The Chattanooga Mocs hit the road this weekend for the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va.  Action takes place on Jan. 12-13 at the Hampton Coliseum.
 
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. 9 Virginia Tech, No. 10 Arizona State, No. 11 Northern Iowa, No. 20 Lock Haven, Bucknell, Campbell, Fresno State, Iowa State, Kent State, Oklahoma, Old Dominion and Virginia.
 
The Mocs are in the Poguoson River bracket and open against Kent State (8-4, 0-2 MAC) on Friday, Jan. 12, at 9:00 a.m. (E.S.T.).  Chattanooga follows that with a 1:00 p.m. match against the 11th-ranked Panthers (2-1, 1-0 Big 12).
 
Teams are placed 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 15-13 in eight appearances at the Virginia Duals.  The Mocs dropped four matches at last year's event, including losses to Old Dominion (21-10), No. 15 Oklahoma (34-6), Lock Haven (19-18) and Bucknell (20-17).
 
UTC is currently 3-3 overall and 2-0 in SoCon matches.  The league wins came against VMI (37-7) and Davidson (43-3), with the other victory against Ohio (22-19).  The Mocs' three losses were to No. 8 Virginia Tech (28-7), No. 6 N.C. State (41-0) and No. 2 Ohio State (39-3).
 
Chattanooga Probable Lineup
125: Alonzo Allen (Jr. – 10-5)
      Fabian Gutierrez (Fr. – 4-6)
133: Chris Debien (Jr. – 6-9)
      Jake Huffine (Jr. – 0-5)
141: Michael Pongracz (Sr. – 9-8)
149: Roman Boylen (Jr. – 10-7)
157: Dylan Forzani (Jr. – 4-8)
      Jake Adcock (Fr. – 5-6)
165: Chad Pyke (Sr. – 12-7)
174: Justin Lampe (Sr. – 10-8)
184: No. 15 Bryce Carr (Sr. – 15-4)
197: No. 15 Scottie Boykin (Sr. – 15-5)
285: Torrez Finney (Fr. – 0-0)
      Ben Stacey (So. - 1-6)
 
HEAD COACH HEATH ESLINGER
Head Coach Heath Eslinger is in his ninth year at UTC.  A two-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year, he owns a 96-57 (.627) career dual record, including a 49-4 (.925) tally in league matches.  He has guided the Mocs to six SoCon regular season and six SoCon tournament titles.
 
ESLINGER CHASING WIN NO. 100
Head Coach Heath Eslinger could earn his 100th career dual win this weekend.  He is currently 96-59 (.627), which is second on the Mocs all-time wins list.  Jim Morgan owns the career coaching wins record at UTC with a 209-70-3 (.746) mark in 16 seasons (1969-83).
 
MOCS IN THE RANKINGS
Senior Bryce Carr is No. 15 at 184, while senior Scottie Boykin is No. 15 at 197 in this week's Intermat rankings. 
 
KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Will Bardezbain (Sr. - 15-9)
               Jake Ferri (Fr. - 9-8)
133: Anthony Tutolo (Jr. - 17-8)
141: Tim Rooney (So. - 22-7)
               Chance Driscoll (Sr. - 7-9)
149: Nick Monico (Fr. - 18-8)
157: Casey Sparkman (Jr. - 16-10)
               Ben Heyob (So. - 7-7)
165: Isaac Bast (Jr. - 15-13)
               Lane Hinkle (Fr. - 9-9)
174: Dylan Barreiro (Fr. - 17-11)
184: Colin McCracken (Fr. - 10-14)
197: Kyle Conel (Jr. - 14-5)
               Shane Mast (So. - 6-13)
285: Devin Nye (Jr. - 20-13)
 
The Flashes are 8-4 overall and 0-2 in MAC action.  They have a 20-18 win over Virginia under their belt, along with a 31-3 victory against Southern Conference foe Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.  They also took two individual matches off of Ohio State in a 38-9 loss.
 
UTC is 5-10 all-time against Kent State, but the Mocs have won the last three in a row.  UTC scored a 22-19 win last season on the road.  The Mocs also defeated KSU at the Virginia Duals (27-9) in 2015.
 
