University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Fabian Gutierrez scored a big upset in the opening round of the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Detroit, Mich., today.  Gutierrez, the No. 20 seed, opened his day with a 12-9 win against 13^th-seeded Drake Ayala of Iowa. 

Gutierrez is still alive in the backdraw after falling in the round of 16 to No. 4 seed Brandon Courtney of Arizona State.  He is one of four Mocs who competed today, along with Brayden Palmer (133), Drew Nicholson (165) and Matthew Waddell (197).

Ayala and Gutierrez were on opposite sides of the bracket at the Southern Scuffle semifinals earlier this year, but did not face each other.  Action was quick out of the gates with Gutierrez almost scoring early in the first.  Ayala broke the ice with a takedown late in the period.  Gutierrez quickly escaped and went up 3-2 with a takedown of his own with 17 second left. 

Ayala chose down to start the second and got caught in an attempt to escape.  Gutierrez almost had the pin, but did manage to get four back points to take a 7-2 lead.  Ayala posted a reversal and another takedown before the end of the second to pull within 8-6.

Gutierrez chose bottom in the third, but was cut before the whistle.  After a minute of back-and-forth action, Gutierrez went up 11-6 with a takedown with 51 seconds left.  Ayala escaped and cut the lead to 11-9 with a score of his own with 30 seconds left.  Gutierrez escaped and fought on Ayala for the rest of the period for the win. 

Gutierrez dropped his Round of 16 match to Courtney by a major decision 12-3.  The rest of the first round saw UTC come up short, with Waddell losing in a pig-tail match at 197, and Nicholson and Palmer also falling.  Waddell and Palmer were both eliminated in consolations, while Nicholson was forced to medical forfeit his second bout of the day. 

Tomorrow's action gets underway at 11:00 a.m. (E.D.T.) in the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.  Links for live scoring and video are available on the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com.  The morning session is also broadcast live on ESPNU.

Chattanooga Results
125 – No. 20 Fabian Gutierrez
              No. 13 Drake Ayala (Iowa) – W-D, 12-9
              No. 4 Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) – L-MD, 3-12

133 – No. 19 Brayden Palmer
              No. 14 Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) – L-Fall (2:35)
              No. 30 Richie Koehler (Rider) -

165 – No. 29 Drew Nicholson
              No. 4 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) – L-Fall (4:19)
              No. 20 Will Formato (Appalachian State) – L-M. For.

197 – No. 33 Matthew Waddell
              No. 32 Will Feldkamp (Clarion) – L-Fall (1:16)
              No. 30 Cole Urbas (Penn) – L-D, 1-7