No. 24 Chattanooga clinches outright regular-season SoCon title
LEXINGTON, Va. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team clinched the outright Southern Conference regular-season title with Sunday’s 37-3 win at VMI. The 24th-ranked Mocs ended the regular season with a 16-7 overall record and another clean slate in SoCon action at 7-0.
The Mocs won nine of the 10 individual bouts Sunday. UTC put the hammer down as the match went on, scoring bonus points in the last six contests.
Freshman Byron Smith opened the day with his first league win. He posted a 13-9 decision over Dalton Henderson to improve to 7-14 overall.
Junior Nick Soto got win No. 30 with his 11-6 decision over Michael Fiora at 133. The No. 16-ranked Soto is 30-9 this season and now 19-0 in SoCon regular-season matches in his career.
Freshman Michael Pongracz scored an escape with two seconds left for a 5-4 win over Emmitt Kelly at 141. Pongracz is now 20-12 on the year and 4-2 in SoCon action.
VMI’s only win came at 149, when Shabaka Johns defeated sophomore Austin Sams 9-3.
Senior Alex Hudson and junior Corey Mock all but put the match out of reach with back-to-back major decisions at 157 and 165. Junior Levi Clemons kept it going with a pin at 174, followed by two more majors from sophomore John Lampe (184) and freshman Scottie Boykin (197).
Freshman Dawson Peck lived up to his recently acquired No. 20 national ranking. He pinned heavyweight Juan Adams in the second period to move to 12-1 overall. Adams came into the match with a 6-0 league tally and 18-7 overall this season.
UTC has now won 15 straight SoCon matches and is 29-1 in league duals in the Heath Eslinger era. The Mocs’ 16 wins are the most for the program since going 16-1 in 2007. Chattanooga has won or tied for the SoCon regular-season championship 13 times since the league started recognizing a season winner in 1994.
The Mocs have won the SoCon tournament 27 times since joining the league in 1978, including each of the last three.
UTC and VMI return to action at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C., for the SoCon Championship on Saturday, March 8.
No. 24 Chattanooga 37 - VMI 3
125: Byron Smith (UTC) – Dec. 13-9 - Dalton Henderson (VMI) – UTC 3-0
133: No. 16 Nick Soto (UTC) – Dec. 11-6 - Michael Flora (VMI) – UTC 6-0
141: Michael Pongracz (UTC) – Dec. 5-4 - Emmitt Kelly (VMI) – UTC 9-0
149: Shabaka Johns (VMI) – Dec. 8-6 - Austin Sams (UTC) – UTC 9-3
157: Alex Hudson (UTC) – MD 14-1 - Ted Gottwald (VMI) –UTC 13-3
165: No. 13/8 Corey Mock (UTC) – MD 8-0 - Mark Darr (VMI) – UTC 17-3
174: Levi Clemons (UTC) – Fall 2:02 - Jake Koch (VMI) – UTC 23-3
184: John Lampe (UTC) – MD 20-8 - Hardy Hendren (VMI) – UTC 27-3
197: Scottie Boykin (UTC) – MD 12-2 - Andrew Embree (VMI) – UTC 31-3
285: No. 20 Dawson Peck (UTC) – Fall 3:20 - Juan Adams (VMI) – UTC 38-3
Appalachian State, Davidson top SIUE
BOONE, N.C. – Claiming six of 10 bouts, the Davidson wrestling team posted a 26-21 SoCon victory over SIUE in its regular season finale Sunday afternoon, while Appalachian State beat SIUE 27-12 on Senior Day at Varsity Gym
For Davidson, Jordan Wang and Anthony Elias each scored six points in the victory.
Philip Elias started things off with a 7-3 decision over Dakota Leach at 125 to give the ‘Cats a 3-0 lead. The lead increased to 9-0 when Wang won by forfeit at 133 pounds. Elias continued the streak, wrestling up at 141 and pinning SIUE’s John Petrov in 2:09 as Davidson led 15-0.
Rebounding from his first SoCon loss of the season last week, Kevin Birmingham (149) dominated Karsten Van Velsor to win by technical fall, 19-3, in 4:56 as the ‘Cats jumped ahead 20-0. SIUE got on the board at 157 as Logun Taylor pinned Dan Hagemann in 2:40 and added to their tally when Matthew Lester won by technical fall, 16-0, over Patrick Devlin (165) to cut the Davidson lead to 20-11.