ALL-TIME AGAINST KENT STATE
Home: 0-4, Away: 2-1, Neutral 3-5
1-6-87 - Chattanooga - L - 15-22
1-15-87 - Raleigh, N.C. - W - 21-16
1-23-88 - Kent, Ohio - W - 23-10
1-4-89 - Chattanooga - L - 17-18
2-24-90 - Kent, Ohio - L - 15-23
12-4-99 - Charleston, S.C. - L - 18-19
12-2-00 - Charleston, S.C. - L - 6-30
11-30-01 - Charleston, S.C. - L - 14-24
12-11-04 - Chattanooga - L - 16-21
11-15-08 - West Lafayette, Ind. - L - 10-32
11-7-09 - Chattanooga - L - 15-22
11-6-10 - Salem, Va. - L - 12-24
11-15-14 - Ypsilanti, Mich. - W - 23-15
1-10-15 - Hampton, Va. - W - 27-9
12-18-16 - Kent, Ohio - W - 22-19
 
NORTHERN IOWA PANTHERS PROBABLE LINEUP
125: No. 12 Jay Schwarm (So. - 17-4)
133: Jack Wagner (Fr. - 6-10)
            Rudy Yates (Fr. - 8-5)
141: No. 8 Josh Abler (Jr. - 16-3)
            Jake Hodges (Sr. - 4-5)
149: No. 7 Max Thomsen (So. - 16-5)
157: Logan Ryan (Jr. - 10-4)
165: Dan Kelly (So. - 8-6)
            Isaiah Patton (So. - 11-9)
174: No. 7 Taylor Lujan (So. - 18-3)
184: No. 11 Drew Foster (Jr. - 14-4)
197: No. 19 Jacob Holschlag (So. - 11-4)
            Izaak Schedenhelm (Fr. - 4-7)
285: Carter Isley (Fr. - 14-8)
 
The Panthers are 2-1 overall and ranked No. 11 in this week's USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll.  Northern Iowa posted an impressive second place showing at the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1-2, powered by seven placers at the tournament in Chattanooga.
 
UTC is 2-8 in the series against UNI.  This is the first meeting since the 2010 season when the Mocs scored a 16-15 win in Maclellan Gym. 
 
ALL-TIME AGAINST NORTHERN IOWA
Home: 1-2, Away: 1-2, Neutral 0-4
1-28-89 - Charleston, Ill. - L - 3-38
1-7-97 - Chattanooga - L - 12-34
1-8-99 - Hampton, Va. - L - 11-28
12-12-03 - Cedar Falls, Iowa - L - 16-22
1-4-05 - Cedar Falls, Iowa - L - 16-22
1-28-06 - Chattanooga - L - 19-18
1-7-07 - Cedar Falls, Iowa - W - 23-15
1-6-08 - Douglasville, Ga. - L - 16-21
2-14-09 - Cedar Rapids, Iowa - L - 12-18
2-6-10 - Chattanooga - W - 16-15
 
ALL-TIME VS. REMAINING VIRGINIA DUALS TEAMS
No. 10 Arizona State - 2-1 with all three matches at the Virginia Duals.
 
Bucknell - Only match was a 20-17 Bison win at last year's Virginia Duals.
 
Campbell - 8-1 with Campbell's only win coming last year in Chattanooga in SoCon action. 
 
Fresno State - Never met.
 
Iowa State - 0-5 including the last meeting at the 2016 Virginia Duals. 
 
No. 20 Lock Haven - 1-1 with both matches at the Virginia Duals.  LHU won last year's match 19-18. 
 
Oklahoma - 1-4, including a 34-6 Sooner win at last year's Virginia Duals. 
 
Old Dominion - 1-4, including a 21-10 Monarch win at last year's Virginia Duals.
 
Virginia - 1-4, including a 34-11 loss in Maclellan Gym last season.
 
No. 9 Virginia Tech - 7-8, including a 28-7 loss earlier in the season. 
 
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT NOTES
125: Junior Alonzo Allen is 10-5 overall, with a fourth place finish at the Hokie Open and a runner-up showing at the Black Knight Invite.  He went 2-2 at the Scuffle and was pinned by Northern Iowa's No. 12 Jay Schwarm just 41 seconds into their quarterfinal match.  
 
Freshman Fabian Gutierrez is 4-6 overall, including two wins at the Scuffle.  He also participated in the freshman/sophomore bracket at the Hokie Open and the Black Knight Invite.
 
133: Junior Chris Debien is weighing in at 133 for the first time this season.  The 2017 SoCon Champion and NCAA Qualifier at this weight has gone 6-6 at 141 and 0-3 at 149 this season.  
 
