In the closest Southern Conference Tournament in nearly 20 years, the No. 23 Chattanooga Mocs came up 1/2–point shy of No. 22 Appalachian State in UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena tonight.  Junior Scottie Boykin and freshman Kamaal Shakur both won individual titles as the Mocs' had their streak of five consecutive tournament crowns snapped. 

The Mountaineers used a 4-2 decision at heavyweight to pass Chattanooga 83.5 to 83.0 for the team win.  Shakur was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the event for his performance as the No. 2 seed and champion at 157 pounds.  Shakur, Boykin and junior Jared Johnson all earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships with their performances today. 

"Obviously, we always want to win," stated head coach Heath Eslinger.  "I thought we wrestled pretty well today.  We left a few on the board and gave up some bonus points that we shouldn't have, but overall I thought we did a pretty good job." 

Boykin set up the final match with his first individual title at 197.  He defeated The Citadel's Marshall Haas 3-2, holding off a furious charge in the closing seconds. 
That left No. 11 Johnson's heavyweight bout with ASU's No. 5 Denzel Dejournette as a winner-take-all contest.  Dejournette had won all three previous meetings, but each were closely contested.

Johnson got in on his leg early, but could not manage to score in the first period.  Dejournette escaped in the second and had a 1-0 lead going into the final two minutes.  Johnson got his first takedown in four matches against Dejourntte for a 2-1 lead with 1:41 left to go. 

He tried to keep him down, but Dejournette tied it with a quick escape.  He scored the winning takedown with less than a minute left in a scramble. 

"I thought Jared Johnson looked great," added Eslinger.  "That is the best we have wrestled him.  In two weeks, we will turn that match around.  We have gotten closer every time."

The finals started at 157 with Shakur taking on The Citadel's top-seeded Aaron Walker.  Walker beat Shakur 3-1 in overtime in the dual Feb. 12, but Shakur had the upper hand today.

He opened with a takedown in the first and added three more in the second to take a 9-3 lead.  Walker tried to mount a comeback in the final period, closing the gap to 10-6 for the final score. 

"It was a great win for Kamaal to start things off for us tonight," added Eslinger.  "He has looked great for the last two weeks.  Huge win for him to avenge a loss.  Not just avenge a loss, but dominate a loss." 

Sophomore Michael Pongracz lost a tough one in overtime to finish in second at 141. Senior John Lampe also had a tough loss at 184.  He finished second after a 6-5 loss to Campbell's Ville Heino.  Junior Sean Mappes was runner-up at 174 and freshman Chase Zemenak placed third at 149.    

The Mocs now turn their attention to the NCAA Championships on March 17-19.  This year's event is in Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y.  

"We've got three guys going right now and I think we will punch two more through on Tuesday, possibly three," said Eslinger.  "Our guys have done a good job all year.  We have to get back at it on Monday.  I think we have guys that can win matches at the NCAA Tournament and I am excited about that." 

Team Scores
1. Appalachian State - 83.5
2. Chattanooga - 83.0
3. Gardner-Webb - 61.5
4. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville - 51.5
5. Campbell - 47.5
6. The Citadel - 34.5
7. VMI - 27.0
8. Davidson - 5.5

Individuals
125 – Alonzo Allen – Fr. – 4.5 points
                Collin Stewart (Campbell) – W-MD, 13-4
                Vito Passone (App. St.) – L-TF, 3-18
                Charles Kearney (Citadel) – W-9-3
                Dalton Henderson (VMI) – L-MD, 2-12

133 – Cody Hill – So.
                Irvin Enriquez (App. St.) – L-D, 0-2
                Dustin Runzo (Davidson) – L-D, 3-6

141 – Michael Pongracz – Jr. – 10 points – 2^nd Place
                Hunter Starner (VMI) – W-MD, 11-1
                Tyler Buckiso (Citadel) – W-D, 4-1
                Michael Longo (App. St.) – L-D, 4-6 (SV1)

149 - Chase Zemenak – Fr. – 8 points - 3^rd Place
                Emmitt Kelly (VMI) – L-Fall (2:13)
                Kaleb Warner (Campbell) – W-TF, 16-1 (4:08)
                Matthew Frisch (Citadel) – W-D, 8-2
                Matthew Zovistoski (App. St.) – W-TF, 17-0 (6:08)            

157 - Kamaal Shakur – Fr. – 14 points – 1^st Place - Most Outstanding Wrestler
                Tony Palumbo (Davidson) – W-MD, 14-1
                Neal Richards (VMI) – W-MD, 13-2
                Aaron Walker (Citadel) – W-D, 10-6

165 - Dominic Lampe – Fr. – 1.5 points
                Nate Higgins (SIUE) – L-D, 4-6
                Daniel Smith (Citadel) – W-MD, 11-3
                Paul Duggan (Campbell) – L-MD, 10-2

174 - Sean Mappes – Jr. – 9 points – 2^nd place
                Alex Vosburgh (Campbell) – W-MD, 8-3
                Brett Stein (GWU) – W-D, 8-2
                Nick Kee (App. St.) – L-MD, 6-14

184 - John Lampe – Sr. – 10 points - 2^nd Place
                Konner Pritchard (Davidson) – W-D, 7-2
                Derek Nagel (SIUE) – W-MD, 10-2
                Ville Heino (Campbell) – L-D, 5-6

197 - Scottie Boykin – Jr. – 13.5 points – 1^st Place
                Ryan Devlin (Davidson) – W-TF, 15-0 (3:18)
                Randall Diabe (App. St.) – W-D, 6-4
                Marshall Haas (Citadel) -

285 - Jared Johnson – Jr. – 12.5 points – 2^nd Place
                Urayoan Garcia (VMI) – W-TF, 15-0 (7:00)
                Boyce Cornwell (GWU) – Fall (2:23)
                No. 5 Denzel Dejournette (App. St.) – L-D, 2-4