Jake Residori (174) earned a 12-4 major decision over Nathaniel Powers to make it a 20-15 match in favor of the ‘Cats.
Scott Patrick earned a 7-5 decision over Deshoun White at 184 as the Wildcats crept closer to the win. Ian Solcz made his debut at 197, taking a 14-7 decision from Josh Wood to clinch the victory for the ‘Cats. Heavyweight David Devine pinned Ed Isola, but it was too late for an SIUE comeback and Davidson came away with the 26-21 win.
Appalachian State seniors Chris Johnson, Acton Pifer, Collins Creech, Aaron Scott, Paul Weiss and Kaleb Forrest were all honored for Senior Day.
The match began with a takedown and ended with a takedown.
Dominic Parisi got the first points on the board for the Mountaineers with a first-period pin (2:51) at the 125-pound weight class. Denzel Dejournette was down 5-4 but secured a takedown with less than two seconds on the clock to get the 6-5 win at heavyweight.
The rest of the day also featured very entertaining matches.
Nationally ranked Dylan Cottrell dominated Van Velsor and picked up a 52-second pin. Cottrell finished the season undefeated in conference action and in dual matches. He is 23-1 on the season and ranked sixth in the nation at the 149-pound weight class.
Scott, only up one point, was able to fight off his opponent’s rapid attempts at a takedown to capture the 5-4 decision at the 157-pound weight class and SIUE’s Petrov rallied to capture the 14-10 decision against Javon Johnson at 141.
Two NCAA qualifiers from last year, Appalachian State’s Zack Strickland and SIUE’s Matt Lester, faced off at the 165-pound weight class. The match was tied 4-4 at the end but a one-point technical call gave Lester the 8-7 win. Appalachian State’s Colin Hedash gave up the last-second takedown to lose 5-4 to Residori and Nick Vetell could not get the last-second takedown and dropped his match 3-2 to SIUE’s White.
Appalachian State’s Tyler Radford gained the 8-5 win against Wood in another match that came down to the wire. Vito Pasone received a forfeit at the 133-pound weight class.
Appalachian finished the regular season with a 7-8 record and 4-3 mark in the Southern Conference. SIUE finished 5-19 overall and 2-5 in league action, while Davidson was 5-14 overall and 1-6 in the SoCon.
All three teams return to action at the Southern Conference Wrestling Championship in Buies Creek, N.C., on Saturday, March 8.
Davidson 26, SIUE 21
125: Philip Elias (DC) dec. Dakota Leach (SIUE), 7-3
133: Jordan Wang (DC) won by forfeit.
141: Anthony Elias (DC) pinned John Petrov (SIUE), 2:09
149: Kevin Birmingham (DC) tech. fall Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE), 19-3 (4:56)
157: Logun Taylor (SIUE) pinned Dan Hagemann (DC), 2:40
165: Matthew Lester (SIUE) tech, fall Patrick Devlin (DC), 16-0 (3:04)
174: Jake Residori (SIUE) major dec. Nathaniel Powers (DC), 12-4
184: Scott Patrick (DC) dec. Deshoun White (SIUE), 7-5
197: Ian Solcz (DC) dec. Josh Wood (SIUE), 14-7
HWT: David Devine (SIUE) pinned Ed Isola (DC), 5:28
Appalachian State 27, SIUE 12
125: Dominic Parisi (APP) won by pin over Dakota Leach (SIUE) 2:51 (App leads 6-0)
133: Vito Pasone (APP) won by forfeit. (App leads 12-0)
141: John Petrov (SIUE) won by decision over Javon Johnson (APP) 14-10. (App leads 12-3)
149: Dylan Cottrell (APP) won by pin over Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) (App leads 18-3)
157: Aaron Scott (APP) won by decision over Logun Taylor (SIUE) 5-4 (App leads 21-3)
165: Matt Lester (SIUE) won by decision over Zack Strickland (APP) 8-7 (App leads 21-6)
174: Jake Residori (SIUE) won by decisio over Colin Hedash (APP) 5-4 (App leads 21-9)
184: Deshoun White (SIUE) won by decision over Nick Vetell (APP) 3-2 (App leads 21-12)
197: Tyler Radford (APP) won by decision over Josh Wood (SIUE) 8-5 (App leads 24-12)
285: Denzel Dejournette (APP) won by decision over David Devine (SIUE) 6-5 (App wins 27-12)
Gardner-Webb falls twice to end regular season
ATHENS, Ohio – Four Runnin’ Bulldog grapplers split their matches against Ohio and Cleveland State on Sunday, as the Bobcats held off Gardner-Webb, 37-6, and the Vikings rallied for a 20-18 decision against the Runnin’ Bulldogs on the Ohio University campus.
