The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team wraps up its 2015 home schedule by hosting Oklahoma in the EAS Sports Nutrition/NWCA National Duals presented by Hibiclens and the United States Marine Corps on Sunday, Feb. 15. Match time against the Sooners is set for 2:00 p.m. (E.S.T.).
UTC has already locked up at least a tie for its third-straight regular season Southern Conference title and the 10th in the last 11 years. Chattanooga is 11-5 overall and 6-0 in SoCon action. The Mocs are winners in each of their last eight outings.
Oklahoma is 6-9 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 action. The Sooners are trying to snap a four-match slide, all against ranked competition.
Both of these teams have been ranked at one point in the season. Oklahoma started the year in the top-25, climbing as high as No. 19 before a pair of losses to Rutgers (20-18) and No. 5 Missouri (27-9) at the Northeast Duals in Troy, N.Y., on Nov. 28-29. The Mocs were ranked No. 20 on Dec. 14 before a one-point loss (18-17) to North Carolina.
Check the wrestling schedule page on GoMocs.com for links to live scoring and a live MocsVision broadcast. Fans can also follow results on twitter @UTCWrestling. The MocsVision broadcast is part of the SoCon Digital Network and is free to all viewers. Danny Gilbert and Brad Jackson are scheduled to call the action.
CHATTANOOGA MOCS PROBABLE LINEUP
125: No. 10 Sean Boyle (Sr. – 24-5, 5-0 SoCon)
133: No. 13 Nick Soto (Sr. – 24-7, 5-0 SoCon)
141: Michael Pongracz (So. – 16-12, 5-0 SoCon)
149: Shawn Greevy (Sr. – 14-10, 2-1 SoCon)
157: Austin Sams (Jr. – 15-13, 4-2 SoCon)
165: Justin Lampe (Fr. - 3-9, 3-3 SoCon)
174: Sean Mappes (So. – 14-7, 4-1 SoCon)
184: John Shrader (So. – 12-6, 3-0 SoCon)
McCoy Newberg (So. - 19-5, 2-0 SoCon)
John Lampe (Jr. - 11-8, 0-1 SoCon)
197: Scottie Boykin (So. – 19-9, 5-0 SoCon)
285: Jared Johnson (So. – 25-6, 5-0 SoCon)
INDIVIDUALLY
Seniors Sean Boyle and Nick Soto lead the team at 125 and 133, respectively. Boyle moved up to No. 10, while Soto stayed at No. 13 in this week's InterMat individual rankings. Both have 24 wins and are undefeated in SoCon action. A three-time SoCon Champion, Soto is 24-0 in his career against league opponents.
Sophomores McCoy Newberg and Scottie Boykin have both win six matches in a row. Boykin has done his work as a starter at 197. Newberg has moved up to 18 for a pair of dual wins over Campbell and Appalachian State, and the 174 title at the Cumberland Open, in his recent streak. Sophomore John Shrader has also won five straight at 184.
Sophomore Jared Johnson is a two-time SoCon Wrestler of the Week and a SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week. He has a team-best 25-6 overall record at heavyweight and is also unbeaten in SoCon matches at 5-0. He missed the Appalachian State match with an illness, but is back in the lineup this week.
OKLAHOMA (6-9, 1-2 BIG 12)
125: Ryan Millhof (Fr. - 16-12, 5-8 Big 12)
133: No. 4 Cody Brewer (Jr. - 14-1, 11-1 Big 12)
141: Trae Blackwell (Fr. - 13-15, 6-9 Big 12)
149: Shayne Tucker (Fr. - 13-17, 4-9 Big 12)
157: No. 19 Justin DeAngelis (Sr. - 18-5, 12-3 Big 12)
165: Clark Glass (So. - 16-12, 7-7 Big 12)
174: No. 17 Matt Reed (So. - 23-10, 10-5 Big 12)
184: Brooks Climmons (Fr. - 3-13, 1-8 Big 12)
197: Andrew Dixon (Fr. - 12-14, 4-7 Big 12)
Brad Johnson (So. - 10-7, 4-0 Big 12)
285: No. 11 Ross Larson (So. - 22-5, 9-4 Big 12)
KEY MATCHES WITH OKLAHOMA
There are two big individual battles on tap this weekend at 133 and heavyweight. Chattanooga's 11th-ranked senior Nick Soto is matches against Oklahoma's fourth-ranked junior Cody Brewer. Soto is 9-14 all-time against ranked opponents, including four wins over a top-10 foe. His signature win was last year's 15-8 decision against then-No. 1 Ryan Mango of Stanford on Dec. 20, 2013.
Soto is currently on a 10-match winning streak and is 24-7 overall. Brewer is 14-1 overall.
