Moc has new role at NCAA

Cody Cleveland left Tuesday for St. Louis to attend his fifth NCAA tournament. However, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestler will compete rather than sit behind a video camera.

It wasn’t that long ago that he felt his only NCAA experience would be as part of the tournament’s video crew headed by Gordon Connell, his high school coach.

This year’s Southern Conference tournament outstanding wrestler, Cleveland was all but encouraged to leave the Mocs two years ago.

“They brushed me off — basically said I wasn’t good enough to wrestle,” Cleveland said after earning his first Southern Conference championship and NCAA berth.

Terry Brands, the former UTC coach, signed Cleveland after he won four state-tournament medals and two Division II championships at McCallie. But Brands left to run the U.S. Olympic wrestling training facility in Colorado Springs, and the UTC job fell to Joe Seay, who hired Olympian Sammy Henson as an assistant.

“I was hurt and had to have shoulder surgery, and when I went to tell him, Coach Seay didn’t even know who I was,” Cleveland recalled. “When I came back, Sammy still didn’t know my name.”

Recovered from surgery to repair both a torn labrum and a torn bicep, Cleveland had another meeting with the coaches. He told them he planned to drop to 133 pounds.

“That second semester of my second year I was a clock-runner,” Cleveland said. “.Sammy said, ‘If you’re on scholarship and not starting, you’re probably going to lose your scholarship.’ I thought about walking away.”

He entertained thoughts of transferring to Tennessee. Yet that would have meant ending a wrestling career he began as a first-grader.

And then Seay’s tenure ended abruptly after just one season, and Chris Bono was named interim coach and then head coach.

“I didn’t know what was going on, but you could tell it wasn’t going well. You could sense the tension,” Cleveland recalled. “Then the coaching (change) happened. I liked Bono, and I decided to stick around.”

Bono saw what Brands had seen, especially after Cleveland downed Mark Nicely and almost beat All-American Michael Keefe in a wrestle-off early in the Bono era. Cleveland went to the University Games last spring and finished second, earning a trip to Colorado Springs. He was able to work out daily with Bono and new Mocs assistant Nate Gallick.

“What a pleasant surprise Cody has been,” Bono said.

One of eight Mocs earning spots in the NCAA tournament, Cleveland is 25-6 and the nation’s 13th-ranked 141-pounder. He was awarded a 10th seed. While he ranks among the nation’s top five in technical falls, Cleveland won the SoCon tournament with his second and third pins of the year.

“Cody stayed the course. He has done everything we asked,” Bono said. “He trained all summer; he wrestled freestyle last spring. His attitude is great and he listens. Wrestling is fun for him, and he’s doing a good job and having a good time.”

Cleveland had wrestled Keefe closely and knew from those experiences that he could wrestle with the best in the country. He proved it earlier this season by winning seven straight consolation-round matches to finish fourth at the prestigious Midlands tournament. One of his wins came over Nick Gallick, Nate’s brother and the new Big 12 champion.

“I went into the year thinking about being an All-American. I thought I could wrestle, and wrestling this year has reinforced what I thought,” Cleveland said.