The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team dropped its season opener to Old Dominion 31-9 tonight. The Mocs scored a pair of individual wins, but lost three one-point decisions to the Monarchs.
The match opened at 149 with senior Kelly Felix (Franklin, Tenn.) taking the mat for Chattanooga (0-1, 0-0 SoCon). He battled Brennan Brumley to a 2-2 stalemate, but riding time provided the difference. ODU also scored a win at 157 to go up 6-0.
Senior Brandon Wright (Germantown, Tenn.) put the Mocs on the board at 165. He fought off the Monarch's Tristian Warner 3-2 and pulled the score to 6-3. Two straight wins by ODU pushed the team score to 13-3 at the break.
Following intermission, junior Niko Brown (Kissimmee, Fla.) got the crowd of over 600 going with his win at 197. He pinned ODU's Joe Budi at the 5:21 mark for six big points. Unfortunately for the Mocs, that was as close as they would get.
Freshmen Kevin Malone (Carrollton, Ohio) and Cole Hayes (Knoxville, Tenn.) both dropped one-point decisions at 285 and 125, respectively. Chattanooga then gave up pins at 133 and 141 to close out the scoring.
"They outscored us," stated head coach Heath Eslinger. "They out hand fought us, they rode us out and that can't happen. We have to figure it out. The good thing is that it is early. We have a lot of time. We have great kids on our team and we have to get back to work."
UTC heads to Salem, Va., for Sunday's Hokie Open. The Mocs are back home next weekend to open Southern Conference action when they host Gardner-Webb. The match with the Bulldogs is set for Friday, Nov. 11, at 6:00 p.m. in Maclellan Gym.
Old Dominion 31 - Chattanooga 9
149: Brennan Brumley (ODU) won by decision over Kelly Felix (UTC) - 3-2
157: John Nicholson (ODU) won by decision over Daniel Waddell (UTC) - 11-5
165: Brandon Wright (UTC) won by decision over Tristan Warner (ODU) - 3-2
174: Te Edwards (ODU) won by major decision over Levi Clemons (UTC) - 14-4
184: Billy Curling (ODU) won by decision over Robert Prigmore (UTC) - 4-1
197: Nikolas Brown (UTC) won by pin over Joe Budi (ODU) - 5:21
285: Matt Tourdot (ODU) won by decision over Kevin Malone (UTC) - 4-3
125: Eric Dunnet (ODU) won by decision over William Hayes (UTC) - 6-5
133: Scott Festejo (ODU) won by pin over Nick Soto (UTC) - 5:36
141: Justin LaValle (ODU) won by pin over Shawn Greevy (UTC) - 3:39
