Chattanooga 35, Gardner-Webb 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team posted a dominating 35-3 win over Gardner-Webb to open Southern Conference action in Maclellan Gym on Monday. The Mocs delighted the crowd for the Taziki’s Candlelight Dinner Match by winning nine of the 10 individual bouts.
Instead of pulling out the bleachers, the Mocs sold mat-side tables and brought in Taziki’s Mediterranean Café to cater a formal dinner for the fans. Space around the mat sold out quickly and made for a very unique atmosphere in Maclellan Gym.
Chattanooga raced out to a 17-0 lead with wins in the first five matches. The dual started at 184 pounds, with sophomore John Lampe scoring a 5-2 decision over Gray Jones.
Freshman Scottie Boykin followed with an impressive 11-3 major decision over Boyce Cornwell at 197. Junior Kevin Malone was next with his 7-4 decision over Justin Kozera at heavyweight.
Freshman Campbell Lewis scored his first collegiate win Monday. He gave the Mocs a 13-0 lead with a 5-0 shutout of William Anderson at 125. It was one of four shutouts for Chattanooga on the evening.
Junior Nick Soto had a major decision (13-4) over Robbie Goulde at 133 before Ryan Mosley put Gardner-Webb on the board with a win at 141 over Austin Sams.
That was all the Bulldogs would get, as the Mocs ran off the last four matches. Freshman Michael Hooker had a 4-2 decision over Tyler Ziegler at 149. Ziegler’s two points in the match were the last for GWU on the evening. Junior Alex Hudson quickly shut out Kyle Ash for an 8-0 major decision win at 157.
The 165 match looked like it could be a good one between UTC’s No. 4-ranked junior Corey Mock and GWU freshman Austin Trott. Mock came into the match undefeated at 11-0, while Trott was an impressive 13-2 to start the season.
Mock led 6-0 after an opening period that included a takedown and four back points. Trott chose top for the second period, but Mock quickly reversed and went to work on top. Before the end of the second frame, Mock had had run off 11 more points for the 17-0 technical fall.
Junior Levi Clemons bounced back from a tough day on Sunday against Purdue to put an exclamation point on Monday’s match. He pinned GWU’s Brett Stein (2:22) in the first period to close out the team win.
The Mocs improved to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in SoCon action. Gardner-Webb dropped to 4-8 on the year and 1-1 in league matches. Monday’s win was the 50th in Eslinger’s career at UTC. He is already fourth on UTC’s career coaching win list with a 50-34 record since taking over prior to the 2009-10 season.
UTC’s next home event is the prestigious Southern Scuffle, presented by Defense Soap and Flip Wrestling. The 34-team tournament takes place in McKenzie Arena on Jan. 1-2.
The Mocs still have work to do before the holiday break. Chattanooga heads out west for a dual match at Stanford on Dec. 20 and the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 22.
Chattanooga 35, Gardner-Webb 3
184 John Lampe (UTC) – Dec. 5-2 - Gray Jones (GWU) – UTC 3-0
197 Scottie Boykin (UTC) – MD 11-3 - Boyce Cornwell (GWU) – UTC 7-0
285 Kevin Malone (UTC) – Dec. 7-4 - Justin Kozera (GWU) – UTC 10-0
125 Campbell Lewis (UTC) – Dec. 5-0 - William Anderson (GWU) – UTC 13-0
133 Nick Soto (UTC) – MD 13-4 - Robert Golde (GWU) – UTC 17-0
141 Ryan Mosley (GWU) – Dec. 6-1 - Austin Sams (UTC) – UTC 17-3
149 Michael Hooker (UTC) – Dec. 4-2 - Tyler Ziegler (GWU) – UTC 20-3
157 Alex Hudson (UTC) – MD 8-0 - Kyle Ash (GWU) – UTC 24-3
165 Corey Mock (UTC) – Tech Fall 17-0 (4:50) - Austin Trott (GWU) – UTC 29-3
174 Levi Clemons (UTC) – Fall 2:22 - Brett Stein (GWU) – UTC 35-3