Junior Jake Huffine is also listed among the probables and is looking for his first win in five matches.
 
141:  Senior Michael Pongracz is off to a 9-8 start, placing at both the Hokie Open and the Black Knight Invite. 
 
149: Junior Roman Boylen had an outstanding run at the Southern Scuffle, placing eighth overall.  He has two tough matches on Friday against Kent State's Nick Monico who has been ranked this season, and Northern Iowa's No. 7 Max Thomsen. 
 
157:  Junior Dylan Forzani is 4-8 overall.  He gave up a pin (5:55) to Northern Iowa's Logan Ryan at the Scuffle.  Also in the lineup at 157 is freshman Jake Adcock, who enters the weekend with a 5-6 record.
 
165:  Senior transfer Chad Pyke brings a 12-7 record into the weekend.  He finished second at the Hokie Open and third at the Black Knight Invite, before going 2-2 at the Scuffle. 
 
174:  Senior Justin Lampe is 10-8 overall, including a 3-2 mark at the Hokie Open.  He also placed third at the Black Knight Invite, but only won one match at the Scuffle. 
 
184:  Senior Bryce Carr is 15-4 overall and ranked No. 15 by Intermat this week.  His only losses are to Virginia Tech's No. 7 Zach Zavatsky (3-1) on Nov. 17, N.C. State's No. 3 Pete Renda (2-1) on Dec. 2, Ohio State's No. 2 Myles Martin (10-4) on Dec. 17 and Northern Iowa's No. 8 Drew Foster in the quarterfinals at the Scuffle.  Carr won both the Hokie Open and the Black Knight Invite and placed third at the Scuffle for the second year in a row.  
 
197:  Senior Scottie Boykin is 15-5 with titles at both the Hokie Open and the Black Knight Invite.  He was ranked as high as No. 9 in the country in 2015-16 before redshirting last season and is up to No. 15 this week. His only losses are to Virginia Tech's No. 2 Jared Haught (10-6), N.C. State's No. 8 Michael Macchiavello (8-2), Ohio State's No. 1 Kollin Moore (18-8), Penn State's Shakur Rasheed (Fall - 0:27) and Penn State's No. 9 Anthony Cassas (9-7 SV1).  Boykin placed fifth at the Scuffle behind an 8-6 win over No. 11 Matt Williams from Cal State Bakersfield.   
 
285: Sophomore Ben Stacey is moving back up to heavyweight again.  He is 1-6 overall after going 0-2 at 197 at the Scuffle.
 
Also in the lineup at heavyweight for the Mocs is freshman Torrez Finney.  Finney was a two-time state champion from Macon, Ga., who placed 10th at the NHSCA national wrestling tournament in 2016.  He has spent the last two seasons as a fullback on the Mocs' football team. 
 
MOCS VS. RANKED TEAMS
The last time the Mocs beat a ranked team was a 19-18 win at No. 19 Virginia on Feb. 14, 2016.  Chattanooga is 3-36 against ranked teams under head coach Heath Eslinger.  The other two wins include a 23-15 victory against No. 25 Kent State in Ypsilanti, Mich., on Nov. 15, 2014 and 22-15 over No. 12 Stanford in Maclellan Gym on Nov. 20, 2011.
 
The match against Northern Iowa is the fourth against a ranked team this season.  The Mocs have faced at least four ranked teams in seven of Eslinger's nine seasons at UTC. 
 
CARR NAMED SOCON WRESTLER OF THE MONTH
Senior Bryce Carr was the SoCon Wrestler of the Month for November 2017.  He earned the honor after going 8-1, winning both the Hokie Open and the Black Knight Invite at 184 pounds.  This is his second career monthly award from the SoCon after winning the award in January of last season.  A senior from Dublin, Georgia, Carr had three major decisions, one technical fall and one pin.  His only loss in the opening month was to No. 7 Zach Zavatsky of Virginia Tech in sudden victory.
 
CARR IS A TWO-TIME WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Senior Bryce Carr has twice earned the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week honor.  His first award came after winning the Hokie Open on the first weekend of competition in November.  Most recently, he won the award after placing third at the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1-2. 
 
MOCS GETTING THE JOB DONE IN THE CLASSROOM
UTC topped the 3.0 mark as a team for the third time with a 3.03 GPA in the Fall of 2017.  The Mocs put a program record 17 on the Dean's List, while 21 on the A.D. Honor Roll is second only to the 22 in the Fall of 2015.