean Harman (Missouri) – L-MD, 11-2

184
Matthew Waddell
Evan Vazquez (Rider) – W-MD, 10-1
Gavin Stika (Oklahoma State) – L-DEC 3-1 SV
Barrett Blakely (App State) – W-DEC, 6-3
Donovon Ball (Penn State) – W-DEC, 2-1

Landon Lewis
Conor Becker (Duke) – L-DEC, 6-4 SV
Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) – L-DEC, 8-4

285
Grayson Walthall
Nicco Colucci (Rutgers-un) – W-DEC, 8-2
AJ Nevills (SDSU) – L-Fall, 4:04
Austin Harris (Oklahoma St.) – L-DEC, 5-1

Matthias Ervin
No. 3 Michael Wolfgram (WVU) – L-DEC, 5-0
Seamus O’Malley (Stanford) – L-Fall, 2:59
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