Score: Chattanooga 16, Bellarmine 15
Location: Maclellan Gym; Chattanooga, Tenn. | Att.: 302
Records: Chattanooga (6-10/5-3) | Bellarmine (6-4/5-3)
 
Quick Recap: What an emotional rollercoaster. It started with honoring four seniors – Noah Castillo, Jackson Hurst, Eli Knight & Landon Lewis – in a pre-match ceremony and followed with a hard-fought, match-by-match battle…literally to the finish. Bellarmine took the first match with the Mocs winning four of the next six for a 14-9 lead. The Knights battled back with decisions at 184 and 197 for a 15-14 lead before Ethan Vergara put a few exclamation points on a Mocs team victory with a "big" decision at 285.
 
First Thought: " Real, real, happy. It's just like I said last week, I just stuck to that same plan. I told myself the same stuff. It's about my team now. I felt the same way, and I just went out there to different opponents with the same mental space and just got after it." – Ethan Vergara
 
Resources: Results
 
First Takedown

• Kind of have to start at the ending. Vergara got a first period takedown and pretty well dictated the match from there in a 4-2 triumph. That it came in the clinching match, his second such win in five tries, was big but it looms ever larger considering the Knights' Daulton Mayer entered undefeated in the Southern Conference and among the nation's leaders in pins.
• Not to be lost is what happened in the middle. Castillo dominated his somewhat contentious bout with Jeb Prechtel with a 19-4 tech fall. The final three points came on a takedown with 18 seconds remaining. Those two bonus points proved to be the difference in the match.
• Knight got his second ranked win. The first was over Purdue's Greyson Clark in November (#27). Today's was a rousing 5-4 decision over #32 A.J. Rallo.
• Six of the 10 matches ended up with a 3-point or fewer decision.
• Also not to be lost in important numbers. Landon "Bones" Jones lost 5-0 to No. 29 Andrew Liber at 197. Jones was wrestling two classes up and was in the fight until the end almost pulling off the upset.

 
The Rundown
125: Jack Parker (BU) 8-5 dec. over Ty Tice (UTC) – 0-3
133: #12 Blake Boarman (UTC) 7-4 dec. over Trayce Eckman (BU) – 3-3
141: Eli Knight (UTC) 5-4 dec. over #32 AJ Rallo (BU) – 6-3
149: Zac Cowan (BU) 4-1 dec. over Dayne Dalrymple (UTC) – 6-6
157: Noah Castillo (UTC) 19-4 TF (6:42) over Jeb Prechtel (BU) – 11-6
165: Cole Nance (BU) 13-8 dec. over Jackson Hurst (UTC) – 11-9
174: #14 Sergio Desiante (UTC) 5-3 dec. over Grant O'Dell (BU) – 14-9
184: #25 Devan Hendricks (BU) 7-2 dec. over Kamdyn Munro (UTC) – 14-12
197: #29 Andrew Liber (BU) 5-0 dec. over Landon Jones (UTC) – 14-15
285: Ethan Vergara (UTC) 4-2 dec. over Daulton Mayer (BU) – *16-15
*UTC docked one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct
 
Notable

• Chattanooga leads the series 3-1 | History
• Castillo completed his career with his 11th straight dual win. He finished the SoCon slate at 8-0.
• Castillo got his 40th career dual win and 20th SoCon. His ledger is closed at 40-9 (.816) overall, 20-3 (.870) in the league.
• Castillo is not the only undefeated Moc
• Boarman got his 19th win of the season and 10th dual. He finished just shy of 40 team points scored at 39.
• Desiante is 18-2 in 2024-25 with a 13-2 dual mark. He leads the team in dual wins and points scored.
• Final dual points top 5: 51-Desiante, 46-Castillo, 43-Munro, 39-Boarman & 37-Knight.
• Knight is 8-2 for the season after entering it 8-7 over his previous two seasons. He has another year of eligibility if he decides to return after graduation.
• Vergara clinched the last two match wins over Gardner-Webb (22-17) and Bellarmine (16-15).
• The Mocs recorded 12 takedowns to the Knights' nine. Castillo had five of the 12.
• Third dual not allowing opponent bonus points (i.e. majors/techs/falls). Others were Presbyterian and Davidson. In the three SoCon losses that came down to 285, the Mocs allowed five to Campbell (16-19 loss), four to The Citadel (18-19) and six to App State (17-24).
• The deducted team point came at the conclusion of the match at 285. Vergara was cited with unsportsmanlike conduct for sticking his tongue during his victory celebration with the jubilant crowd.

 
Final Thoughts
"I think we competed as a complete team today. We had all 10 guys compete hard. We gave up some takedowns early in matches, but we were continuing to look to at least fight, and that's what it all comes down to. This team has gone through a lot this year...on and off the mat, everything. It's just good to see them rally around each other all year long and get it done (in this fashion)." – Coach Kyle Ruschell on the win
 
"I'm not much of a film guy, but I do like to know what my opponent goes for. Coach Massey just prepped me well. He told me that he's just gonna take lost shots of space, and just like I had to keep my hands low and stay on them and press that. Put that pressure forward. I knew at some point he was going to take that bad shot, and I was gonna get my takedown off of it." – Vergara on pre-match work with Coach Kyle Massey
 
"It was good that he got the first one off his back against Gardner-Webb. When it came down to him and the number one guy in the conference undefeated in the league and takes him out. We've stayed true to him. We've pushed him. We keep talking and coaching, and he's starting to believe in himself." – Ruschell on Vergara
 
Next Up
The Southern Conference Championships return to Asheville, N.C. The event coincides with the basketball tournaments as well with wrestling at Kimmel Arena at UNC Asheville. The action starts Friday, March 7, with the tournament decided Saturday afternoon, March 8.
 
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