The Mocs wrestling program just might be the most tradition-rich and historically successful at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. UTC has won 29 Southern Conference Tournament titles and 16 regular season crowns since moving to NCAA Division I in 1978.
UTC boasts nine All-Americans, a number of SoCon Wrestlers of the Year and scores of SoCon Champions. A total of 22 Mocs have been inducted into the UTC Athletics Hall of Fame and they all have some impressive credentials.
This year's inductee is no different. David Barden was the 1996 Southern Conference Wrestler of the Year and is among the five member class going into the UTC Athletics Hall of Fame.
"It was exciting and it was pretty cool to think that there are others that think highly of me," said Barden when learning he was going into the Hall of Fame.
Barden came to UTC from Fairfield, Ohio, and redshirted his first year with the Mocs. He went on to an outstanding freshman campaign in 1993, winning the SoCon title at 118.
"The redshirt year was really good for me because it gave me an extra season to get caught up to the Division I speed and intensity," said Barden.
"It was a good transition for me. I think that redshirt year made a difference, because if I came in too soon, then I may not have had quite the same success that I did."
He spent those early years learning from some of the older wrestlers in the program and from his successful teammates.
"It was pretty good for us because they had recruited Jason Laflin who was a couple years ahead of me but from the same high school," added Barden. "He was a great high school wrestler so we had gone back through the years and it was nice to have him as a mentor.
"Chad Dennis was another one of my teammates from high school, so we were down there together. Having Chad, Jason, and his brother Aaron Laflin really made it pretty comfortable."
Barden would go on to win three SoCon titles and qualify for the NCAA Tournament all four years at UTC. He was ranked in the top-10 both his junior and senior seasons and named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 1995 SoCon Tournament.
He came up one point short of All-American honors in 1996, and that 6-5 loss to Northwestern's Scott Schatzman is one he still remembers. As is the case with most great competitors, those tough losses are hard to shake. He even uses it now as a teaching points as a coach at Buckhorn High School in Huntsville, Ala.
"I have two big losses that stick with me, but those are the ones that I teach my kids," he said. "My high school coach always preached to us that when you get into a scramble situation, you always turn down towards the legs.
"In the match to place in my last year, I was in a position to take the shot and take the guy down and we were in a scramble. He fell over the back of me, and he had his head on one side of his body and his legs on the other behind me.
"If I had turned down towards the legs like I had been trained to all my life, I probably would have gotten the takedown and won the match. Instead I went to the head and he ended up snaking behind me, taking me down and won the match.
"It's one of those situations where you train and know better, but in the moment you make an impulse decision. It's a common situation we get into on the match, so every time I see the kids, I just kind of use that as a tool to teach them."
Those losses might be what Barden remembers most about his UTC career, but longtime Mocs wrestling fans recall his grit and determination on the mat. It was his hard work that propelled him to a level of success that is recognized as a part of this year's Hall of Fame class.
