Mat Mocs win two, fall at Central Michigan
Andrew D. Holt
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: Sports
The UTC wrestling team earned its first two wins under first-year head coach Heath Eslinger Saturday.
The mat Mocs dominated Gardner-Webb and Anderson University, and did not allow a single point against either team, outscoring them by a combined 87-0.
Sophomore Demetrius Johnson, of Memphis, got the Mocs started on the right foot, scoring a pin in the opening match at the 125-pound weight class.
Johnson's start seemed to initiate a domino effect as three other Mocs scored pins in the lop-sided 47-0 win over Gardner-Webb.
In Saturday's second match against Anderson University, UTC picked up right where it left off, and blanked the Trojans 40-0. Cody Cleveland, a senior from Tullahoma, Tenn., got his second pin of the day in the 141-pound match, while freshmen Josh Condon, of Powder Springs, Ga., and Niko Brown, from Kissimmee, Fla., also scored pins.
Immediately following the two matches Saturday, the Mocs traveled to Mt. Pleasant, Mich., for a match Sunday against the No. 13 ranked Central Michgan Chippewas.
The Chippewas proved worthy of their ranking and beat UTC 32-6. The only points UTC scored came by forfeit in the 141 pound match.
Despite the loss, the Mocs had four matches that were determined by two points or less. UTC's Joey Knox, a senior from Dublin, Ga., lost a particularly tough match against No. 8 ranked Steven Brown.
After Brown took an early lead with two takedowns in the first period, Knox mounted a comeback in the final period, but wasn't able to ever take the lead, falling 6-5.
"There were a lot of oppotunities we didn't maximize. It's a believing thing," Eslinger told the Chattanooga Times Free Press following the loss. "We got down in two or three matches and came back with opportunities to win but we don't put the nail in coffin."
UTC will be back in action this Saturday as they travel to Raleigh, N.C., to wrestle in the Wolfpack Open, hosted by North Carolina State University.
The mat Mocs dominated Gardner-Webb and Anderson University, and did not allow a single point against either team, outscoring them by a combined 87-0.
Sophomore Demetrius Johnson, of Memphis, got the Mocs started on the right foot, scoring a pin in the opening match at the 125-pound weight class.
Johnson's start seemed to initiate a domino effect as three other Mocs scored pins in the lop-sided 47-0 win over Gardner-Webb.
In Saturday's second match against Anderson University, UTC picked up right where it left off, and blanked the Trojans 40-0. Cody Cleveland, a senior from Tullahoma, Tenn., got his second pin of the day in the 141-pound match, while freshmen Josh Condon, of Powder Springs, Ga., and Niko Brown, from Kissimmee, Fla., also scored pins.
Immediately following the two matches Saturday, the Mocs traveled to Mt. Pleasant, Mich., for a match Sunday against the No. 13 ranked Central Michgan Chippewas.
The Chippewas proved worthy of their ranking and beat UTC 32-6. The only points UTC scored came by forfeit in the 141 pound match.
Despite the loss, the Mocs had four matches that were determined by two points or less. UTC's Joey Knox, a senior from Dublin, Ga., lost a particularly tough match against No. 8 ranked Steven Brown.
After Brown took an early lead with two takedowns in the first period, Knox mounted a comeback in the final period, but wasn't able to ever take the lead, falling 6-5.
"There were a lot of oppotunities we didn't maximize. It's a believing thing," Eslinger told the Chattanooga Times Free Press following the loss. "We got down in two or three matches and came back with opportunities to win but we don't put the nail in coffin."
UTC will be back in action this Saturday as they travel to Raleigh, N.C., to wrestle in the Wolfpack Open, hosted by North Carolina State University.
