With the Blue & Gold match just a few days away, GoMocs.com has two more weight classes to preview for the 2015-16 Chattanooga Mocs wrestling team.  UTC has two solid returners leading the way in the big-boy classes.  Both are ranked in the preseason, so 197 and 285 could be strong spots in Chattanooga's lineup.

Head coach Heath Eslinger is entering his seventh season at UTC and again has the Mocs as the preseason favorite to win the Southern Conference.  A big reason is the talent at the bottom. 

Junior Scottie Boykin is the highest ranked individual for Chattanooga.  He enters the year at No. 15 in the Intermat top-20 for 197 pounds.  He is a two-time All-SoCon honoree who earned an at-large bid to the NCAAs last season. 

Boykin is coming off a 25-13 campaign, highlighted by a third place finish at the Hokie Open.  He also had a couple of big wins, including a 6-4 overtime victory against Purdue's No. 8 Braden Atwood on Dec. 12.  He was 2-2 at the NCAAs with an 8-6 decision against Lehigh's No. 16 Elliott Riddick.  He is 13-0 in regular season SoCon matches, but is still looking for that first league title at the conference tournament. 

Senior Clay Dent, junior D.J. Franklin-Smith and freshman Rodney Jones are the backups at 197.  Dent has the most experience, having competed at 184 his first three years in the program.  He went 7-7 last year, with a second place showing at the Appalachian Open. 

Franklin-Smith also wrestled at 184 the last two seasons.  He was 5-5 in 2014-15 and also had a runner-up showing at the Appalachian Open.  Jones was a state finalist as a senior at Duluth (Ga.) High School and also an all-region linebacker in football. 

"This is another weight class where we have a ton of guys," said Eslinger.  "It is also where we have our highest ranked guy.  Scottie comes in as high as No. 15 in some of the rankings.  He had a great NCAA tournament and won two matches, so we are excited that we have that kind of leadership.

"Clay is a fourth-year guy who has just been a great teammate.  He has competed hard and we are possibly looking at redshirting Clay.  We would like to keep him here another year.

"D.J. is another guy who has a lot of maturity and gives us even more depth at this class.  Then true freshman Rod Jones is also there at 197.  Again, we have a lot of options, but we also have a guy who has proven he can win at this level.  We are excited to see what can happen." 

Heavyweight was somewhat of a surprise for the Mocs last year.  Jared Johnson moved up from 197, and despite being under-sized, had an outstanding season.  He finished with a 30-11 overall record and is preseason No. 20 in both the Amateur Wrestling News and the DI Wrestling Report. 

Johnson earned an automatic bid to the NCAAs with his second place finish at the SoCon Tournament.  An Academic All-SoCon honoree, Johnson's biggest win of the year came in one of the biggest dual wins in school history.  He scored a 12-11 decision over No. 11 Ross Larson in UTC's 19-16 win over Oklahoma in the NWCA National Duals.

Backing him up at heavyweight is redshirt freshman Connor Tolley and true freshman Sam Stephenson.  Tolley sat out last year, but is a two-time state placer from Franklin (Ind.) Community High School.   Stephenson is a local product and state medalist from Chattanooga's Central High School.

"Jared bumped up from 197 to heavyweight and had a phenomenal year," said Eslinger.  "He has worked hard in the weight room this summer and has put on about 25 pounds.  He is holding that weight, and we have to do a good job as a staff of keeping that on him throughout the season.

"Sam and Connor give us great depth at heavyweight.  Connor improved a lot during his redshirt season while Sam is a full 285 pounds.  He is a great body in our practice room and as he continues to get better, he will be a great addition for us."

The Mocs are busy preparing for the next week's Blue-Gold Match on Thursday, Oct. 29.  Action begins at 6:00 p.m., at the annual intra-squad scrimmage in Maclellan Gym and admission is free.  Season tickets are on sale now on GoMocs.com or by calling the UTC Ticket Office at (423) 266-MOCS (6627).