Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel wrestling team fell behind early and could not catch up to the five time defending conference champions on Thursday night at McAlister Field House, as Chattanooga would run past the Bulldogs, 34-7. Freshman transfer Nick LaFevre and true freshman Turtogtokh Luvsandorj picked up wins for the The Citadel (1-3) at 141 and 157, respectively.
Chattanooga's Demetrius Johnson started the dual off by using a couple of two point takedowns and a two point reversal to get past Richard Alarcon, 7-3, at 125, followed by the Mocs' Josh Statum using a two point takedown, a two point reversal and a two point near fall to shutout freshman Jordan Dix, 8-0 at 133, and giving Chattanooga (6-5) a quick 7-0 team lead.
The Bulldogs' Nick LaFevre stepped up his game at 141 and earned his second dual victory in a row by rolling past the Mocs' Chance Hayes with four takedowns and an escape to go with a riding time point equaling a 10-0 major decision and cutting the team lead to 7-4. Derek Royster came out to an early 5-0 lead for the Bulldogs at 149, but could not hold on as Dean Pavlou would use a flurry of two point takedowns in the latter periods to edge out the win 10-8, and increase the Mocs' team lead to 10-4.
The Citadel would respond however, as Turtogtokh Luvsandorj would get a quick two point takedown in the first period and ride that to a 3-1 victory at 157 over Bond Davis and shrink Chattanooga's overall lead to 10-7. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that would be as close as it would get as the Moc wrestlers would pin three straight Bulldog grapplers at 165, 174 and 184. Brandon Wright took out Justin Sparrow at 2:53, nationally ranked Jake Young turned around a dominating match by J.C. Oddo to pin the junior at 5:55 and Jason McCroskey pinned Kelby Smith in the first period at 1:27 to put Chattanooga in a commanding 28-7 team lead.
At 197, the Mocs' Niko Brown pulled off the upset, taking out Odie Delaney, 10-8, in a back and forth affair, increasing the team lead to 31-7. The final bout would go into overtime as Chatttanooga's Matt Letner squeaked past The Citadel's Ivan Muller, 3-2, and end the dual with a 34-7 team advantage for the Mocs.
Chattanooga 34, The Citadel 7
125: Demetrius Johnson (UTC) dec. Richard Alarcon (CIT), 7-3; UTC 3-0
133: Josh Statum (UTC) maj. dec. Jordan Dix (CIT), 8-0; UTC 7-0
141: Nick LaFevre (CIT) maj. dec. Chance Hayes (UTC), 10-0; UTC 7-4
149: Dean Pavlou (UTC) dec. Derek Royster (CIT), 10-8; UTC 10-4
157: Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (CIT) dec. Bond Davis (UTC), 3-1; UTC 10-7
165: Brandon Wright (UTC) pins Justin Sparrow (CIT), 2:53; UTC 16-7
174: Jake Young (UTC) pins J.C. Oddo (CIT), 5:55; UTC 22-7
184: Jason McCroskey (UTC) pins Kelby Smith (CIT), 1:27; UTC 28-7
197: Niko Brown (UTC) dec. Odie Delaney (CIT), 11-9; UTC 31-7
HWT: Matt Letner (UTC) dec. Ivan Muller (CIT), 3-2 OT; UTC 34-7
The wrestling team will break for the holidays before returning to action on Dec. 29-30 at the annual Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C.
Chattanooga is back in action Friday with a 5 p.m. match at Davidson.