Chattanooga Mocs get wrestling win at Citadel

Thursday, January 23, 2014

photo UTC Mocs logo
Arkansas-Oklahoma State Live Blog

UTC 27, THE CITADEL 12(Meet started at 165 pounds)125--Campbell Lewis (UTC) pinned Joaquin Marquez, 2:54; 133--Nick Soto (UTC) major dec. Aaron Hansen, 8-0; 141--Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (C) dec. Mike Pongracz, 12-5; 149--Matthew Frisch (C) dec. Austin Sams, 7-3; 157--Aaron Walker (C) dec. Alex Hudson, 7-5 OT (SV1); 165--Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (C) dec. Corey Mock, 4-3; 174--Levi Clemons (UTC) major dec. Terrell Forbes, 15-7; 184--John Lampe (UTC) dec. Kenneth Radford, 3-2; 197--Scottie Boykin (UTC) major dec. Marshall Haas, 16-5; 285--Dawson Peck (UTC) pinned Joseph Bexley, 4:02. Records: UTC 12-5, 3-0; The Citadel 3-3, 1-1.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga upped its Southern Conference win string to 11 and its league record to 3-0 Wednesday in Charleston, S.C.

Sixth-ranked Corey Mock lost a 4-3 decision to Turtogtokh Luvsandorj but the 22nd-ranked Mocs wound up with a 27-12 victory at The Citadel.

"I thought we could win all 10 matches," coach Heath Eslinger said. "Corey's match was a great match with a great kid and he lost. Corey's a veteran, and he's wrestled a lot of matches like this and will wrestle a lot more before the year is out. We have to find a way to be on the other end of those matches."

It appears that a point of emphasis in practice has been to push the pace and the envelope, picking up as many points as possible. The Mocs again scored bonus points in five of their six victories including redshirt freshman Campbell Lewis' first collegiate pin.

"When two of you better guys lose and you still win by 15 you've done a good job," Eslinger said. "We have a great team, a great group of individuals."

UTC has now won five straight dual meets and eight of its last nine.

Lewis, who has been dueling with Byron Smith for the 125-pound slot, pinned Joaquin Marquez with 0:06 left in the first period.

"He did a great job. He cradled him up and pinned him," Eslinger said.

Dawson Peck (285) also picked up a pin and Nick Soto (133), Levi Clemons and Scottie Boykin added major decisions. The other UTC victory was a 3-2 decision by John Lampe.

"We had great effort in all 10 weight classes. There's nothing negative that came from tonight. We were consistent again," Eslinger said.

UTC has 25-1 record against SoCon competition in the Eslinger era and Wednesday's victory pushed the coach into a third-place tie with Ethan Reeve on the Mocs' all-time coaching wins list. Reeve (1985-90) was 57-38-1 while Eslinger, in his fifth season, is now 57-35-0.

The Citadel had been undefeated in league competition and the Mocs' win now leaves them and Campbell as the only unbeatens left in the league. UTC wrestles at Campbell on Feb. 8, but prior to that will get a home meet on Feb. 2 against Appalachian State.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.