Wrestling: Mocs pound Citadel

photo UTC's Robert Prigmore controls Luke Johnson of the Citadel during their 285-pound class wrestling match at Maclellan Gym on Sunday afternoon. UTC defeated the Citadel by a team score of 26-6.

Anxious to send a message to the rest of the Southern Conference in its league opener, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hammered visiting Citadel 26-6 Sunday at Maclellan Gym.

The Mocs, even with a pair of starters out of the lineup, won eight of the 10 bouts including major decisions from Robert Prigmore, who bounced up from 197 to best Luke Johnson 10-2, and 141-pound Cody Cleveland, who bested a reluctant Jordan Dix 11-1. It was Cleveland's first action since pulling a hamstring before Christmas. In getting his eighth win of the year without a loss, Cleveland scored the meet's only back points with a pair of near-falls.

The Mocs are still without heavyweight Matt Lettner and 133-pound Bucky Johnson. Both are expected to be in the lineup Saturday and Sunday when the team wrestles at Appalachian State and UNC-Greensboro.

"We may have a couple of starters out but we're putting 10 kids on the lineup that are going to go hard," Mocs coach Heath Eslinger said. "We wanted to win all 10 but I'm so proud of Dan Waddell. That kid he wrestled is really good - really is one of the best in the country - and Dan did exactly what we coached him to do."

The wrestler to whom Eslinger referred was Bulldogs 165-pounder Turotgtokh Luvsandorj, a native of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, who entered today's meet with a 29-6 record and a No. 8 national ranking.

UTC 26, CITADEL 6(Meet started at 149 pounds)125 -- Prescott Garner (UTC) dec. Richard Alarcon, 9-8;133 -- Tyler Sim (C) dec. Adam Wilson, 7-4;141 -- Cody Cleveland (UTC) major dec. Jordan Dix, 11-1;149 -- Alex Hudson (UTC) dec. Derek Roystere, 10-5;157 -- Josh Condon (UTC) dec. Pierre Frazile, 3-1;165 -- Turotgtokh Luvsandorj (C) dec. Dan Waddell, 9-3;174 -- Brandon Wright (UTC) dec. J.C. Oddo, 5-3 OT;184 -- Jason McCroskey (UTC) dec. Justin Sparrow, 8-2;197 -- Niko Brown (UTC) dec. Kelby Smith, 5-3;285 -- Robert Prigmore (UTC) major dec. Luke Johnson, 10-2.Records: UTC 7-9, 1-0; The Citadel 7-10, 3-2).

Sophomore Alex Hudson got the Mocs started with a dominating 10-5 victory and Josh Condon followed with a 3-1 victory.

UTC seemed to have a little extra energy and actually used it well to win two matches late.

Josh Condon got a takedown just a finger-snap before the final buzzer for a 3-1 victory over Citadel 157-pounder Pierre Frazier and 174-pound Brandon Wright secured a takedown seven seconds into his overtime with J.C. Oddo for a 5-3 victory.

"I didn't really have a strategy early. I was just looking for my shots," the junior said.

Frazier was looking to stay upper body and fended off Condon's single- and double-leg takedown attempts. He continued to dance until the final seconds.

"He tried a headlock and I just spun around and got the takedown off his headlock," Condon said.

While he was pleased that Condon won, Eslinger wasn't particularly happy that Condon had to win late.

"He has to score more points, and he is very capable of doing that. He left it to chance and we don't ever want to do that," the coach said.

Wright, who is gaining confidence since moving up from 165 - and enjoying the luxury of not having to watch his weight so closely - got a reversal to secure a 3-2 lead but at the buzzer Oddo had exactly 60 seconds of riding time. That extra point forced the overtime but Wright wasted no time. He scored a takedown seven seconds into the extra period.

"That kid was likely the No. 1 seed for the [conference] tournament. He beat the defending champion last week," Eslinger said. "I've been saying Brandon was going to have a breakthrough match and this was it."

Wright's confidence seemed to grow as the match progressed.

"I was a little timid at the beginning. I know whenever I need to score that I can," he said. "I'm getting more comfortable at 174. It's a team thing. We're probably stronger with me there [rather than 165]."

UTC did get another one of its starters back to join Cleveland. Niko Brown (197), has put strained ribs behind him as evidenced by his 5-3 win over Kelby Smith.

Too, the Mocs have found a capable replacement for Lettner. Prigmore left little doubt, building a 5-0 lead in the first three minutes and then ending the match with a strong takedown.

SCHEDULE

Wednesday, Feb. 2

Davidson at Anderson Univerity, 5 p.m.

Liberty at UNC-Greensboro, 7 p.m.

Belmont Abbey at Davidson, 7 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 4

VMI ata Davidson, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 5 p.m.

UTC at UNC-Greensboro, 2 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 6 p.m.

UTC at Appalachian State, 2 p.m.

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