The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team wrapped up its 2023 campaign at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., today.  Junior Brayden Palmer scored a win in consolation action to close out the year.

Palmer and senior Rocky Jordan were both on the mats in the early session.  Palmer defeated American's No. 31 Jack Maida before losing to Pittsburgh's No. 9 Micky Phillippi in the 133-pound bracket.  Jordan lost to ninth-seeded Edmond Ruth of Illinois in 174 action. 

The Mocs scored 4.0 team points in the tournament, its highest total since hitting that mark in 2009.  UTC is currently tied with fellow Southern Conference-member Campbell, Harvard and Northern Illinois for 42^nd place overall. 

With no other SoCon individuals still alive, UTC ties the Camels for the best showing by a SoCon team at this year's championships, ahead of Appalachian State (1.0) and Gardner-Webb (0.5). The Mocs also finished ahead of ACC members Virginia (2.5) and Duke (0.5).

Chattanooga is guaranteed at least 46^th place in the final standings, which would be its second-highest finish in the last 14 years. 

"I'm proud of our guys this weekend," stated head coach Kyle Ruschell. "They didn't get what they wanted but they wrestled hard.

"Palmer gave himself a chance to win against a couple of the best in country. Rocky bounced back after a tough first round loss and Matthew has been a staple in our lineup. I am grateful for these guys and how they represented Chattanooga Wrestling."

133 – No. 17 Brayden Palmer
No. 16 - Joe Heilmann (Rutgers) – W, 4-2
No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) – L-D, 2-5
No. 31 Jack Maida (American) – W-MD, 10-1
No. 9 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) – L-D, 3-6

Palmer opened up day two against American's Jack Maida.  Maida scored a late pin over Oregon State's Jason Shaner in last night's action to bring some momentum into this morning's action.

After 30 seconds of hard scrambling, Palmer scored a takedown halfway through the opening period.  He went to work on top and scored backpoints later in the opening frame.  Palmer owned a 6-0 lead and nearly 90 seconds of riding time after the first.

Palmer deferred in the second and Maida chose neutral.  There was a lot of action in the second period and no scoring. The third started with Palmer choosing bottom and Maida immediately cutting him.  With a 7-0 lead, Palmer made it 9-0 with a takedown with just over a minute left.

Maida eventually escaped and riding time left the final score at 10-1. 

In the third round of consolations, Palmer faced off against Pittsburgh's No. 9 seed Micky Phillippi. The first period included a lot of action and an equal amount of controversary. 

Palmer gave up a questionable takedown early, but nearly had a reversal before escaping. With just over a minute left, there was a scramble with no score.  However, the officials went to the video review and gave Phillippi a takedown. 

Instead of being down 2-1, Palmer now found himself in a 4-1 hole.  He managed an escape and trailed 4-2 going into the second. 

Phillippi deferred in the second and Palmer chose down.  He escaped with 25 seconds left, but Phillippi had built two minutes of riding time. 

Palmer was now down 4-3 at the start of the third and Phillippi chose bottom.  Phillippi escaped with a 5-3 lead and quickly locked in the riding time point. Palmer gave a strong effort the rest of the way but could not put any more points on the board in the 6-3 loss. 

Palmer wraps the season with a 22-8 record and the SoCon title.

174 – No. 10 Rocky Jordan
No. 23 Mickey O`Malley (Drexel) – L-D, 7-8
No. 26 Sal Perrine (Ohio) – W-MD, 12-0
No. 9 Edmond Ruth (Illinois) – L-D, 0-2

Jordan went up against ninth-seeded Edmond Ruth of Illinois in his first match.  Ruth scored a 5-2 win over Jordan in the Mocs' dual against Illinois on Dec. 3.

After very little action in the first, Jordan deferred to start the second and Ruth chose bottom.  Ruth escaped in 10 seconds for a 1-0 lead.  The second was much like the first with little activity. 

Trailing 1-0, Jordan chose down to start the third.  Ruth was hit for stalling with 1:22 left when he ran Jordan out of bounds.  Jordan was unable to get out after the restart and eventually lost 2-0. 

Jordan ends his season as a Southern Conference Champion with a 20-4 overall record.