The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team hits the road this weekend for a trip to No. 11 Iowa State.  Match time is set for 8:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) on Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
 
Fans can follow the match on Flowrestling through links on the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com.  The Flowrestling broadcast is also available on Roku and AppleTV.
 
The Mocs are coming off a solid 19-15 win over Ohio in their last dual on Dec. 1.  UTC took a break from competition last weekend for final exams that ended on Wednesday. 
 
Chattanooga brings a 3-4 overall record, including wins over the Bobcats, Davidson (47-0) and SIU-Edwardsville (29-14). 
 
The Cyclones are 1-1 overall with a win over Bucknell (29-6) and a loss at home to Iowa (29-6).  They are currently No. 11 in the NWCA Coaches Poll and 13th in the Flowrestling team rankings. 
 
"This is another great opportunity for our guys to get out of their comfort zone and look to knock of a ranked opponent," stated UTC head coach Kyle Ruschell.  "Our guys have been working hard and know what to expect.  It isn't anything new to them now."
 
PROBABLE LINEUP VS. IOWA STATE
125: Fabian Gutierrez (Jr. - 7-3)
133: Franco Valdes (So. - 3-6)
141: Aidan Murphy (So. - 1-7) or Mason Wallace (So. - 3-3)
149: No. 21 Tanner Smith (So. - 7-3)
157: Tyler Shilson (So. - 3-3)
165: Drew Nicholson (So. - 6-6)
174: Hunter Fortner (So. - 3-7)
184: No. 20 Matthew Waddell (So. - 8-2)
197: Rodney Jones (Sr. - 6-4)
HWT: Grayson Walthall (So. - 3-8)
 
SCUFFLE TICKETS ON SALE NOW
The lower bowl is filling up fast so be sure to get your 2020 Southern Scuffle tickets now.  Both the Mocs and Iowa State are among the teams competing at this year's tournament. To purchase tickets or passes to the VIP room, click the Tickets tab on GoMocs.com.
 
IT'S ALL IN THE NAME
On first reference, it is acceptable to refer to us as the "University of Tennessee at Chattanooga". After that, we prefer to be called "Chattanooga" or "UTC". Our nickname is "Mocs". Please do not use UT-Chattanooga, Tennessee-Chattanooga or the Moccasins.
 
HEAD COACH KYLE RUSCHELL
Kyle Ruschell was named head coach of the Mocs on Aug. 10, 2018, and is in his second season guiding the UTC program. He has an 10-11 dual record overall that includes sharing the SoCon Regular Season Title last season with a 7-7 mark and a 5-1 league tally.  He spent the previous eight seasons as an assistant coach at Wisconsin. A former member of the U.S. National Team (2014-15), he was a two-time All-American for the Badgers (2007-10).
 
SCOUTING THE MOCS
The Mocs are led by junior Fabian Gutierrez at 125, sophomore Tanner Smith at 149 and sophomore Matthew Waddell at 184.  Smith is in the Flo rankings at No. 21 this week, while Waddell is No. 20.  Gutierrez and Smith both own 7-3 overall records, and Waddell is 8-2. 
 
IOWA STATE PROBABLE LINEUP
125: No. 14 Alex Mackall (Jr. - 8-3)
133: No. 21 Todd Small (Jr. - 9-4)
141: No. 5 Ian Parker (Sr. - 7-2)
149: No. 11 Jarrett Degen (Jr. - 7-2) or Ryan Leisure (So. - 0-2)
157: No. 3 David Carr (Fr. - 7-1)
165: Chase Straw (Sr. - 4-4
174: No. 16 Marcus Coleman (So. - 3-4)
184: No. 11 Sam Colbray (Jr. - 5-4)
197: Joel Shapiro (Fr. - 3-5) or Francis Duggan (Fr. - 4-6)
285: No. 12 Gannon Gremmel (Jr. - 7-4)
 
SCOUTING IOWA STATE
The Cyclones have eight of their 10 starters listed in this week's Flo NCAA Division I individual top 25 rankings.  No. 3 David Carr leads the way with a 7-1 mark at 157.  No. 5 Ian Parker is also impressive with a 7-2 record at 141.
 
ALL-TIME VS. IOWA STATE
UTC is looking for its first win against Iowa State.  The Cyclones have won the previous five meetings in the series that dates back to 2002.  The last match was a 22-13 win for ISU at the 2016 Virginia Duals.  The last time UTC visited Ames, Iowa State posted a 37-6 win on Feb. 13, 2009. 
 
