Note: The following was written by Todd Vinyard, who will be blogging throughout the 2015-16 basketball and wrestling seasons as teams prepare to head to Asheville, N.C., in March.
Winter storm Jonas caused changes in Southern Conference women’s basketball and wrestling schedules. There was still plenty of action as teams move closer to tournament championship time in Asheville this March. Two wrestling squads (Appalachian State and Chattanooga) remain unbeaten in the conference. The women’s basketball regular-season title hunt is tight with multiple schools in the running. With help from Southern Conference and school media relations offices, here’s a quick look at what is going on around the league.
What We Learned
SoCon Women’s Basketball regular-season title chase twists and turns: Just when you think you have the Southern Conference women’s basketball race figured out, it changes.
- The Mercer Bears ended Chattanooga’s 52-game conference win streak and took over first place with a 4-0 record. Kahlia Lawrence scored a game-high 24 points, and the Bears kept the Mocs from scoring in the final four minutes to secure the win. The victory put the Bears in sole possession of first place in the conference, but that quickly changed when ETSU came to Macon.
- Sophomore Tianna Tarter came through with a game-winning layup to give ETSU a 55-53 win over Mercer on Saturday. Tarter was a clutch performer late, with 11 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter.
- Samford’s Bulldogs added another team in the regular-season title talk with a 48-43 victory over Chattanooga in Birmingham. It was Samford’s first win over Chattanooga since 2012.
- With 4-1 conference records, Furman, Mercer and Samford are tied for the lead. Chattanooga and ETSU are right behind with 4-2 records.
Plenty of meaningful games on tap the next few weeks with several teams in the regular-season title mix.
Two still perfect in wrestling: Appalachian State and Chattanooga are on top at 4-0 in Southern Conference action and each has nine overall wins, too. Along with the team action, several individuals are standing out this year on the mat.
Nick Kee is the only Mountaineer with a perfect mark in dual matches. He is now 11-0 after a win against The Citadel. Taylor Jackson helped Appalachian State pull away against The Citadel after a pin in the 184-pound match.
UTC put six wrestlers in the NCAA coaches' panel rankings, led by junior Jared Johnson. He is 18-3 overall and No. 13 at heavyweight. Junior Michael Pongracz is next at No. 22 at 141. He is 17-2 and on a five-match winning streak. Senior John Lampe is No. 23 at 184 with his 9-1 mark. Junior Scottie Boykin is also No. 23 at 197 with a 14-6 record. Freshman Kamaal Shakur checks in at No. 24 at 157. He is 19-5 in his first season of competition and leads the team in overall wins. Junior Sean Mappes, last year's SoCon champ at 174, is No. 33 with a 13-7 record.
Coming Up
As mentioned above, the SoCon women’s basketball top spot is up for grabs. The conference journey continues with exciting contests this week.
Furman will face SoCon co-leaders Samford (Thursday) and Mercer (Saturday) at home in a big week for the Paladins. Wofford also matches up against Mercer (Thursday) and Samford (Saturday) this week. A Tennessee matchup takes place between ETSU and Chattanooga on Saturday in Johnson City.
Names to Know
Citadel wrestlers Matt Frisch, Marshall Haas and Aaron Walker made the first of the four NCCA rankings for the 2015-16 season. Frisch is the first Bulldog on the list at 149 pounds and is ranked 30th. The Oxford, Mich., native holds a 15-7 record and is 8-2 in duals this season. Walker comes in at No. 27 in the 157-pound division and has suffered only five defeats this year with an 18-5 record. At 197 pounds, Haas is also ranked No. 27. The South Riding, Va., native is currently 17-7 with an 8-2 dual record.
Lucy Mason is the all-time leading scorer in UNCG history and one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the league. The Spartans recognized her before a recent game with Wofford in a pregame ceremony that included previous record-holder Angie Polk-Jones.
Samford coach Mike Morris says Bulldog player Krista Stricklin is the top defensive player in the SoCon. It has been quite a transition since Stricklin came to Samford more known for scoring after putting up an impressive 3,155 points in her high school career at Hayden (Ala.) High School to rank ninth in the history of the state of Alabama. “It shows hard work pays off,” Stricklin told samfordsports.com. “We play a lot of 5-on-5 man defense, so it isn’t easy. I’ve worked hard and knew I would need to up my defensive play at Samford.”
Former two-time NCAA Division I national qualifier and Gardner-Webb wrestler Daniel Elliott has been equally as good a coach at GWU. Since moving over to the bench as a coach in 2006, Elliott has seen at least one wrestler make it to the NCAA Championships in six of the last seven years.
Belmont Abbey was giving Davidson trouble recently until the Wildcats rolled off six weight class wins on the way to a 23-12 wrestling victory. Aidan Conroy put the Wildcats on the board at 149 pounds. The freshman earned a 6-2 decision over Nicauzi Mitchell. Tony Palumbo kept the momentum going at 157 pounds with a hard-fought 4-3 win over Scott Bosak.
Michigan native Austin McNeill recently picked up his first college wrestling win for Campbell. His high school record of 51 victories shows there should be plenty more in the future. He was also on the honor roll all four years of high school.
VMI senior wrestler Mark Darr provides leadership for Keydets on the mat. He had 10 wins overall last season and excels in the classroom, too. Darr was named to the Cadet-Athlete Scholar Society following spring semester for posting at least a 3.0 GPA for the term.
What We Will Be Watching
Campbell wrestler Nathan Kraisser is closing in on 100 college wins. As of last Wednesday, his record is (26-7, 90-26).
On the women’s basketball side, will the freshman and sophomore classes at Western Carolina keep putting up points? They have scored 876 of the Catamount’s 1,198 points in 19 games this season going into Monday.
It is setting up to be another week of memorable SoCon regular-season matchups. Follow all the action at www.soconsports.com.