Sophomore Jared Johnson was on a roll, winning nine in a row before being sideline last weekend. He is back in the lineup and puts his 25-6 mark on the line against Oklahoma's 11th-ranked sophomore Ross Larson. Larson is 22-5 on the year.
ALL-TIME VS. OKLAHOMA
The Mocs are 0-3 all-time against Oklahoma. The last meeting was a 33-3 loss in Norman, Okla., on Feb. 12, 2010. The Sooners visited Chattanooga once before, posting a 23-14 win over the Mocs on Jan. 11, 2009.
Previous Matches
Feb. 12, 2010 - No. 9 Oklahoma* 33, Chattanooga 3
Jan. 11, 2009 - No. 10 Oklahoma 23, Chattanooga* 14
Jan. 12, 2008 - No. 17 Oklahoma* 21 - No. 19 Chattanooga 13
LAST TIME VS. OKLAHOMA
UTC lost on the road to No. 9 Oklahoma on Feb. 13, 2010 in head coach Heath Eslinger's first season. Sophomore Jason McCroskey posted the Mocs' only win at 184.
No. 9 Oklahoma 33 - Chattanooga 3
Feb. 13, 2010 - Norman, Okla.
125: No. 18 Jarrod Patterson (OU) - Dec. 11-6 - Demetrius Johnson (UTC) - OU 3-0
133: Kendric Maple (OU) - TF 16-1 - Josh Statum (UTC) - OU 8-0
141: No. 3 Zack Bailey (OU) - MD 12-1 - Ben Johnson (UTC) - OU 12-0
149: No. 3 Kyle Terry (OU) - TF 22-7 - Dean Pavlou (UTC) - OU 17-0
157: No. 12 Shane Vernon (OU) - Dec. 4-3 - Josh Condon (UTC) - OU 20-0
165: No. 15 Tyler Caldwell (OU) - Dec. 3-0 - No. 20 Brandon Wright (UTC) - OU 23-0
174: No. 15 Jeff James (OU) - Dec. 8-2 - Jake Young (UTC) - 26-0
184: Jason McCroskey (UTC) - Dec. 4-0 - Erich Schmidtke (OU) - OU 26-3
197: No. 6 Eric Lapotsky (OU) - Dec. 9-3 - Nate Brown (UTC) - OU 29-3
285: No. 15 Nathan Fernandez (OU) - MD 18-5 - Matt Lettner (UTC) - OU 33-3
NATIONAL DUALS FORMAT
This year's format melds a regional concept born a few seasons ago with a championship weekend site to fully expand the reach of the event. Eight regional sites will host play-in matches on Feb. 14-15, while the winners of those eight duals will go to Iowa City on Feb. 21-22 and then compete in the championship round. The eight teams advancing will be reseeded according to their ranking by the USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll. No draws are pre-determined based on first-round matches. Quarterfinals and Semifinals will take place in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa on February 21 with the finals and third-place dual on February 22. The semifinals and finals will be shown live on the Big Ten Network.
MORE ON THE NATIONAL DUALS
The Division I National Duals was founded as part of the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Virginia in 1989 as the National Dual Meet Championships. In 1991, the event began to rotate around the country with the oversight of the National Duals handled by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Since 1989, 10 different cities have hosted the championships entirely or served as a championship finals site. Cedar Falls, Iowa had the longest consecutive run of hosting championships, with six straight years from 2006-2011. This year's final host, Iowa City, has hosted the event previously in 1998 and 1999.
Over the past 26 years, the team championship trophy has only been hoisted by six programs – Oklahoma State (8 titles), Minnesota (8), Iowa (6), Penn State (2), Cornell (1) and Iowa State (1). Iowa, Minnesota and Cornell all look to win another dual team championship this season.
CLOSE LOSSES
All five of the Mocs losses have been very close matches. Four have been by four points or less and only at No. 22 Old Dominion did UTC not win at least five individual matches.
Oklahoma has had some of the same tough-luck. Three of their nine losses have been by three points or less.
MOCS VS. THE SOCON
The Mocs are 34-1 in SoCon action in six seasons under current head coach Heath Eslinger. The lone loss was a 17-25 setback at home to Appalachian State on Feb. 5, 2012. Since then, UTC has won 20-straight league matches.
SOTO CLIMBING CAREER WINS CHART
Senior Nick Soto is 110-34 in his career at UTC. He is currently sixth on UTC's all-time wins. He is two behind Charlie Buckshaw (1986-89) and three behind Charlie Heard (1982-84). He will have to go on a strong run to end the season to catch head coach Heath Eslinger who was 120-18 from 1996-00. Michael Keefe (2002-07) has the school record with a 134-40 career tally.
