IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Chattanooga Mocs wrestling team jumped out to an early lead against the top-ranked and undefeated Hawkeyes in the quarterfinals of the EAS/NWCA National Duals on Saturday before ultimately falling 44-3.
UTC senior Sean Boyle put his No. 10 national ranking up against fifth-ranked sophomore Thomas Gilman in the 125-pound match. Despite plenty of action in the first three minutes, neither one could get on the board. Gilman went up 1-0 with an escape in the second, and Boyle countered with an escape of his own in the third.
That sent the opening match into overtime. Boyle took the win with a takedown 35 seconds into the extra frame. He improved to 26-5 overall, while it was only the second loss of the year for Gilman, who dropped to 23-2. Gilman went on to bounce back with a win over Cornell’s No. 2 Nahshon Gerrett in the semifinals later in the day.
That was the only match UTC would take as Iowa (16-0) snapped the Mocs’ nine-match winning streak, dropping Chattanooga to 12-6 overall.
There were still other bright spots in the dual for UTC. Sophomore Michael Pongracz wrestled hard against No. 6 senior Josh Dziewa before falling 4-2 at 141. Freshman Justin Lampe scored three takedowns against No. 9 senior Nick Moore before falling 11-6. Sophomore Scottie Boykin also competed hard in his 7-4 loss to sixth-ranked junior Nathan Burak at 197.
UTC was the only team not ranked in the top 12 in the eight-team event. The Mocs crashed the party with Sunday's opening-round 19-16 win over Oklahoma.
Chattanooga wraps up the regular season at SIUE on Sunday at 2 p.m. CST. UTC is 6-0 in SoCon matches and can win the regular-season title outright with a win.
No. 1 Iowa 44, Chattanooga 3
125: No. 10 Sean Boyle (UTC) – Dec. 3-1 (SV-1) – No. 5 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) – UTC 3-0
133: No. 6 Cory Clark (Iowa) – Fall 4:16 – No. 13 Nick Soto (Chattanooga) – Iowa 6-3
141: No. 6 Josh Dziewa (Iowa) – Dec. 4-2 - Michael Pongracz (Chattanooga) – Iowa 9-3
149: No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) – TF 20-4 - Jacob Murphy (Chattanooga) – Iowa 14-3
157: No. 15 Mike Kelly (Iowa) – Fall 4:32 - Austin Sams (Chattanooga) – Iowa 20-3
165: No. 9 Nick Moore (Iowa) – Dec. 11-6 - Justin Lampe (Chattanooga) – Iowa 23-3
174: No. 3 Michael Evans (Iowa) – Fall 4:44 - Sean Mappes (Chattanooga) – Iowa 29-3
184: No. 8 Sam Brooks (Iowa) – Fall 1:53 - McCoy Newberg (Chattanooga) – Iowa 35-3
197: No. 6 Nathan Burak (Iowa) – Dec. 7-4 - Scottie Boykin (Chattanooga) – Iowa 38-3
285: No. 4 Bobby Telford (Iowa) – Fall 2:50 - Jared Johnson (Chattanooga) – Iowa 44-3