Wrestling Southern Conference

UTC's Soto Repeats as Wrestler of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Chattanooga 133-pounder Nick Soto has been named the Southern Conference wrestler of the week for all competition from Jan. 1-7, winning his second straight weekly award. The selection is made by the league office.

Soto went 6-2 at the prestigious Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Jan. 1-2, finishing fourth in his weight class and topping a pair of ranked wrestlers. He helped Chattanooga to a 16th-place finish in the 34-team field, which featured 10 of the top 25 ranked teams.

The Spring Hill, Fla., native moved through the first day of the Scuffle unscathed, opening with an 18-2 technical fall over Army’s Austin Marisco. He followed that up with a 4-0 decision over Central Michigan’s Tyler Keselring and closed out his first day with a 3-2 win over Oklahoma State’s Brian Cutchmer.

The next day saw Soto fall to No. 10 David Thorn of Minnesota to drop him into the consolation bracket, but Soto rebounded with an 8-2 win over No. 12 Shelton Mack of Pittsburgh to advance. After a 4-1 win over Missouri’s Matt Manley, Soto picked up a 6-5 win over No. 11 Joe Roth of Central Michigan to earn a spot in the third-place bout.

There, Soto again met the 10th-ranked Thorn, and Thorn again got the better of him, relegating Soto to fourth place. Soto’s finish was the best among the four SoCon schools represented at the Scuffle.

Soto improved to 20-6 on the season and vaulted four spots in the InterMat rankings to No. 11 at 133 pounds.

The weekly award is the fifth of his career and second this season. Soto is also the reigning SoCon wrestler of the month.

Chattanooga is back in action Friday and Saturday at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va.

Also nominated: Dylan Cottrell (Appalachian State), Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (The Citadel), Deshoun White (SIUE) and Juan Adams (VMI).

2013-14 SoCon wrestlers of the week
Nov. 13    Corey Mock, Chattanooga
Nov. 20    Dylan Cottrell, Appalachian State
Nov. 27    Corey Mock, Chattanooga
Dec. 11    Jake Residori, SIUE
Dec. 18    Dylan Cottrell, Appalachian State
Jan. 1    Nick Soto, Chattanooga
Jan. 8    Nick Soto, Chattanooga

-www.SoConSports.com-