Cleveland State’s Xavier Dye opened the day’s first match with a 15-0 technical fall decision against Gray Jones at 184 pounds before Boyce Cornwell pinned Ray Stone in 3:20 at 197 pounds to give the Runnin’ Bulldogs a 6-5 advantage.
Riley Shaw answered at heavyweight for Cleveland State, felling Gardner-Webb’s Justin Kozera in 4:20 to reclaim the advantage for the Vikings at 11-6. Cortez Starkes registered an 8-2 decision against John Martin at 125 pounds to cut the lead to 11-9.
Cleveland State’s Daniel King edged Robbie Golde 4-2 at 133 pounds, only to watch Ryan Mosley respond for the Runnin’ Bulldogs at 141 pounds with a 3-1 decision against Jared McKinley. Nick Montgomery recorded a narrow 3-2 decision over Tyler Ziegler at 149 pounds to push the lead to 17-12.
R.J. LaBeef posted a 9-3 decision against Cole Graves at 157 pounds to widen the gap to 20-12. No. 20 Austin Trott cut the lead to 20-15 with an 11-4 decision over Matt Donahoe at 165 pounds before Brett Stein registered an 8-4 decision against Nick Cobra in the match’s final bout at 174 pounds.
Against Ohio, the Runnin’ Bulldogs tallied their only points of the match at 133 pounds with a forfeit victory, while Starkes and Mosley battled hard at 125 and 141 pounds, respectively, each falling by just one point.
Gardner-Webb is back in action at the Southern Conference Wrestling Championship on Saturday, March 8, on the Campbell University campus in Buies Creek, N.C.
Cleveland State 20, Gardner-Webb 18
184 – Xavier Dye (CSU) tech fall Gray Jones (GWU), 15-0
197 – Ray Stone (CSU) fall Boyce Cornwell (GWU), 3:20
HVY – Riley Shaw (CSU) fall Justin Kozera (GWU), 4:20
125 – Cortez Starkes (GWU) dec. John Martin (CSU), 8-2
133 – Daniel King (CSU) dec. Robbie Golde (GWU), 4-2
141 – Ryan Mosley (GWU) dec. Jared McKinley (CSU), 3-1
149 – Nick Montgomery (CSU) dec. Tyler Ziegler (GWU), 3-2
157 – R.J. LaBeef (CSU) dec. Cole Graves (GWU), 9-3
165 – No. 20 Austin Trott (GWU) dec. Matt Donahoe (CSU), 11-4
174 – Brett Stein (GWU) dec. Nick Cobra (CSU), 8-4
Ohio 37, Gardner-Webb 6
184 – Ryan Garringer (OU) maj. dec. Zach Bennett (GWU), 13-2
197 – Phill Wellington (OU) fall Boyce Cornwell (GWU), 2:40
HVY – Jeremy Johnson (OU) fall Justin Kozera (GWU), 3:32
125 – KeVon Powell (OU) dec. Cortez Starkes (GWU), 2-1
133 – GWU won by forfeit
141 – Noah Forrider (OU) dec. Ryan Mosley (GWU), 3-2
149 – No. 16 Tywan Claxton (OU) dec. Tyler Ziegler (GWU), 8-1
157 – Spartak Chino (OU) fall Cole Graves (GWU), 6:48
165 – Harrison Hightower (OU) dec. No. 20 Austin Trott (GWU), 8-3
174 – Marshal Willet (OU) dec. Aaron Rabin (GWU), 11-6