Highlighted by a victory at 285 pounds in a battle of the unbeatens, Chattanooga defeated visiting VMI, 35-3 Sunday afternoon at Maclellan Gym.
In the final match of the day (285), UTC's Jared Johnson (24-6, 4-0) edged Juan Adams (16-10, 4-1), 9-7. Johnson, who has now won eight straight, used two takedowns and a 2-point near fall to lead 6-1 after one period and needed two escapes in the final two minutes for the win against Adams who had close to a 70-pound weight advantage.
In was Senior Day for the Mocs,and senior Sean Boyle (125) opened the match with a high-energy 20-6 victory against sophomore Dalton Henderson.
Boyle had five takedowns and a reverse on the way to a 13-4 lead after two periods and registered three more takedowns in the final period to the delight of the home crowd.
After a forfeit win at 133, regular decisions by Michael Pongracz (141) and freshman Jacob Murphy (149) and a 19-3 major decision by Austin Sams (157) had the Mocs up 21-0 after five matches.
VMI got on the board when Shabaka Jones edged UTC freshman Justin Lampe, 2-1, before a pair of major decisions (Sean Mappes, 174 and Scottie Boykins, 197) sandwiched around a regular decision by John Shrader (184) made it 32-3 before Johnson's win.
"Our guys did a good job today winning nine of 10 matches today and Friday and improving to 4-0 in the Southern Conference," said UTC head coach Heath Eslinger.
"Sean looked good in the opening match and Austin (Sams) wrestled with a lot of confidence," Eslinger stated. "At the D-I level, the skill level is fairly even (among the top wrestlers) and it comes down to the confidence factor."
* Takedowns: UTC led, 26-5 with Sean Boyle (8), Scottie Boykin (6) and Austin Sams (5) leading the way.
UTC's Pongracz had only one takedown, but it proved to be big as he took his opponent off his feet late in the second period and gained an escape in the third for the 3-0 victory.
* Back Points: Sams had a pair of 3-point near falls and a 2-pointer for eight bonus points, followed by Mappes with seven - a pair of 2-pointers and one 3-pointer.
* NEXT HOME MATCH: Fri. Jan, 30 NOON - UTC hosts Davidson at Maclellan Gym,.
Coach Eslinger encourages students, faculty and staff and the general public to stop by during their lunch break for a good SoCon match..
Chattanooga 35 – VMI 3
Sunday – Jan. 25 – Maclellan Gym – Chattanooga, Tenn.
125: No. 12 Sean Boyle (UTC) – MD 20-6 - Dalton Henderson (VMI) – UTC 4-0
133: No. 12 Nick Soto (UTC) – W – Forfeit (VMI) – UTC 10-0
141: Michael Pongracz (UTC) – Dec. 3-0 - Emmitt Kelly (VMI) – 13-0
149: Jacob Murphy (UTC) – Dec. 7-2 - Jack Krall (VMI) – UTC 16-0
157: Austin Sams (UTC) – Tech. Fall 19-3 (6:06) - Samuel Paulay (VMI) – UTC 21-0
165: Shabaka Johns (VMI) – Dec. 2-1 - Justin Lampe (UTC) – UTC 21-3
174: Sean Mappes (UTC) – Major Decison 13-2 - Mark Darr (VMI) – UTC 25-3
184: John Shrader (UTC) – Dec. 5-0 - Derek Thurman (VMI) – UTC 28-3
197: Scottie Boykin (UTC) – Major Decision 14-5 - Urayoan Garcia (VMI) – UTC 32-3
285: Jared Johnson (UTC) Dec. 9-7 - Juan Adams (VMI) – UTC 35-3
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@Comcast.net