Mocs claim SoCon title outright
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Chattanooga Mocs wrapped up sole possession of the 2015 Southern Conference regular-season title with a 31-6 win at SIUE on Sunday. UTC won eight of 10 bouts to finish with a 7-0 mark in SoCon matches and 13-6 overall.
This is the 15th regular-season crown for UTC since the SoCon started recognizing a season winner in 1994. The Mocs have won three in a row and 10 of the last 11. SIUE is an associate member of the Southern Conference in wrestling only.
Senior Sean Boyle put UTC ahead 5-0 with a technical fall at 125. He improved to 26-5 overall and unbeaten in league outings at 6-0. The team outcome was never in doubt as UTC won the first six matches.
Senior Shawn Greevy highlighted the day with a third-period pin against Karsten Van Velsor at 149. Junior Austin Sams and sophomore John Shrader both had major decisions at 157 and 184, respectively.
Senior Nick Soto improved to 25-9 and 6-0 in conference matches with his win at 133. Soto is 25-0 in his career in SoCon bouts.
Sophomores Michael Pongracz (141) and Scottie Boykin (197) and freshman Justin Lampe (165) also had wins Sunday. Boykin ended his season with a 7-0 league mark, 21-0 overall.
The Mocs moved to 35-1 in SoCon action in six seasons under current head coach Heath Eslinger. The lone loss was a 17-25 setback at home to Appalachian State on Feb. 5, 2012. Since then, UTC has won 21 straight league matches.
Chattanooga has just under two weeks to prepare for the Arby’s Southern Conference Wrestling Championship on Saturday, March 7. The wrestlers join the basketball teams for a weekend of SoCon action in Asheville, N.C. The wrestling tournament takes place all day at UNC Asheville’s Kimmel Arena.
Chattanooga 31, SIUE 6
125: No. 10 Sean Boyle (UTC) – TF 17-1 (4:57) - Nathan Day (SIUE) – UTC 5-0
133: No. 13 Nick Soto (UTC) – Dec. 9-4 - Dakota Leach (SIUE) – UTC 8-0
141: Mike Pongracz (UTC) – Dec. 5-4 - Angelo Silvestro (SIUE) – UTC 11-0
149: Shawn Greevy (UTC) – Fall 5:38 - Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) – UTC 17-0
157: Austin Sams (UTC) – MD 14-3 - Clayton Bass (SIUE) – UTC 21-0
165: Justin Lampe (UTC) – Dec. 13-10 - Connor McMahon (SIUE) – UTC 24-0
174: Jake Residori (SIUE) – Dec. 6-4 - Sean Mappes (UTC) – UTC 24-3
184: John Shrader (UTC) – MD 12-4 - Derek Nagel (SIUE) – UTC 28-3
197: Scottie Boykin (UTC) – Dec. 10-5 - Jake Tindle (SIUE) – UTC 31-3
285: Chris Johnson (SIUE) – Dec. 4-2 (SV-2) - Jared Johnson (UTC) – UTC 31-6
Appalachian State tops Davidson
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Appalachian State completed its regular season on Sunday, cruising past Davidson, 38-6.
The match began at 125 weight class, where Dominic Parisi won via forfeit that gave Appalachian (9-8, 6-1 SoCon) a six-point head start. The Mountaineers would never look back as they won the first seven matches of the afternoon. Vito Pasone defeated Anthony Elias by major decision, 20-9, at 133.
With the Mountaineers up 10-0, Michael Longo pinned Dustin Runzo one minute into the second round at 141. Javon Johnson earned bonus points in his second straight match by winning 10-1 over James McCord at 149.
At 157 pounds, Zack Strickland pinned Alex Palinkski 3:22 into the bout. It was his second pin this week as he also recorded one against VMI on Wednesday. At 165, Nick Kee finished his Southern Conference season unblemished at 7-0 after winning by technical fall on Sunday.
Forrest Przybysz extended the Appalachian lead to 34-0 with a 5-0 decision win over Nathaniel Powers at 174. The Wildcats would make it on the board when Scott Patrick won a 9-3 decision over Nick Vetell at 184. Ian Solcz made it two decision wins in a row for Davidson, defeating Tyler Radford 4-2 in overtime at 197.
Heavyweight Denzel Dejournette finished the match off with a 13-3 major decision over Eddie Isola.
