The Chattanooga wrestling squad put up a tough fight against No. 10 Oklahoma in Maclellan Gym on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus today. Junior Cody Cleveland and sophomore Josh Statum both recorded wins for the Mocs, but the Sooners won the dual meet 23-14. UTC's season record evens at 6-6 (1-0 SoCon) while OU improves to 12-0 on the year.
Action began with freshman Paul Garza taking on 12th-ranked Joey Fio at 125. Garza, 3-10 on the year, hung in with Fio (12-3) for most of the match before falling 4-1.
The 133-pound class saw Statum even the team score at 3-3 with his win over OU's Brian Shelton, 8-5. Shelton held an early 5-0 lead in the first period, but Statum closed the gap to 5-3 before the end of the first three minutes. A near-fall in the second period put Statum 6-5, an edge he would hold on to for his second individual win of the season.
Statum's win got the crowd of nearly 1,000 going, giving the Mocs the momentum heading into one of the most dominating performances of the afternoon at 141. Cleveland, ranked No. 9 in the class in the most recent polls, earned a technical fall over OU's Zack Bailey. Cleveland's win improved his record to 12-4 on the year while giving UTC an 8-3 advantage after three matches.
Freshman Dan Waddell lost a major decision (14-3) to No. 15 Kyle Terry at 149 to close the overall gap to 8-7. Chattanooga junior Joey Knox, ranked No. 19 at 157, fell to Chad Terry 6-0 to give OU a 10-8 lead.
Chattanooga head coach Chris Bono had planned to forfeit the 184 match, but coming out of intermission, he shuffled his lineup. Oklahoma forfeited 165 and UTC's Brandon Wright stepped in to take the points, giving the Mocs a 14-10 lead.
Senior Seth Garvin, scheduled to wrestle at 165 where he is ranked 19th in the nation, moved up to 174. There he battled No. 9 Jeff James to a near-stalemate, falling 7-5.
Freshman Jason McCroskey moved from 174 to 184 and took on No. 19 Pat Flynn. McCroskey gave a solid effort before dropping his match 6-1. Oklahoma took the final two matches to secure their 23-14 win.
“We fought hard and that was a big improvement from the last time we were in this gym,” stated Bono. “It is something we have been preaching - to go out and fight and let the chips fall where they fall.”
“We need to get better technically. Our conditioning looks like we are getting where we need to be...not great yet, but we just got to keep getting better.”
Chattanooga next travels to Columbia Missouri to take on the fifth-ranked Tigers and West Virginia on Jan. 18. The Mocs next home match is against Campbellsville and The Citadel on Jan. 30 in McKenzie Arena at 6:00 p.m.
Results
125 - No. 12 Joey Fio (OU) defeated Paul Garza (UTC) - D, 4-1
133 - Josh Statum (UTC) defeated Brian Shelton (OU) - D, 8-5
141 - No. 9 Cody Cleveland (UTC) defeated Zack Bailey (OU) ? Tec. Fall (7:00)
149 - No. 15 Kyle Terry (OU) defeated Dan Waddell (UTC) ? MD, 14-3
157 - Chad Terry (OU) defeated No. 19 Joey Knox (UTC) ? D, 6-0
165 - Brandon Wright (UTC) won by forfeit
174 ? No. 9 Jeff James (OU) defeated No. 19 Seth Garvin (UTC) ? D, 6-5
184 ? No. 19 Pat Flynn (OU) defeated Jason McCroskey (UTC) ? D, 6-1
197 ? No. 9 Eric Lapotsky (OU) defeated Ethan Winel (UTC) ? D, 9-2
285 ? No. 19 Nathan Fernandez (OU) defeated Cody Sliger (UTC) ? MD, 16-4
