Oklahoma to visit UTC wrestlers

photo UTC Mocs wrestlers meet with head coach Heath Eslinger at center mat during practice inside McKenzie Arena.

UTC WRESTLING 2014-15• Sat., Nov. 1: Blue-Gold at Maclellan Gym, 11 a.m.• Sun., Nov. 9: Hokie Open at Blacksburg, Va.• Sat., Nov. 15: Eastern Michigan Duals at Ypsilanti, Mich. (vs. Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Michigan State and Kent State.)• Sat., Nov. 22: Navy Classic at Annapolis, Md.• Fri., Dec. 12: Purdue at Maclellan Gym, 7 p.m.• Sun., Dec. 14: North Carolina in Atlanta, 3 p.m.• Sat., Dec. 20: Old Dominion at Norfolk, Va., 2 p.m.• Thurs., Jan. 1: Southern Scuffle at McKenzie Arena• Fri., Jan. 2: Southern Scuffle at McKenzie Arena• Fri., Jan. 9: Virginia Duals at Hampton, Va.• Sat., Jan. 10: Virginia Duals at Hampton, Va.• Fri., Jan. 16: Gardner-Webb at Boiling Springs, N.C., 6 p.m.• Sun., Jan. 18: Campbell at Maclellan Gym, 2 p.m.• Fri., Jan. 23: The Citadel at Maclellan Gym, 6 p.m.• Sun., Jan. 25: VMI at Maclellan Gym, 2 p.m.• Fri., Jan. 30: Davidson at Maclellan Gym, 6 p.m.• Sun., Feb. 8: Appalachian State at Boone, N.C., 2 p.m.• Sun., Feb. 15: NWCA duals (Oklahoma) at Maclellan Gym, 2 p.m.• Sun., Feb. 22: Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at Edwardsville, Ill., 2 p.m.• Sat., March 7: Southern Conference tournament at Asheville, N.C.• March 19-21: NCAA tournament at St. Louis

Arkansas-Oklahoma State Live Blog

Four teams that finished in the top 25 at last season's NCAA Division I tournament are on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's 2014-15 wrestling schedule.

Two of those are designated as home matches. The Mocs will host perennial top-10 powerhouse Oklahoma on Feb. 15 as part of the NWCA duals. They'll also host North Carolina, which finished 25th, on Dec. 14, although that meet will be held in Atlanta.

"It's a great schedule. We have good home meets with some big teams coming in," UTC coach Heath Eslinger said.

Also on the home schedule are Purdue and Southern Conference opponents Campbell, VMI, The Citadel and Davidson. The Mocs also will host the Southern Scuffle at McKenzie Arena on Jan. 1-2.

Among their road trips are a dual-meet tournament at Virginia and a dual meet at Old Dominion. Virginia and ODU tied for 23rd in the 2014 NCAA tournament.

In addition to annual appearances at West Virginia's Hokie Open and the Navy Classic, Eslinger's wrestlers also will compete in the Eastern Michigan Duals, where they're scheduled to face Mid-American Conference members Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois and Kent State and Big Ten representative Michigan State.

Oklahoma's Sooners were 2-1 in Big 12 competition and 11-5 overall before their No. 10 NCAA finish at Oklahoma City in coach Mark Cody's third year with the program.

Purdue enters the upcoming season with a new coach, Tony Ersland being appointed to replace Scott Hinkel. Ersland , a member of three national championship teams at Iowa under Dan Gable, spent the past eight seasons as an assistant at Nebraska.

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

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