The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s wrestling team will return to SoCon action at Gardner-Webb and Campbell this weekend. The Mocs begin the weekend on Friday, Jan. 28 at Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. and then will travel to Campbell on Sunday, the 30th, for an afternoon dual at 1 p.m. Fans can follow both matches on ESPN+ and with TrackWrestling.
The Mocs look to snap a five-match losing skid on Friday. The Mocs dropped matches to South Dakota State, Kent State and Maryland at the Virginia Duals two weeks ago.
Gardner-Webb is 4-5 this season and 2-1 in SoCon matches with wins against VMI and Bellarmine. Most recently, GWU suffered a 42-3 setback to Appalachian State.
Campbell was selected to finish second by the coaches in the SoCon Preseason Poll. The Fighting Camels enter the weekend 7-4 overall and 2-0 in SoCon action. Three of the four losses for Campbell have come to ranked opponents. The team defeated No. 16 Lehigh and their two SoCon wins have come vs. Bellarmine and The Citadel.
SERIES HISTORY
Chattanooga is 17-0 vs. Gardner Webb, including a 6-0 mark on the road. UTC is 10-3 against Campbell in program history, although the Camels have won the last two contests.
UTC’S PROBABLE LINEUP
125: No. 24 Fabian Gutierrez
133: No. 22 Brayden Palmer
141: Franco Valdes
149: Noah Castillo / Grant Lundy
157: Weston Wichman/Lincoln Heck
165: Drew Nicholson/Caleb Waddell
174: Carial Tarter
184: Matthew Waddell/Thomas Sell
197: Nicholas Benton
285: Matthias Ervin/Grayson Walthall
*Rankings are Intermat – Jan. 25
SCOUTING THE MOCS
UTC continues Southern Conference action with a 1-0 record in league play entering this weekend. The Mocs defeated Davidson in their SoCon opener back in November, 18-16. Overall, the Mocs are 3-8 this season with setbacks to four Power-5 opponents, including two ranked teams.
The Blue and Gold are coming off of a 12th-place finish at the 2022 Southern Scuffle and a 0-3 appearance at the Virginia Duals to begin the calendar year. The Scuffle featured 28 teams and saw two Mocs on the podium. Sophomore Brayden Palmer led the Chattanooga contingent placing third at 133 pounds. After dropping his first match of the tournament, Palmer won seven straight matches to finish third. Four of his seven wins came in overtime. One of Palmer’s wins was the first ranked win of his career, over No. 21 App State’s Codi Russell. Palmer moved to 12-4 this season and picked up a top-25 ranking.
The top of the lineup has been powerful for the Blue and Gold with Gutierrez, Palmer, Franco Valdes, Noah Castillo, Weston Wichman and Lincoln Heck. The six wrestlers have combined to hold a 31-17 record from the 125-157 weight classes.
Heck, a freshman from West Wyoming, Pa. made his collegiate debut at the Southern Scuffle, going 3-2 and making it to the consolation quarterfinals. Heck made three appearances two weeks ago at the Virginia Duals and went 2-1 with two major decisions at 157. His lone defeat came by a 3-2 decision as his opponent took the lead with less than 15 seconds to go in the match.
Chattanooga was picked to finish third in the Southern Conference race with 50 points. The Mocs went 6-2 in the conference last year, finishing with an 8-4 record overall. Appalachian State received six first-place votes and 61 points to top the 2020-21 preseason poll. Campbell was second with 59 votes. Gardner-Webb (39), The Citadel (38), VMI (27), Davidson (24), Bellarmine (13) and Presbyterian (12) rounded out the listings.
ALL NEW AT 197
Over winter break, Head Coach Kyle Ruschell announced the addition of Nicholas Benton. Benton is a transfer from Northern Illinois but did not wrestle last season. The Miramar, Fla. native was a four-time letterwinner at Somerset Academy. He tallied the most career wins in Florida history (251) and was the 2020 Somerset Academy Scholar Athlete of the Year. Benton was a four-time all-conference selection and first-team all-area selection by the Miami Herald.
