Wrestling Southern Conference

Three UTC Wrestlers Win SoCon Titles

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.---The wrestling team had three individual Southern Conference Champions and finished second as a team Saturday at the 2004 SoCon Championships.

Josh Keefe (131), Jon Sioredas (165) and John Davis (184) each captured their respective weight classes and earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships held March 18-20 in St. Louis, Mo.

Keefe, a freshman from Ringgold, Ga., was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler after defeating David Johnson of UNC Greensboro and The Citadel's Sean Markey in the finals.

UTC also picked up second-place finishes from Matt Pitts (125), Michael Keefe (141) and Josh Ward (174).

The Mocs placed second, 10 points behind The Citadel.


Team Finishes

1. The Citadel 89 points
2. Chattanooga 79 points
3. VMI 65 points
4. Appalachian State 51.5 points
5. UNC Greensboro 50.5 points
6. Davidson 10 points

Individual Results
125 Matt Pitts (UTC) maj. dec. Pat Coman (Davidson), 16-8; Ryan McClester (Citadel) dec. Pitts, 5-4 (Pitts second place)

133 Josh Keefe (UTC) maj. dec. David Johnson (UNCG), 14-5; Keefe dec. Sean Markey (Citadel), 8-6 OT (Keefe first place)

141 Michael Keefe (UTC) dec. Scott Ervin (Appalachian State), 4-2; Kevin Artis (UNCG) dec. Keefe, 12-8 (Keefe second place)

149 Jacob Harris (UTC) pinned Nate Berryman (UNCG), 1:53; Jason Jones (Appalachian State) tech. fall Harris, 21-5; Harris maj. dec. Ronnie Lofrese (Davidson), 11-2; Travis Piccard (Citadel) maj. dec. Harris, 12-3

157 T.J. Sayers (UTC) dec. Carl Elliott (Appalachian State), 10-4; Dan Thompson (Citadel) pinned Sayers, :58; Sayers pinned Adam Sperling (Davidson), 4:46; O.T. Johnson (UNC Greensboro) maj. dec. Sayers, 18-4

165 Jon Sioredas (UTC) maj. dec. Mike Martinez (Citadel), 10-2; Sioredas dec. Lee Roper (Appalachian State), 6-3 (Sioredas first place)

174 Josh Ward (UTC) dec. Dominic Buckman (Appalachian State), 11-7; Keith Clifton (Citadel) dec. Ward, 6-0 (Ward second place)

184 John Davis (UTC) maj. dec. John Dickerson (Citadel), 15-7; Davis maj. dec. Corry Murray (VMI), 18-6 (Davis first place)

197 Jordan Everett (Citadel) dec. Nick Lorenzano (UTC), 7-1; Josh Carroll (Appalachian State) maj. dec. Lorenzano, 14-2

285 John Kimble (UNC Greensboro) pinned Diaz Edwards (UTC), 1:11; Scott Buhman (VMI) pinned Edwards, 2:50