The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team scored three upsets on Day 1 of the NCAA Championships in New York's Madison Square Garden.  Junior Scottie Boykin opened with a win over the No. 15 seed at 197, while juniors Sean Mappes and Michal Pongracz both knocked out seeded wrestlers in the back draw.

Boykin's first round win came against South Dakota State's Nate Rotert.  Boykin opened with a pair of takedowns in the first period and took a 5-2 lead in the final frame.  After an escape, he scored another takedown for a 7-4 victory. 

His reward for the win was a match against the No. 2 seed, J'Den Cox of Missouri.  Boykin scored a nice reversal in the second period to trail 6-3.  However, Cox went on to win 15-4. 

Mappes had a huge win in the backdraw against Cornell's two-time All-American and No. 2 seed Brian Realbuto.  Mappes scored a takedown in each of the first two periods to go up 4-1.  Realbuto closed the game to 4-3 with a takedown with 21 seconds left in the second. 

Realbuto chose top in the third period, and Mappes escaped to go up 5-3.  Realbuto tied it with just over a minute left, but Mappes escaped 20 seconds later.  He fought off Realbuto for the 6-5 decision and one of the bigger wins in school history. 

Junior Michael Pongracz is the other Moc still alive.  He won a backdraw match 5-3 against Harvard's 10^th-seeded Todd Preston.  A first period takedown, two escapes and penalty point represented Pongracz's scoring. 

Action resumes tomorrow with full coverage from ESPN3 and Trackwrestling.  Links for both are on the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com.

UTC Results at the NCAA Tournament
141 – Michael Pongracz
                No. 7 Solomon Chishko (VTU) – L-D, 3-9
                No. 10 Todd Preston (Harvard) – W-D, 5-3

157 - Kamaal Shakur
                No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) – L-Fall (3:35)
                No. 14 Austin Matthews (Edinboro) – L-D, 2-9

174 – Sean Mappes
            No. 15 Brian Harvey (Army) – L-D, 2-8
            No. 2 Brian Realbuto (Cornell) – W-D, 6-5

184 - John Lampe
            No. 2 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) – L-TF, 8-23 (6:30)
            No. 15 Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers) – L-D, 2-6

197 - Scottie Boykin
            No. 15 Nate Rotert (South Dakota St.) – W-D, 7-4
            No. 2 J`Den Cox (Missouri) – L-D, 4-15

285 – No. 13 Jared Johnson
            William Miller (Edinboro) – L-D, 3-4
            Riley Shaw (Cleveland St.) – L-MD, 1-10