The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team heads east to the Virginia Duals this weekend.  Action takes place on Jan. 13-14 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va.
 
Founded in January of 1981, the Virginia Duals was an innovator in college wrestling, bringing the dual-meet advancement format into widespread usage.
 
The tournament grew from eight college teams in 1981 to its current arrangement of 20 colleges in two divisions.
 
What started out with just four mats on the floor of the Hampton Coliseum has evolved into a 10-mat festival of wrestling powered by hundreds of volunteers from around the country.
 
UTC is competing in the national college division that includes No. 5 Virginia Tech, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 19 Arizona State, No. 24 Virginia, Bucknell, Campbell, Kent State, Lock Haven, North Dakota State, Old Dominion and The Citadel. 
 
The Mocs are in the James River bracket and open against ODU (1-5) on Friday, Jan. 13, at 9:00 a.m. (E.S.T.).  Chattanooga follows that with a 1:00 p.m. match against the Sooners (2-3).
 
Teams are place in the Gold, Silver or Bronze brackets for Saturday's action, based on their outcomes from Friday.  Each team will have two additional matches on Saturday.
 
Live video for the tournament is available via pay-per-view through Trackwrestling.  There is also live scoring via Trackwrestling and links for both are on the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com.  Live updates are posted on the UTC twitter page @UTCWrestling. 
 
Chattanooga is 15-9 in seven appearances at the Virginia Duals.  The Mocs won three of four en route to a third place showing last season.  That included a 22-13 victory against Arizona State.
 
UTC is currently 3-3 overall and 1-0 in SoCon matches.  The league win came against VMI, 41-5 on Nov. 10, and the two others against Southeastern (40-12) and Kent State (22-19). 
 
CHATTANOOGA MOCS PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Alonzo Allen (So. – 6-9, 1-0 SoCon)
133: Chris Debien (So. – 6-7, 1-0 SoCon)
141: Roman Boylen (So. – 3-8, 1-0 SoCon)
           Chase Zemenak (So. - 0-0, 0-0 SoCon)
149: Dylanger Potter (Fr. – 7-7, 1-0 SoCon)
157: Trey Watson (Fr. - 3-7, 0-1 SoCon)
           Dalton Clark (Fr. - 0-0, 0-0 SoCon)
165: Justin Lampe (Jr. – 8-5, 1-0 SoCon)
174: Sean Mappes (Sr. – 10-7, 1-0 SoCon)
           Chad Solomon (So. - 0-2, 0-0 SoCon)
184: No. 17 Bryce Carr (Jr. – 14-2, 1-0 SoCon)
197: Clay Dent (Sr. – 3-4, 1-0 SoCon)
285: No. 11 Jared Johnson (Sr. – 15-4, 1-0 SoCon)

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.
 
OLD DOMINION MONARCHS PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Brandon Jeske, Sr. (0-1) or Steven Simpson, RFr. (5-9)
133: Emilio Saavedra, RSo. (6-5) or Alex Madrigal, RFr. (7-6)
141: Kevin Budock, Fr. (13-8) or Kenan Carter, RFr. (7-8)
149: Michael Hayes, RSr. (8-8)
157: Austin Eads, RJr. (9-6) or Shane Jones, RFr. (8-11)
165: No. 16 Seldon Wright, So. (11-4)
174: Antonio Agee, Fr. (3-8) or Jared Swan, RSo. (3-3)
184: No. 9 Jack Dechow, RSr. (14-3)
197: No. 9 Kevin Beazley, RJr. (13-1)
285: Will Hilliard, Fr. (5-7)
 
The Monarchs are 1-5 on the year, including a 22-9 win against Northern Illinois on Nov. 29.  Four of their five losses have come against teams that have been ranked this season.  They dropped a 25-14 match to Eastern Michigan in their last outing on Jan. 8. 
 
UTC is 1-3 all-time against Old Dominion, with the lone win coming at the Virginia Duals in 2005.  The last time these two teams met was a 25-12 loss in Norfolk, Va.
 
All-Time Against Old Dominion
1-17-81 - Chattanooga - L - 15-27
1-14-05 - Hampton, Va. - W - 44-0
11-4-11 - Chattanooga - L - 9-31
12-20-14 - Norfolk, Va. - L - 12-25
 
OKLAHOMA SOONERS PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Christian Moody, RFr. (7-5, 2-1) or Dalton Duffield, Fr. (3-4, 0-2)
133: Jacob Rubio, RSo. (0-1, 0-1)
141: Mike Longo, Jr. (6-5, 3-2) or Noah Teaney, RSo. (2-4, 0-0)
149: No. 11 Davion Jeffries, So. (8-8, 1-4)
157: No. 12 Clark Glass, RSr. (10-4, 3-1)
165: Yoanse Mejias, Jr. (1-0, 1-0) or No. 18 DaWaylon Barnes, Jr. (7-5, 1-3)
174: Matt Reed, RSr. (0-1, 0-1) or Hayden Hansen, RFr. (1-8, 0-4)
184: Andrew Dixon, Jr. (4-7, 2-3)
197: Brad Johnson, RSr. (6-5, 3-2) or Lance Dixon, RSo. (1-2, 0-0)
285: No. 19 Ross Larson, RSr. (7-5, 3-2)
 
Oklahoma is 2-3 overall and ranked No. 15 in the NWCA Coaches Poll.  The Sooners are coming off a 24-18 upset over No. 5 Missouri on Sunday. 
 
The Mocs are 1-3 all-time against Oklahoma, including a 19-16 win their last meeting on Feb. 15, 2015.  Jared Johnson scored a 12-11 decision over Ross Larson in that match to give UTC the victory in the NWCA National Duals in Chattanooga. 
 
All-Time Against Oklahoma
1-18-08 - Norman, Okla. - L - 13-21
1-11-09 - Chattanooga - L - 14-23
2-12-10 - Norman, Okla. - L - 3-33
2-15-15 - Chattanooga - W - 19-16
 
IN THE RANKINGS
Chattanooga is receiving votes in the NWCA Coaches Poll this week.  Senior Jared Johnson is No. 11 at heavyweight and junior Bryce Carr is No. 17 at 184 pounds 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.