Well, we had planned on today, Sunday - March 22, to be a travel day for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team.  Junior Fabian Gutierrez and sophomores Tanner Smith and Matthew Waddell, along with the coaches and staff, were set to make the trip home from the 2020 NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. 

All three had favorable draws in the brackets that were released on March 11, so who knows what could have happened over three days in U.S. Bank Stadium.  With all NCAA sports being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is not much news coming out of college athletics. 

We thought it would be a good time to take a look back at the Mocs' most successful showing at the NCAA Division I Championships.  The Mocs had some really strong Division II squads in the 1970s, but made the jump to Division I for the 1977-78 season.

UTC had some individual success early in the 1980's, including the 1983 squad that seven qualifiers to the national tournament in Oklahoma City, Okla.  The Mocs scored 20¼ points, tying for 14^th overall in the team race with Arizona State.  It is still the highest Division I finish in school history at UTC.

That year was highlighted by junior Charlie Heard's runner-up at 118 pounds.  It was the second of three All-American honors for the LaGrange, Ga., native and 1992 inductee into the UTC Athletics Hall of Fame.    

Heard entered the tournament with a 33-1 overall record and earned the No. 4 seed.  He opened with a 14-11 win over Oregon's Mike Erb.  That was followed by a 14-3 major decision against Colorado State's No. 9 seed Don Haddad. 

Heard was one of just two the top four seeds at 118 pounds to make it to the quarterfinals.  There he defeated Clarion's fifth-seeded Jamie Kasser 19-9. 
Iowa State's John Thorn upset Oklahoma State's top-seeded Randy Willingham 8-7 in the quarters, setting up a semifinal match between Heard and Thorn.  Heard won that one 25-7 to become the first Moc to make it to the NCAA Division I finals.

In the finals, he lost to Cal State Bakersfield's No. 7 seed Adam Cuestas (14-4).  We actually found the video on that match on YouTube and is available below. 



Senior Pat Murphy also competed for the Mocs.  A four-time Southern Conference Champion at 190 pounds, he was one win away from All-American honors.  He opened with a loss to No. 1 Mike Mann of Iowa State.  Since Mann advanced to the finals, Murphy was put in the consolation round where he beat LSU's Kent Elliott.  In the blood round, Murphy lost to Eastern Illinois Jeff Dillman (11-8).    

Sophomore Rickey Talley had the other win for the Mocs.  He pinned N.C. State's Vince Bynum in the first round.  Other Mocs who competed in 1983 included sophomore Leonard Champaign (126), sophomore Billy Moss (142), senior Cary Waller (150) and senior Larry Meierotto (177).

Legendary head coach Jim Morgan told the UTC Echo, "Our finish gained prestige for the school, the program and our conference.  It allowed us to break a barrier by making the top 15."  He also noted how the Mocs faired against other top teams in the region, including Tennessee and Clemson.  Both of who were ranked in the top 20 in the country but finished 34^th and 41^st respectively.
 
TEAM SCORES
1. Iowa - 155
2. Oklahoma St. - 102
3. Iowa St. - 94¼
4. Oklahoma - 64¾
5. Lehigh - 49
6. Nebraska - 46
7. Penn State - 33¾
8. LSU - 30½
9. Cal Poly - 28½
10. UNI - 28
11. Navy - 26
12. Michigan St. - 24¾
13. Ohio St. - 24½
14. Chattanooga - 20¼
      Arizona St. - 20¼
16. North Carolina St. – 16
17. Illinois St.- 15
     North Carolina – 15
19. Harvard - 14½
     Missouri - 14½
21. Indiana St. – 14
22. Oregon St. - 12¼
23. Syracuse - 11¾
24. Hofstra - 11½
25. Clarion - 10½
26. Wisconsin – 10
27. Minnesota - 9¾
28. Rider - 9½
     Wyoming - 9½
30. Slippery Rock - 8¼
31. Oregon - 7½
32. Eastern Illinois – 6¼
     Fresno St. - 6½
34. Tennessee – 6
35. Stanford - 5½
36. BYU – 5
     UNLV – 5
38. Michigan – 4½
     Rutgers - 4½
40. Wilkes - 3¾
41. Bloomsburg – 3
     Clemson – 3
     Cleveland St. – 3
     San Jose St. – 3
     Weber St. – 3

Mocs Individual Results
118
No. 4 Charlie Heard – 2^nd Place – All-American
Mike Erb (Oregon) – W, 14-11
No. 9 Don Haddad (Colorado State) – W, 14-3
No. 5 Jamie Kasser (Clarion) – W, 19-9
No. 7 Adam Cuestas (Cal State-Bakersfield) – L, 4-14

126
Leonard Champaign
No. 2 Randy Majors (Northern Iowa) – L-Fall (3:20)

134
Ricky Talley
Vince Bynum (N.C. State) – W-Fall (3:27)
No. 7 Mark Ciccarello (Clarion) – L, 5-17

142
No. 10 Billy Moss
Jake Cecere (Duke) – L-Def (6:41)

150
Gary Waller
Greg Stargis (Michigan State) – L, 1-6

177
Larry Meierotto
Daniel Corbin (James Madison) – L, 4-14

190
Pat Murpy
No. 1 Mike Mann (Iowa State) – L, 6-21
Kent Elliott (LSU) – W, 6-1
Jeff Dillman (Eastern Illinois) – L, 8-11