The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team came away with a pair of titles at the 2023 Southern Conference Wrestling Championships in Boone, N.C., tonight. Sophomore Brayden Palmer and junior Rocky Jordan won their first league trophies at 133 and 174 pounds, respectively. Palmer also took home the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler Award.  

The Mocs finished third as a team with 52 points in the tournament.  Appalachian State won the team title with 103 points, followed by second-place Campbell 78.5.

With two NCAA bids up for grabs at 133 and 174 pounds, the Championship Round started with those weights and a pair of Mocs in action.

"Both guys had to suck it up tonight," stated UTC head coach Kyle Ruschell.  "Rocky wasn't feeling his best, but he had to man up.  Palmer was going to have to beat two guys who beat him to get it done."

Palmer came into the weekend at #17 at 133, but just the No. 3 seed due to some slipups in the dual season.  After scoring a 4-0 win over Davidson's Jackson Sichelstiel in the opening round, he got some payback for one of those miscues with a 3-1 win in overtime against Campbell's Domenic Zaccone.  Zaccone, the No. 2 seed and ranked #23, beat Palmer in overtime in the regular season dual.  

That put Palmer up against top-seeded and 24^th-ranked Ethan Oakley of Appalachian State in the finals. Oakley also beat Palmer in a tight match in the regular season.

Oakley opened with a takedown and took a 2-1 lead into the second frame. Palmer chose down in the second and quickly escaped.  He scored a takedown of his own for a 4-2 lead after two.  Oakley escaped after choosing down in the third, but Palmer held on for a 4-3 win. 

Palmer upped his record to 20-6 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second time as a Moc.

"It was nice to see Brayden score with defense and get the win," said Ruschell. "He knew what he was going to have to do to get the win and was able to execute. He deserved the MOW, and we are excited for him."

This is the 23rd time a Moc has won the SoCon Tournament Most Outstading honor.  The last to do it was Drew Nicholson in 2021.  

"Getting the championship is nice, but I was just as happy getting revenge on the two guys who beat me earlier in the year," said Palmer with a grin after winning his first league title.  "I liked being the three seed. I felt like there was less pressure being the underdog. It was nice to come away with a title after coming up short and getting second last year."

Jordan entered the tournament ranked No. 12 and the No. 1 seed.  The All-SoCon selection opened with a pin against Gardner-Webb's Andrew Wilson and followed that with a 13-0 major decision against Davidson's Jaden Hardrick. 

He took on App State's Will Miller in the finals. Miller was the No. 2 seed and ranked No. 25 in the RPI. It was a tough bout throughout with Jordan scoring a takedown in the opening period. After escaping to start the second, Jordan gave up a takedown to Miller before the end of the middle period.

Trailing 3-2, Miller chose bottom to start the third. Jordan worked the final two minutes on top to post a 4-2 win.  The win upped his season record to 19-2.

"It wasn't my best performance overall in the finals, but I was happy getting a tough, gritty win," said Jordan. "I had to ride him for close to five minutes and that is tough to do against a guy like that.  Two weeks from now in Tulsa, it is going to take a win like that to get on the podium."

"Rocky is exactly who we thought he was," added Ruschell. "He is grateful for the opportunity to compete here, he works hard and he does all the right things. He showed all of that tonight."

Sophomore Noah Castillo joined Palmer and Jordan in the finals as the No. 2 seed at 149 pounds.  He opened with a 21-3 tech fall over Presbyterian's Khalid Brinkley.  He followed that with an 8-3 decision against Campbell's No. 3 seed Chris Rivera. 

In the finals, he took on top-seeded and ninth-ranked Jon Millner from Appalachian State.  Castillo put up a strong effort against the three-time defending SoCon Champion, but eventually fell 4-0. 

Senior Matthew Waddell was one of seven Mocs who advanced to the semifinals.  Waddell eventually finished third at 184 pounds.  He opened with a 7-5 decision against The Citadel's Tim Fitzpatrick.  That led to a nail-biting 3-2 loss to Gardner-Webb's Jha'Quan Anderson in the semifinals.

Waddell came into the weekend ranked #33 and upped his overall mark wot 17-7 with consolation wins over Cordel Duart of Presbyterian and Lucas Uliano of Appalachian State.
 
"I am proud of Noah and Matthew taking second and third," stated Ruschell. "Noah had to wrestle a good guy in the finals, and Matthew battled on the back side to take third place." 