All-Time vs. Iowa State (0-5)
Home: 0-1, Away: 0-3, Neutral 0-1
12-12-02 - Ames, Iowa - L - 7-34
11-29-03 - Chattanooga - L - 9-27
1-4-05 - Ames, Iowa - L - 8-29
2-13-09 - Ames, Iowa - L - 6-37
1-9-16 - Hampton, Va. - L - 13-22
 
LAST TIME VS. IOWA STATE
No. 15 Iowa State 22, Chattanooga 13
Virginia Duals - Hampton, Va. - Jan. 9, 2016
125: Kyle Larson (ISU) – Dec. 10-4 - Alonzo Allen (UTC) – ISU 3-0
133: No. 14 Earl Hall (ISU) – MD 16-4 - Cody Hill (UTC) – ISU 7-0
141: Michael Pongracz (UTC) – MD 8-0 - John Meeks (ISU) – ISU 7-4
149: No. 16 Gabe Moreno (ISU) – Dec. 5-2 - Chase Zemenak (UTC) – ISU 10-4
157: Kamaal Shakur (UTC) – Dec. 16-9 - Logan Breitenbach (ISU) – ISU 10-7
165: No. 11 Tanner Weatherman (ISU) – Fall 6:36 - Dominic Lampe (UTC) – ISU 16-7
174: Sean Mappes (UTC) – Dec. 4-3 – No. 18 Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) – ISU 16-10
184: Dane Pestano (ISU) – Dec. 6-3 - McCoy Newberg (UTC) – ISU 19-10
197: Duke Egli (ISU) – Dec. 5-3 (SV1) - Scottie Boykin (UTC) – ISU 22-10
285: No. 11 Jared Johnson (UTC) – Dec. 4-1 - Joe Scanlan (ISU) – ISU 22-13
 
HEAD TO HEAD VS. IOWA STATE
There are no common opponents based on the probable lineups for this match.
 
MOCS HAVE A BRUTAL NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
UTC has definitely scheduled up in non-conference action this season. The Mocs have already taken on Army (L, 18-12) and Illinois (L, 22-10). The Black Knights are off to a 4-1 start and have climbed into the rankings at No. 21 this week.  UTC also traveled to No. 2 Iowa (L, 39-0) and No. 19 North Carolina (L, 22-15).  Other ranked teams on the schedule include at No. 11 Iowa State on Dec.14, at No. 5 Virginia Tech on Dec. 21 and at No. 23 Virginia on Jan. 17.  UTC closes out the season with its third Big 10 opponent Indiana on Feb. 21. 
 
MOCS PICKED THIRD IN THE SOCON PRESEASON
Chattanooga was picked to finish third in the Southern Conference race with 39 points, including one first-place vote. The Mocs also went 5-1 in the conference last year, finishing with a 7-7 record overall. Campbell received seven first-place votes and 49 points to top the 2019-20 preseason poll. Last season, the Camels went 5-1 in conference matchups, sharing the regular season title with the Mocs and Appalachian State.  The Mountaineers were second with 41 votes.  The Citadel (28), Gardner-Webb (26), VMI (20), Davidson (14) and Presbyterian (7) rounded out the listings. 
 
SMITH & JONES MAKE PRESEASON ALL-SOCON TEAM
The Mocs were represented by sophomore Tanner Smith at 149 and senior Rodney Jones at 197 on the preseason All-SoCon team.  Smith was the 2019 SoCon Freshman of the Year after posting a 12-9 record and qualifying for the NCAA Championships.  He was also a member of the SoCon All-Freshman team and was runner-up at the SoCon Tournament.  Jones qualified for the NCAAs at 197 pounds last year by taking the SoCon's second automatic bid at that weight.  He defeated The Citadel's Sawyer Root on a last second reversal in the second place match to secure his first trip to the national tournament.
 
MOCS GETTING THE JOB DONE IN THE CLASSROOM
UTC topped the 3.0 mark as a team for the fourth and fifth times in 2018-19.  The Mocs had a 3.02 GPA in the fall and a 3.1 in the spring.  The Mocs put 13 on the Dean's List and 16 on the A.D. Honor Roll in the fall.  There were 14 on the Dean's List and 17 on the A.D. Honor Roll in the spring.  Huffine, Jacob Murphy and Chris Debien all had 4.0s in the spring.
 
ATTENTION ALL WRESTLING ALUMNI
We need all UTC wrestling alumni to take the C Club Challenge for $100.  Joining the C Club directly benefits Mocs wrestling, and the program with the highest percentage of alumni who join get an extra $5,000 added to their budget.  Visit www.gomocs.com/cclub to join.