Is anybody in the Southern Conference ever going to catch the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team?
The Mocs graduated five 2007 Southern Conference tournament finalists, including four champions, but are heavy favorites to win their fourth straight title at today’s tournament in McKenzie Arena. They recently completed their fourth regular season without a loss in conference duals.
“Look at the scores,” Mocs coach Chris Bono said when asked if his team was head and shoulders above the rest of the field. “I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I don’t think I’m saying anything people don’t know.”
Only three teams have won Southern Conference wrestling championships since 2000: UTC has five titles, Appalachian State has two and The Citadel one. The Mocs are seeking their 23rd tournament title overall; their closest challenger in that category, VMI, has nine.
“Bono’s doing a great job,” Davidson coach Bob Patnesky said of the Mocs coach, who recently earned a bronze medal at the Pan-American Games. “He’s a world-class athlete and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a world-class coach.
“I think that a lot of the teams are starting to catch up a little. A lot of it starts with dollars, and if you don’t have a whole lot of them, it’s going to be hard to compete with Chattanooga.”
Davidson is trying to compete with only 1.9 scholarships. Coaching at a school with a tuition of $42,000, Patnesky is battling on more than one front.
“The academic standards are 1400-plus SATs,” he said. “My first objective was to fill a team. Now we have a full lineup, per se. It’s starting to get where we can have two guys in each weight.”
He’s in an uphill battle to catch not only Chattanooga but also Appalachian State, UNC Greensboro, VMI and The Citadel.
“Appalachian and Greensboro are always going to be up there,” Patnesky said. “VMI is always tough, and The Citadel has a bunch of freshmen and it’s going to take time for them to develop. The league needs to be more competitive for the sport and for the conference, but right now, Chattanooga is the team to beat and probably will be for a few more years.”
Appalachian State coach Paul Mance didn’t want to go that far. The dean of conference coaches with 32 years, Mance agreed that UTC is ahead — for now.
“They’re ahead this year. They jumped up into the top 10 in the country. I don’t think it’s just the rest of the league — they’re probably ahead of the whole Southeast,” he said. “I don’t think anyone (from the South) has been ranked in the top 10 in years, and it’s a big plus for the Southeast and the conference.”
The Mocs, currently 18th, were ranked 10th nationally from Dec. 11 to Jan. 8.
“It remains to be seen if they can finish in the top 10 in the country,” Mance said.
As for the conference, Mance has seen programs go through cycles. He sees that trend continuing.
“I think Greensboro is going to take wrestling seriously. I think they’ll put some money into it. I think our program is a very stable program and we take it seriously,” he said. “I think the gap will close itself. We won like five or six conference titles and then Chattanooga was stronger and then we got stronger.
“The cycle will change. Chattanooga won’t stay ahead of us any great length of time. Their team is not going to be the same next year as this year. I don’t know how VMI or Citadel will be, but I know Greensboro will be tough again next year.”
UTC has benefited from transfers, including Steve Hromada (133/Virginia), Seth Garvin (157/Wisconsin), Nick Davis (165/Minnesota), Josh Edmondson (184/North Idaho Junior College) and Matt Koz (197/Minnesota).
“Chattanooga has good kids, but half of those kids are move-in kids, a kid that already has experience and is coming from a big program to you,” Mance said. “I know Bono will do a good job, but we’ll compete with them.”
UTC, Bono said, benefits from competing against ranked opponents such as Penn State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Missouri, Central Michigan, Northern Iowa and Oklahoma.
“We keep preparing for the nation,” he said. “Every day, we’re preparing to get to and stay in the top 10. We work out hard every day and recruit good kids. We’re trying to win national titles, and our schedule is one way we stay ahead — by going to top events like the national duals and Midlands. We try to outwork the country. Good things come when you work hard,” he said.
“We want to be the face of the Southern Conference, but the conference is getting better. We’re getting there (as a conference) nationally. The conference coaches are doing a good job. It’s just a matter of time before it’s a well-balanced conference.”
Southern Conference wrestling tournament
Today at McKenzie Arena
Admission: $15 for adults, $10 for students
Participating teams: Appalachian State, Citadel, Davidson, UNC Greensboro, UT-Chattanooga, VMI.
Schedule
10 a.m. – doors open
11 a.m. – quarterfinals
1 p.m. – semifinals
3 p.m. – consolation semifinals
4:30 p.m. – consolation finals
7 p.m. – championship finals
Champions and five wild-card selections will advance to the NCAA tournament March 20-22 in St. Louis.
Ward Gossett is an assistant sports editor and writer for the Times Free Press. Ward has a long history in Chattanooga journalism. He actually wrote a bylined story for the Chattanooga News-Free Press as a third-grader. He Began working part-time there in 1968 and was hired full time in 1970. Ward now covers high school athletics, primarily football, wrestling and baseball and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling. Over a 40-year career, he has covered ...
