The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Athletics Department recently inducted its Hall of Fame Class of 2017. Among those honored at the Feb. 24 banquet at the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club was former wrestling star Chris Thornbury (1986-89).
Thornbury came to UTC in the fall of 1985 and quickly made an impact on the Mocs program. He won the Southern Conference Title at 190 pounds as a true freshman, while helping Chattanooga to its first team title in three years.
He went on two win two more league trophies in his career, while the Mocs won the team championship all four years he competed. Thornbury graduated with 101 career wins, a number that is still eighth all-time at UTC. His 38-10 mark as a senior in 1989 is still the second most wins in a season in school history.
"It was an awesome experience," stated Thornbury in a recent interview with GoMocs.com prior to the Hall of Fame Banquet. "UTC always had a great wrestling team, but I was a pretty good high school wrestler. However, I don't remember how long it was before I ever even got a takedown in the practice room. We would wrestle live and I would get killed.
"It was a big adjustment and it took me until about Christmas to be able to make that adjustment. After Christmas, I got with the right workout partners and with the help of the great program Coach Reeve had in place, I was able to take off."
Thornbury was just 2-7 at the break that season, but working with fellow Hall of Famer Charlie Buckshaw, he was 7-10 by the time the March 1 SoCon Championships in Lexington, Va., rolled around.
"Just having a good workout partner makes a huge difference," stated Thornbury. "Someone you could count on every day to make you better, even on days when you were not feeling your best. Charlie gave that to me every day and I would like to think I gave that back to him."
SoCon Champions Mark Allison, Charlie Buckshaw, Chris Thornbury, Tom Sell and Ben Reichel.
Thornbury opened the SoCon Championships with a bye in the first round. He then defeated VMI's top-seeded Mike Northrop 3-2 in overtime in the semifinals. In the Championship match, Thornbury posted a 12-5 decision over The Citadel's No. 2 seed Robert Wyndham. Those wins helped the Mocs edge Appalachian State by a ½-point, 86-85.5 in the team standings.
"I moved to heavyweight as a sophomore," continued Thornbury. "My freshman year, Jeff Rufolo redshirted and he was a returning conference champion. We had four returning conference champions and only thee weight classes, so myself, Jeff, Charlie and Mike Wallace filled those spots and battled it out."
"Mike was the heavyweight, but he suffered an injury. I moved up to heavyweight to fill a void and it just worked out. I was actually terrified about moving up to heavyweight, but it was the best thing that could have happened."
The Mocs hosted the SoCon Championships in 1987, and Thornybury again led UTC to an even narrower win over Appalachian State (97.75-97.50). Buckshaw took the crown at 177, followed by Rufolo at 190 and Thornbury at heavyweight. Ben Reichel (118) and Tom Herring (126) also won titles that season, but it was those three training partners who capped off a comeback for UTC.
His junior season, Thornbry was poised for a third-straight league championships before an injury sidelined his efforts.
"I thought I had some type of stress fracture in my foot, but I just kept going on and on," he explained. "Finally, they took a culture to see because it is gutting huge.
"The doctor said this is staph and you are going to have to have surgery today. They cut me in three different places and I laid in the hospital for a week letting it drain.
"I think it was 9-10 days later I tried to wrestle in the conference tournament. I wanted to, and looking back if I had done some things different it might had worked out."
He returned for his senior season to post an impressive 38-10 mark. He was ranked in the top-10 in the nation at heavyweight throughout the year and won his third SoCon title.
He entered the 1989 NCAA Wrestling Championships as the No. 11 seed and had his eyes on the podium. After a bye, he opened with an overtime win against Michigan's Bob Potokar (3-2) in the second round. He lost to third-seeded Pat McDade (8-1) of Boise State in the quarterfinals.
That loss sent him to the blood round where he faced Oklahoma State's Kirk Mammen. There he came up just six seconds short of an All-American finish.
"In the match to place, I wrestled a kid from Oklahoma State," recalled Thornbury. "The match went into overtime, and then double OT. Then it came down to criteria and he won because he had six seconds of riding time.
"The hard part of the story is that I cut him. I let him up to try to take him down. If I had rode him for that six seconds, maybe it would have been different."
Regardless of that ending, there is no question Thornbury is one of the greats to ever compete for the Mocs. He is one of 22 former wrestlers in the UTC Athletics Hall of Fame and one of just 45 in the 87-year history of SoCon wrestling to win three league titles.
His impact also continued long after graduating from UTC. He spent 25 seasons as the head coach of Murry County (Ga.) High School and was recently honored with the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Lifetime Service Award.
"Something we were always taught at UTC was don't just be a taker," added Thornbury. "Give something back to the sport. That award is special because it means that."
Looking back on what is now a Hall of Fame career, Thornbury still speak fondly of his alma mater and his experiences at UTC.
"UTC was the perfect fit for me," he said. "I came from the Chattanooga area, so my family was able to come watch me while I represented the school. That was really neat being that close by and having that support.
"I definitely follow the team and definitely support them. Wrestlers are different. When you wrestle for UTC, you are not only joining a team, you are also joining a family. All of those guys who came before me, I feel like a part of them. All of those guys who are after me, I feel like a part of them too.
"I enjoyed my time at UTC and it was such a special time in my file. Now to have somebody say hey, you did a pretty good job, that is pretty humbling."
