The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team battled No. 17 Ohio in an 18-14 loss in Maclellan Gym tonight.  The Mocs won four matches, scoring bonus points in two, but could not pull off the upset at home. 

There were six matches tonight that went down to the wire.  UTC was only able to capture two of the close ones as they drop to 4-2 on the year.  Ohio improved to 4-1 overall. 

"Obviously, we wanted to get the win, but I was proud of our effort and attitude tonight," stated head coach Heath Eslinger.  "One more takedown in any of those four close ones and we come out on top. 

"Regardless, we fought in every match and that's what we want to see from our guys every night.  There are a lot of things for us to work on to get better, but there were a lot of positives tonight."

The dual opened at 125 and UTC freshman Alonzo Allen found himself in a big hole early.  He gave up three takedowns and four back points to trail 10-2 after the first period.  He battled back with a takedown in the second, and put four more points up in the third before falling 11-8. 

Sophomore Cody Hill also lost a close one at 133, falling 7-6 to Cameron Kelly.  Junior Michael Pongracz remained undefeated on the year with his 3-1 win over Noah Forrider at 141. He scored a takedown in overtime to improve to 9-0. 

After an Ohio win at 149, freshman Kamaal Shakur took the mat against Ohio senior Spartak Chino.  Chino came into the match with a 12-3 record and a top-10 ranking in a number of polls.  Shakur set the tone early with a takedown and eventually scored a 4-3 victory to improve to 12-2.  That made the team score 9-6 in favor of the Bobcats. 

Ohio went on to win the next three matches to nearly put it out of reach at 18-6.  Senior John Lampe had a chance at 184, but he lost to Andrew Romanchik (4-1) in another tight bout.   

Junior's Scottie Boykin and Jared Johnson scored major decision wins at 197 and heavyweight to close out the match. 

UTC is back in action on Sunday when they host Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at 1:00 p.m. (E.S.T.).  Links for live scoring and live video are available on the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com. 

No. 17 Ohio 18 – Chattanooga 14
125:  Shakur Laney (Ohio) - Dec. 11-8 - Alonzo Allen (UTC) – Ohio 3-0
133:  Cameron Kelly (Ohio) – Dec. 7-6 - Cody Hill (UTC) – Ohio 6-0
141:  Michael Pongracz (UTC) – Dec. 3-1 (SV1) - Noah Forrider (Ohio) – Ohio 6-3
149:  Cullen Cummings (Ohio) - Dec. 7-1 - Roman Boylen (UTC) – Ohio 9-3
157:  Kamaal Shakur (UTC) – Dec. 4-3 - Spartak Chino (Ohio) – Ohio 9-6
165:  Austin Reese (Ohio) – Dec. 5-4 - Dominic Lampe (UTC) – Ohio 12-6
174:  Cody Walters (Ohio) – Dec. 8-3 - Sean Mappes (UTC) – Ohio 15-6
184:  Andrew Romanchik (Ohio) – Dec. 4-1 - John Lampe (UTC) – Ohio 18-6
197:  No. 18 Scottie Boykin (UTC) – MD 11-2 - Nate Hall (Ohio) – Ohio 18-10
285:  Jared Johnson (UTC) – MD 11-0 - Jesse Webb (Ohio) – Ohio 18-14