UTC Wrestling: Mocs, Bryce Carr Host Virginia Today

UTC vs. UVa at Maclellan Gym at 2 p.m.

Sunday, December 4, 2016
B.B Branton

Former Minnesota All-American wrestler Gerald Carr has stood on the podium

His son, UTC junior Bryce Carr has a goal of standing on that same podium.

“Bryce can be an All-American this year and stand on that podium,” said Gerald who was sixth in 1996 for the Golden Gophers. “He just needs to maintain that killer instinct and continue to dictate the pace of the matches.”

Yet before the younger Carr can match his dad’s NCAA D-I medal at the NCAA tournament in St. Louis (top eight finishers in each weight class are All-Americans), he needs to showcase his talents during the Southern Scuffle January 1-2 in McKenzie Arena against some of the best 184 pounders in the nation.

And before that …

Today’s Match: No.24 UTC host UVa at Maclellan Gym at 2 p.m. and Carr will face a formidable opponent in sophomore Will Schany. UVa has the advantage in the first five weights while the Mocs will be favored in the final five and the Blue and Gold need another win or two and bonus points to register the victory. Mocs heavyweight Jared Johnson (7-1 this season) clinched the 19-18 win with a fall in the final match of the day in last year’s meeting in Charlottesville.

“I am self-motivated and see my technique, speed and quickness as my strengths,” said Carr who is 6-1 on the season and carries a 3.0 grade point average in the classroom..

"I am glad a chose to attend UTC atter junior college. I felt like I was at home here on my recruiting visit."

In contrast, his dad relied on his physical strength to win matches in high school and the technique came later.

“I grew up on a farm in Georgia so hard work was a given for members of my family,” the older Carr stated who won three state high school championships at West Laurens High School, including 101 straight wins and was a two-time all-state linebacker in football.

Gerald’s next step was UTC and he quickly knew he had to learn technique in the practice room to complement his physical strength.

He won a Southern Conference title as a freshman in 1993, earned SoCon freshman of the year honors, then was an NCAA junior college national champ followed by his All-American honors at Minnesota.

“The year I was a national juco champ we tied Garden City (Okla.) for the team title and their coach was Mark Leen who late became the UTC coach,” Gerald stated.

The elder Carr is not the only family member with wrestling medals as Bryce was a state champ also at West Laurens and a juco national champ at Darton JC (Ga.) last year.

Thanks to his mother pushing him to get involved in the sport, the younger Carr was a kids state champ in the fourth grade and won a couple of youth national title before high school.

UTC coach Heath Eslinger knows that the Mocs need to have wrestlers earn that All-American level and bring home medals (stand on the podium) to have the program improve on the national level.

“We have a few guys on this year’s team who can stand on that podium in St. Louis in March and Bryce is one of them.

“The formula for success is a math equation – focus + energy over time equals results and Bryce has all three components to make that formula work. He continues to get better each day. Consistency is the key.”

CHATTANOOGA MOCS PROBABLE LINEUP

125: Alonzo Allen (So. – 2-5)
133: Chris Debien (So. – 5-2)
141: Roman Boylen (So. – 4-2)
149: Dylanger Potter (Fr. – 5-2)
157: Trey Watson (So. – 3-5)/Brandon Filosi (Fr. – 0-0)
165: Justin Lampe (Jr. – 5-2)
174: Sean Mappes (Sr. – 6-3)
184: Bryce Carr (Jr. – 6-1)
197: Clay Dent (Sr. – 2-3)
285: Jared Johnson (Sr. – 7-1)

Virginia Cavaliers Probable Lineup
125: No. 15 Jack Mueller (Sr. – 8-0)
133: Will Mason (Sr. – 4-3)
141: No. 10 George DiCamillo (Sr. – 5-0)
149: Sam Krivus (Fr. – 5-3)
157: No. 17 Andrew Atkinson (Jr. – 7-2)
165: Cam Arrell (Fr. – 1-1)
174: Ray Bethea (Sr. – 11-5)
184: Will Schany (So. – 4-5)
197: Chance McClure (So. – 3-4)
285: Chuck Boddy (Fr. – 7-5) or Tyler Love (Fr. - 5-2)