The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team dropped a 22-15 Southern Conference match against Appalachian State in Maclellan Gym tonight. The Mountaineers snapped UTC's 27-match winning streak in league action.
The loss dropped the Mocs to 10-4 overall and 5-1 in SoCon play. App State improved to 10-3 and 5-1 in the league.
"It was a good match and we knew they were a great team coming in," stated Eslinger. "First and foremost, we want to give credit to them. I'm a believer that you give credit where credit is due. They wrestled a great match and came out on the winning end of it."
The Mocs got in a big hole early after giving up a pin at 125. ASU won two more decisions to go up 12-0, before sophomore Chase Zemenak's major at 149. Freshman Kamaal Shakur got UTC back in the match with a decision at 157.
The Mountaineers went up 15-7 win a win at 165 and nearly put it out of reach with a major at 174. UTC tried to mount a comeback with senior John Lampe scoring a major at 184. Junior Scottie Boykin twice had a cradle at 197 and nearly posted a six-point fall. He finished with a major to close the gap to 19-15.
"Everybody knows that it doesn't matter who starts the match, it's who finishes," said Eslinger about trying to mount a comeback. "We've been down before and that's not a huge issue. Momentum is always good to have on your side, but we knew they were tough at those first two weights."
The last match left was UTC's No. 11 Jared Johnson needing bonus points against No. 5 Denzel Dejournette at heavyweight. Johnson gave it all he could, but Dejournette came away with the 6-0 decision.
Chattanooga can still clinch a share of the SoCon title with a win at The Citadel on Feb. 12. UTC, ASU and Gardner-Webb are all 5-1 in league action with one conference match each left on the schedule.
Appalachian State 22, No. 25 Chattanooga 15
Feb. 5, 2016 – Maclellan Gym
125: Vito Pasone (ASU) – Fall 2:26 - Alonzo Allen (UTC) – ASU 6-0
133: Irvin Enriquez (ASU) – Dec. 6-0 - Cody Minnick (UTC) – ASU 9-0
141: Mike Longo (ASU) – Dec. 5-2 - Michael Pongracz (UTC) – ASU 12-0
149: Chase Zemenak (UTC) – MD 15-3 - Matthew Zovistoski (ASU) – ASU 12-4
157: Kamaal Shakur (UTC) – Dec. 10-4 - David Peters-Logue (ASU) – ASU 12-7
165: Forrest Przybysz (ASU) – Dec. 10-4 - Dominic Lampe (UTC) – ASU 15-7
174: Nick Kee (ASU) – MD 12-2 - Sean Mappes (UTC) – ASU 19-7
184: John Lampe (UTC) – MD 13-5 - Taylor Jackson (ASU) – ASU 19-11
197: Scottie Boykin (UTC) – MD 13-2 - Randall Diabe (ASU) – ASU 19-15
285: No. 5 Denzel Dejournette (ASU) – Dec. 6-0 – No. 11 Jared Johnson (UTC) – ASU 22-15