A LOOK AT GARDNER-WEBB
Gardner-Webb dropped its first SoCon match on Tuesday after falling to Appalachian State 43-2. Jha’Quan Anderson took home GWU’s lone decision in the dual. At 184 points, he walked away with a 5-3 decision.
In nonconfernce action, Gardner-Webb defeated Belmont Abbey and George Mason.
LAST TIME VS. GARDNER-WEBB – Jan. 17, 2021
UTC 23, GWU 13
157: Taylor Parks (GW) over Weston Wichman (UTC) (Dec 8-7)
165: Rodrick Mosley (GW) over Drew Nicholson (UTC) (MD 12-4)
174: Sam Mora (GW) over Carial Tarter (UTC) (Dec 12-5)
184: No. 12 Matthew Waddell (UTC) over Evan Schenk (GW) (Dec 6-2)
197: Logan Andrew (UTC) over Jack Trautman (GW) (Dec 7-5)
285: Grayson Walthall (UTC) over Gabriel Picket (GW) (TF 19-0 3:00)
125: No. 19 Fabian Gutierrez (UTC) over Austin Wadlow (GW) (MD 12-0)
133: Todd Carter (GW) over Colton Landers (UTC) (Dec 10-7)
141: Franco Valdes (UTC) over Trevon Majette (GW) (MD 11-3)
149: Aidan Murphy (UTC) over Brandon Bright (GW) (Dec 3-2)
GETTING TO KNOW CAMPBELL
Campbell was selected to finish second in the league by the coaches in the preseason poll. The Fighting Camels sit at 7-4 overall and 2-0 in SoCon action. After the NCAA released its first coaches’ rankings of 2021-22, five Campbell wrestlers were featured. No. 29 Korbin Meink (125), No. 7 Josh Neil (149), No. 24 Austin Murphy (174), No. 29 Caleb Hopkins (184) and No. 24 Taye Ghadiali (285) were all ranked and have combined for nine NCAA tournament appearances, led by Heil, a four-time qualifier. Heil sits at 8-0 this season and is 4-0 in conference duals.
LAST TIME VS. CAMPBELL – Feb. 5, 2021 – CU 17, UTC 15
125: No. 21 Fabian Gutierrez (UTC) over Zurich Storm (CAMP) (Dec 5-3)
133: Colton Landers (UTC) over Gabe Hixenbaugh (CAMP) (Dec 4-0)
141: Franco Valdes (UTC) over Spencer Leonhardt (CAMP) (SV-1 4-2)
149: No. 17 Joshua Heil (CAMP) over Aidan Murphy (UTC) (Dec 4-0)
157: Weston Wichman (UTC) over Benjamin Barton (CAMP) (Dec 7-3)
165: Andrew Nicholson (UTC) over Bilal Bailey (CAMP) (SV-1 2-1)
174: No. 12 Austin Murphy (CAMP) over Carial Tarter (UTC) (Fall 1:22)
184: Caleb Hopkins (CAMP) over No. 12 Matthew Waddell (UTC) (Dec 5-2)
197: Chris Kober (CAMP) over Logan Andrew (UTC) (Dec 4-3)
285: Taye Ghadiali (CAMP) over Grayson Walthall (UTC) (Dec 4-1)
(CAMP unsportsman like conduct -1.0)
CAMPBELL’S PROBABLES
125: #23 Korbin Meink, Zurich Storm or Anthony Molton
133: Domenic Zaccone
141: #27 Shannon Hanna or Chris Rivera
149: #6 Josh Heil
157: Matthew Dallara or Jake Chisolm
165: Troy Nation
174: #17 Austin Murphy
184: #26 Caleb Hopkins or Cameron Andrews
197: Chris Kober or Levi Hopkins
HWT: #26 Taye Ghadiali
Rankings according to Intermat (1/25/22)
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