The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is set to host the 2017 Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Clothing, on Jan. 1-2.  Billed as the top in-season collegiate wrestling tournament in the nation, the Southern Scuffle is held in the McKenzie Arena. 
 
Gates open at 9:00 a.m. (E.S.T.) and wrestling starts each day at 10:00 a.m.  The full schedule of events and tickets are both available on TheSouthernScuffle.com.
 
The field is stacked with 23 teams, including 10 of this week's NWCA/USA Today Top 25.  These include No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Missouri, No. 8 Cornell, No. 9 Lehigh, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 16 Stanford, No. 21 Appalachian State, No. 22 Northern Iowa, No. 24 Virginia and No. 25 Drexel.  
 
Others in the field along with Chattanooga are Air Force, Campbell, The Citadel, Cleveland State, Duke, Edinboro, Gardner-Webb, Navy, North Carolina, Northern Colorado, Penn and Utah Valley.
 
All totaled, there are 25 All-Americans, three NCAA Champions, 72 currently ranked in the top-20 and 40 ranked in the top 10.
 
There are three No. 1 wrestlers in the field, according to the Dec. 19 Asics Flo Rankings.  These include Oklahoma State's Dean Heil (141), Cornell's Gabe Dean (184) and Missouri's J'Den Cox (197).
 
For a complete list of teams and #LetsScuffle previews of each weight class, visit www.TheSouthernScuffle.com. 
 
#LETSSCUFFLE
Be sure to use the hashtag #LetsScuffle when tweeting about the Southern Scuffle.  Follow @GoMocs and @UTCWrestling for the most up-to-date information on the 2017 Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Clothing.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Every match of the Southern Scuffle can be followed live via Flowresting.  Pay-per-view video is available through Flowrestling and live scoring and interactive brackets are available through FloArena.  Links to both are on the TheSouthernScuffle.com and the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com.  The Flowrestling video feed is now available on Roku and AppleTV.  
 
  
CHATTANOOGA MOCS PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Alonzo Allen (So. – 3-7)
133: Chris Debien (So. – 5-5)
           Jake Huffine (So. - 6-4)
141: Roman Boylen (So. – 4-5)
149: Dylanger Potter (Fr. – 5-5)
           Zach Shareef (So. - 0-0)
165: Justin Lampe (Jr. – 7-3)
174: Sean Mappes (Sr. – 7-5)
184: Bryce Carr (Jr. – 9-1)
           Barrett Walthall (Jr. - 2-3)
197: Clay Dent (Sr. – 3-4)
285: No. 14 Jared Johnson (Sr. – 10-1)
           Connor Tolley (So. - 2-4)

HEAD COACH HEATH ESLINGER
Head Coach Heath Eslinger is in his eighth season at UTC.  A two-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year, he owns an 89-48 (.650) career dual record.  He has guided the Mocs to six SoCon regular season and six SoCon tournament titles and has a 42-2 record in SoCon duals.
 
MOCS AT THE SCUFFLE
This is the sixth time the Mocs have hosted the Southern Scuffle and the eighth time they have competed in the event.  UTC's best showing was a sixth place finish in 2006 in Greensboro, N.C.
2016 - 20th (31.5)
2015 - 14th (43.5)
2014 - 16th (34.0)
2013 - 14th (31.5)
2012 - 7th (79.0)
2006 - 6th (75.5)
2005 - 13th (48.5)
 
JOHNSON LOOKING TO IMPROVE ON LAST YEAR'S FINISH
Senior Jared Johnson is currently 10-1 overall and No. 14 in the nation at heavyweight.  He is looking to improve on his fourth place finish at the 2016 Southern Scuffle.

CARR READY FOR A TEST
Junior Bryce Carr is off to a great start to his UTC career with a 9-1 record.  His lone loss was against Virginia Tech's No. 10 Zack Zavatsky (2-1) on Nov. 13.  The former junior college national champion could be a sleeper at this year's event.
 
SCUFFLE NOTES
• This is the 14th year of the Southern Scuffle.  It was held in Greensboro, N.C. from 2003-10 and moved to Chattanooga in 2012.
 
• Records do not show a Southern Scuffle in 2011, but the event did not skip a season.  The 2010 tournament was held in late December while the 2012 event was Jan. 1-2.
 
• Appalachian State, Duke, North Carolina, The Citadel and Virginia are the only teams that have competed in the Southern Scuffle every year since it began in 2003. 
 
• Only four different teams have won the Southern Scuffle, including Cornell (2008, 2009 & 2010 (tie)), Minnesota (2004, 2005 & 2007), Missouri (2003 & 2006) and Penn State (2010 (tie), 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016).
 
• There are three former Scuffle Individual Champions in the field, including Oklahoma State's Dean Heil (141-'16), Cornell's Gabe Dean (184-'14, '15 & '16) and Missouri's J'Den Cox (197-'15).
 
• Cornell's Gabe Dean is trying to join former teammate Kyle Dake (2009-13) and Minnesota's Cole Konrad (2003-06) as the only four-time winners of the Southern Scuffle. 
 
• There are three NCAA Champions set to compete, including Oklahoma State's Dean Heil (141-'16), Cornell's Gabe Dean (184-'15, '16) and Missouri's J'Den Cox (197-'16).
 
• Nine of the 10 brackets feature a potential top-5 matchup.  Both 141 and 197 have the top-2 ranked wrestlers in the country.  
 
• Minnesota holds the record for points in the tournament with 192 in its win in 2005. 
 
• The Golden Gophers also hold the largest margin of victory in the event with a 182-130.5 advantage over second place Edinboro in 2007.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
Chattanooga is receiving votes in the NWCA Coaches Poll this week.  Senior Jared Johnson is the lone individual ranked, checking in at No. 14 at heavyweight in the Intermat Top 20. 
 
MOCS IN THE SOCON
Chattanooga is an astonishing 42-2 in seven seasons of league duals under Head Coach Heath Eslinger.  Seniors Scottie Boykin and Michael Pongracz are both on the preseason All-SoCon team, but both are expected to redshirt this season.