CHATTANOOGA - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team will return to the mat for the first time in nearly a month as the team travels to a tri-meet at SIUE to face the hosts at 1 p.m. (EST) and the 23rd-ranked Illini of the University of Illinois at 2:30 (EST) on Dec. 11. 

SERIES HISTORY
vs. SIUE: UTC leads 7-0. Last met on Nov. 1, 2019; UTC won 29-14. 
vs. Illinois: Ill. leads 1-0. Last met on Nov. 10, 2019; the Fighting Illini won 22-10. 

UTC'S PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Fabian Gutierrez (2-0)
133: Brayden Palmer (2-2) 
141: Colton Landers (1-1) -OR- Franco Valdes (2-1)
149: Noah Castillo (2-1) -OR- Grant Lundy (2-1)
157: Weston Wichman (1-2)
165: Caleb Waddell (1-2) -OR- Drew Nicholson (0-0)
174: Carial Tarter (2-2) 
184: Matthew Waddell (1-2) -OR- Landon Lewis (0-2) 
197: Thomas Sell (2-1)
285: Matthias Ervin (0-2) -OR- Grayson Walthall (0-2) 

SCOUTING THE MOCS
UTC returns nine of its 10 starters from last year's squad. All four NCAA Qualifiers return to the Blue and Gold and the reigning SoCon Tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler, Drew Nicholson, is projected to return to the lineup this weekend.
It's been nearly a month since the Mocs have been on the mat. Last time out, at a Davidson quad-meet, the team picked up their first Southern Conference win over the season in 18-16 fashion over the hosts. Following the win, the Mocs dropped matches to Clarion (22-16) and No. 12 Rutgers (39-3). 

Fabian Gutierrez (125), Brayden Palmer (133), Noah Castillo (149), Grant Lundy (149/157), Carial Tarter (174) and Thomas Sell (184/197) all have two or more wins in dual matches this season. Gutierrez returned to the lineup last time out and won both of his matches, including a pin against Davidson in 101, the fastest in his six-year career at UTC. 

Reigning Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, Weston Wichman is 1-2 this season with his two losses coming at 157.

The Mocs are 3-3 in major decisions this year, 0-1 in tech falls and 3-3 in pins. 

UTC was slated to finish third in the SoCon preseason poll with 50 votes after a third-place finish last season. 

SIUE PROBABLE LINEUP
125-Tommy Dineen
133-Matt Malavsky
141-Saul Ervin
149-Caden Green
157-Max Kristoff
165-Cardy Wilson
174-Kevin Gschwendtner
184-Sergio Villalobos
197-Austin Andres/Ryan Yarnell
HWT-Aric Bohn/Colton McKiernan

SCOUTING SIUE
This will be SIUE's third dual of the season and is currently 0-2 with losses to Bellarmine and Indiana. Last weekend, the team placed fifth out of six teams at the Cougar Clash. Two of their wrestlers placed second (Ryan Yarnell - 197 and Saul Ervin - 141). Cardeiote Wilson (165), Austin Andres (197) and Colton McKiernan (285) placed third. Wilson leads the team with seven overall wins this season and is 2-0 in dual action. He is the only Cougar with two dual wins. 

HEAD TO HEAD
285:  No. 17 Colton McKiernan (SIUE) over Grayson Walthall (UTC) (TF 16-0 4:18)

LAST TIME VS. SIUE - Nov. 1, 2019 
125: Fabian Gutierrez (UTC) over Gage Datlovsky (SIUE) (MD 13-2) – UTC 4-0
133:  Franco Valdes (UTC) over Aaron Schulist (SIUE) (TF 24-6 3:23) – UTC 9-0
141:  No. 20 Chris DeBien (UTC) over Saul Ervin (SIUE) (Dec 4-2) – UTC 12-0
149:  Max Kristoff (SIUE) over Mason Wallace (UTC) (Fall 0:01) – UTC 12-6
157:  Justin Ruffin (SIUE) over George Carpenter (UTC) (Dec 7-2) – UTC – 12-9
165:  Drew Nicholson (UTC) over Chase Deihl (SIUE) (Dec 8-2) – UTC 15-9
174:  Hunter Fortner (UTC) over Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE) (Dec 3-1) – UTC 18-9
184:  Matthew Waddell (UTC) over Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) (Fall 1:31) – UTC 24-9
197:  Rodney Jones (UTC) over Austin Andres (SIUE) (TF 18-2 6:30) – UTC 29-9
285:  No. 17 Colton McKiernan (SIUE) over Grayson Walthall (UTC) (TF 16-0 4:18) – UTC 29-14