Senior Jake Boyd showed some fight for the Mocs at 197 pounds.  He advanced to the third-place match before bowing out with a medical forfeit.  Boyd opened with an 11-5 decision over VMI's Tyler Mousaw.  He then took on Campbell's top-seed and 33^rd-ranked Levi Hopkins in the semifinals.  Despite nursing a bad back, Boyd competed hard in a 1-0 loss. In the consolation semifinals, Boyd posted a 5-2 win over Gardner-Webb's Sam Mora.    

Sophomore Weston Wichman opened the day with a 9-8 win over Davidson's Bryce Sanderlin at 157 pounds.  It was not an easy win as he was nearly pinned at the end of the first period and had to overcome a 6-0 deficit in the final four minutes.

From there, Wichman took on Gardner-Webb's second-seeded and 30^th-ranked RJ Mosley in the semis.  Despite being the aggressor all match, Wichman could not get a takedown (or a stalling call) in regulation. 

Wichman was in on a single at the end of overtime, but Mosely was able to crawl out of bounds to avoid giving up points.  Mosely rode out the next overtime period, forcing Wichman to choose neutral in the final frame.  Has was not able to get the go-ahead score and lost the match. 

Sophomore Logan Andrew moved into the semis at heavyweight behind a 9-6 in over VMI's Josh Evans.  He dropped his semifinal match to Campbell's 15^th-ranked Taye Ghadiali (Fall – 4:06) and also lost in the consolation semifinals to Davidson's Jake Fernicola (4-0). 

Sophomore Logan Ashton went 1-2 at 125, scoring points in the consolations with an 8-0 major decision over VMI's Tony Burke. He nearly pulled off a big upset in the opening round against #25 Anthony Molton of Campbell before falling 1-3.

Senior Franco Valdes (141) and sophomore Lincoln Heck (157) also went 1-2 after dropping first round matches.  Valdes posted a 10-1 major decision over Davidson's Josh Viarengo in the backdraw. Heck scored his win over Presbyterian's Michael Ramirez with a 10-6 decision. 

Up next for the Mocs is the NCAA Wrestling Championships set for March 16-18 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. Tickets for the event are available on GoMocs.com by clicking here or by calling the UTC Ticket Office at 423-266-MOCS (6627) during normal business hours (M-F 10-5).  
  
TEAM SCORES
1. Appalachian State - 103.0
2. Campbell - 78.5
3. Chattanooga - 52.0
4. Gardner-Webb - 42.5
5. The Citadel - 33.5
6. Presbyterian College - 18.5
7. VMI - 18.0
8. Davidson College - 17.0

125 – Logan Ashton
#25 Antony Molton (Campbell) – L-D, 1-3
Anthony Burke (VMI) – W-MD, 8-0
Drew West (GWU) – L-D, 0-1

133 – #17 Brayden Palmer – 1^ST PLACE
Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) – W-D, 4-0
#23 Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) – W-D, 3-1 (SV-1)
#24 Ethan Oakley (App. St.) – W-D, 4-3

141 – Franco Valdes
Jacob Silka (Citadel) – L-D, 1-8
Joshua Viarengo (Davidson) – W-MD, 10-1
Heath Gonyer (App. St.) – L-D, 0-4

149 – Noah Castillo
Khalid Brinkley – W-TF, 21-3 (5:00)
Chris Rivera (Campbell) – W-D, 8-3
#9 Jon Millner (App. St.) -

157 – Lincoln Heck
Job Chishko (VMI) – L-TF, 1-20 (4:53)
Michael Ramirez (Presbyterian) – W-D, 13-6
#31 Troy Nation (Campbell) – L-D, 0-5

165 – Weston Wichman
Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson) – W-D, 9-8
#30 Rodrick Mosley (GWU) – L-D, 1-4 (TB-1)
Braxton Lewis (VMI) – L-D, 9-11

174 – #12 Rocky Jordan – 1^ST PLACE
Andrew Wilson (GWU) - Fall (4:03)
Jaden Hardrick (Davidson) - W-MD, 13-0
#25 Will Miller (App. St.) – W-D, 4-2

184 – #33 Matthew Waddell – 3^rd Place
Timothy Fitzpatrick (Citadel) – W-D, 7-5
Jha`Quan Anderson (GWU) – L-D, 2-3
Cordel Duhart (PC)- W-D, 5-2
Lucas Uliano (App. St.) – W-D, 4-3

197 – Jake Boyd
Tyler Mousaw (VMI) – W-D, 11-5
#33 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) – L-D, 0-1
Sam Mora (GWU) – W-D, 5-2
Mark Chaid (Citadel) – L-Medical Forfeit

285 – Logan Andrew
Josh Evans (VMI) – W-D, 9-6
#15 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) – L-Fall (4:06)
Jake Fernicola (Davidson) – L-D, 0-4