The wrestling team made the most of its first appearance at home since Dec. 16,
defeating Appalachian State 27-9 Sunday in a Southern Conference
dual.
The
Mocs, ranked 19th nationally, had wrestled five
consecutive duals as well as the Midlands Championships away from
home since hosting eighth-ranked Missouri in mid-December.
Chattanooga, who has not lost to a SoCon foe under Head Coach Chris
Bono, won eight of 10 matches to move to 2-0 in the conference
standings and 7-5 overall.
The
Mocs never trailed, winning the first six weight classes. In fact,
other than in the 149- and 165-pound meetings, Chattanooga's
individual wrestlers only trailed in two other matches.
“I
like the way we wrestled aggressively and came out focused,” Bono
said. “This was a great test for us. Appalachian State is a
much-improved team, and nearly every match was a battle. It was
special being back at home in front of our fans, and the atmosphere
certainly helped push us ahead in the close ones.”
Senior
Josh Edmondson got the Mocs rolling in the right direction, opening
the dual at 184 pounds with a 7-3 win over Austin Trotman. Senior
Matt Koz, ranked 16th at 197 pounds, poured on the points
against freshman Dylan Temple, scoring a 22-9 major decision and
giving Chattanooga a 7-0 lead. Koz led 12-5 after one period and
19-7 after two.
UTC
freshman Matt Lettner posted one of his biggest wins of the season,
edging ASU junior Jared Campbell 4-1 at the heavyweight spot.
As
the weight classes got lighter, the matches seemed to get tighter.
Senior Javier Maldonado, ranked 16th at 125, beat Frank
Celorrio, 8-3, and senior Steve Hromada needed a third-period
takedown to defeat Terreyl Williams, 8-6 at 133.
Sophomore
Cody Cleveland, ranked 13th in the nation at 141, recorded
his seventh technical fall of the year, a 23-5 win over Marcus Cox
which pushed the Mocs' margin to 21-0.
The
Mountaineers' top wrestler, sixth-ranked Scott Ervin, was able to get
ASU on the scoreboard in the 149-pound match. Ervin pinned freshman
C.J. Baron at 1:09 for his 26th victory of the year which
trimmed ASU's deficit to 21-6. Baron competed for UTC's 17th-ranked
sophomore Joey Knox who was unable to wrestle because of an illness.
Twentieth-ranked
Seth Garvin increased the Mocs' lead to 24-6 with a 6-3 win at 157
over Eddie Hutchinson, and 14th-ranked Lloyd Rogers closed out the
victory with a 6-2 decision over Neal Martin at 174.
Tommy
Hutchinson earned ASU's final three team points, defeating UTC's Nick
Davis, 4-3 on a riding-time point after three periods.
Chattanooga
returns to the mat Feb. 3 with a SoCon match at Davidson.
No.
19 Chattanooga 27, Appalachian State 9
184
? Josh Edmondson (UTC) dec. Austin Trotman (ASU), 7-3 3-0
197
? No. 16 Matt Koz (UTC) maj. dec. Dylan Temple (ASU), 22-9 7-0
285
? Matt Lettner (UTC) dec. Jared Campbell (ASU), 4-1 10-0
125
? No. 16 Javier Maldonado (UTC) dec. Frank Celorrio (ASU), 8-3 13-0
133
? Steve Hromada (UTC) dec. Terreyl Williams (ASU), 8-6 16-0
141
? No. 13 Cody Cleveland (UTC) tech. fall Marcus Cox (ASU), 23-5
(6:49) 21-0
149
? No. 6 Scott Ervin (ASU) pinned C.J. Baron (UTC), 1:09 21-6
157
? No. 20 Seth Garvin (UTC) dec. Eddie Hutchinson (ASU), 6-3 24-6
165
? Tommy Hutchinson (ASU) dec. Nick Davis (UTC), 4-3 (rt) 24-9
174
? No. 14 Lloyd Rogers (UTC) dec. Neal Martin (ASU), 6-2 27-9