Both teams return to action in Asheville, N.C., at the Arby’s Southern Conference Wrestling Championship on March 7.
Appalachian State 38, Davidson 6
125: Dominic Parisi (APP) win by forfeit
133: Vito Pasone (APP) maj. dec. over Anthony Elias (Davidson) 20-9
141: Mike Longo (APP) fall over Dustin Runzo (Davidson) 4:00
149: Javon Johnson (APP) maj. dec. James McCord (Davidson) 10-1
157: Zachary Strickland (APP) fall over Alex Palinski (Davidson) 3:22
165: Nick Kee (APP) tech fall over Patrick Devlin (Davidson) 17-1
174: Forrest Pryzbysz (APP) dec. over Nathaniel Powers (Davidson) 5-0
184: Scott Patrick (Davidson) dec. over Dominick Vetell (APP) 9-3
197: Ian Solcz (Davidson) dec. over Tyler Radford (APP) TB-1 4-2
285: Denzel Dejournette (APP) maj dec. over Eddie Isola (Davidson) 13-3
No. 25 North Carolina edges The Citadel
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Citadel wresting team closed out its 2014-15 regular season with a gritty 22-15 loss at No. 25 North Carolina on Sunday afternoon.
The dual, held inside the Eddie Smith Field House, quickly went the way of the Tar Heels when No. 18 John Michael Staudenmayer earned a technical fall over Will Connell in the 174-pound match.
North Carolina (11-6, 2-3 ACC) bumped its lead to 9-0 following an 11-0 major decision victory by Scott Marmoll over Jared Hemmings in the 184 classification.
The Tar Heels came away with their third straight triumph in the 197 match when Chip Ness posted a 9-4 decision over the Dogs' Marshall Haas.
The Citadel (7-6, 5-2 SoCon) grabbed its first victory of the afternoon in the heavyweight bout when Joe Bexley came away with a 4-2 decision over Frank Abbondanza.
Joaquin Marquez followed with a 9-4 decision over North Carolina's Cody Karns in the 125-pound match to trim the Heels' lead to 12-6.
UNC returned to its previous form with a major decision, 12-4, by Troy Heilmann in the 133 bout with Clarence Arrington. The Heels followed that with a 7-0 decision by No. 11 Joey Ward over Ty Buckiso in the 141-pound match as they moved ahead 19-6.
The Citadel rallied with a Matt Frisch pin of Joey Moon at the 4:49 mark to slice the UNC lead to 19-12.
The Dogs carried over the momentum from that match into the 157-pound bout, as Aaron Walker earned a 6-5 decision against the Tar Heels’ Chris Mears. Those back-to-back victories narrowed the North Carolina lead to 19-15 heading into the final match of the day.
In that match, 10th-ranked Ethan Ramos earned a 9-6 decision over Kenneth Radford to complete North Carolina’s 11th victory of the season.
The Citadel now turns its attention to the 2015 Arby’s Southern Conference Wrestling Championship in Asheville, N.C., which begins on March 7.
No. 25 North Carolina 22, The Citadel 15
174: #18 John Michael Staudenmayer (NC) tech. fall Will Connell (CIT), 20-5 – UNC leads 5-0
184: Scott Marmoll (NC) maj. dec. Jared Hemmings (CIT), 11-0 – UNC leads 9-0
197: Chip Ness (NC) dec. Marshall Haas (CIT), 9-4 – UNC leads 12-0
285: Joe Bexley (CIT) dec. Frank Abbondanza (NC), 4-2 – UNC leads 12-3
125: Joaquin Marquez (CIT) dec. Cody Karns (NC), 9-4 – UNC leads 12-6
133: Troy Heilmann (NC) maj. dec. Clarence Arrington (CIT), 12-4 – UNC leads 16-6
141: #11 Joey Ward (NC) dec. Ty Buckiso (CIT), 7-0 – UNC leads 19-6
149: Matt Frisch (CIT) pinned Joey Moon (NC), (4:49) – UNC leads 19-12
157: Aaron Walker (CIT) dec. Chris Mears (NC), 6-5 – UNC leads 19-15
165: #10 Ethan Ramos (NC) dec. Kenneth Radford (CIT), 9-6 – UNC leads 22-15