UTC VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
The Mocs have lost their last seven duals to ranked teams. Their last win came vs. #25 Campbell (18-12) on Feb. 10, 2019. UTC's last top-20 win was at #19 Virginia (19-18) on Feb. 14, 2016.

ILLINOIS PROBABLE LINEUP
125- Justin Cardani
133- Lucas Byrd
141- Dylan Duncan
149- Christian Kanzler
157- Joe Roberts
165- Danny Braunagel
174- DJ Shannon -OR- Trey Sizemore
184- Zac Braunagel
197- Matt Wroblewski
HWT- Luke Luffman

SCOUTING ILLINOIS
The Illinois-Chattanooga dual will be the first of the season for the Illini. Illinois placed sixth in the BigTen regular season last year and finished 18th at the NCAA Championship. Lucas Byrd (133) and Dylan Duncan (141) are returning All-Americans and fifth-place finishers at the NCAAs last season. The Illini also brought back three other NCAA qualifiers and nine total starters. 

Last season, Illinois went 5-3 overall, in its conference-only slate. In the team's eight regular-season games, they faced five ranked opponents. 

HEAD TO HEAD
125: Justin Cardani (ILLI) over Fabian Gutierrez (UTC) (Dec 5-2) on Nov. 10, 2019.
165: Dan Braunagel (ILLI) over Andrew Nicholson (UTC) (Dec 5-3) on Nov. 10, 2019
184: Matthew Waddell (UTC) over Zach Braunagel (ILLI) (Dec 8-6) on Nov. 10, 2019
285: Luke Luffman (ILLI) over Grayson Walthall (UTC) (MD 17-3) on Nov. 10, 2019

LAST TIME VS. ILLINOIS - Nov. 10, 2019 
125: Justin Cardani (ILLI) over Fabian Gutierrez (UTC) (Dec 5-2)
133: No. 10 Travis Piotrowski (ILLI) over Franco Valdes (UTC) (Dec 6-2)
141: We Rachal (ILLI) over Aidan Murphy (UTC) (Dec 5-3)
149: Mason Wallace (UTC) over Mousa Jodeh (ILLI) (Dec 7-2)
157: No. 20 Eric Barone (ILLI) over George Carpenter (UTC) (Dec 8-5)
165: Dan Braunagel (ILLI) over Andrew Nicholson (UTC) (Dec 5-3)
174: No. 15 Joseph Gunther (ILLI) over Hunter Fortner (UTC) (Dec 4-0)
184: Matthew Waddell (UTC) over Zach Braunagel (ILLI) (Dec 8-6)
197: Rodney Jones (UTC) over Matt Wroblewski (ILLI) (MD 14-4)
285: Luke Luffman (ILLI) over Grayson Walthall (UTC) (MD 17-3)

MOCS PICKED THIRD IN THE SOCON PRESEASON 
Chattanooga was picked to finish third in the Southern Conference race with 50 points. The Mocs went 6-2 in the conference last year, finishing with an 8-4 record overall. Appalachian State received six first-place votes and 61 points to top the 2020-21 preseason poll. Campbell was second with 59 votes.  Gardner-Webb (39), The Citadel (38), VMI (27), Davidson (24), Bellarmine (13) and Presbyterian (12) rounded out the listings.

NICHOLSON NAMED PRESEASON ALL-SOCON
After winning the SoCon Tournament as the No. 3 seed at 165 pounds last season, Drew Nicholson was named to the Preseason All-SoCon team in 2021. The Memphis native went 13-5 last season, 9-3 in dual action and 6-2 in SoCon matches. He is the reigning SoCon Tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. 

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