Chattanooga has two 2008 wrestling All-Americans: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Cody Cleveland and Jordan Leen, son of former UTC coach Mark Leen.
Cleveland, a two-time state champion at McCallie and a state finalist against Leen as a high school sophomore, will wrestle for seventh place at 141 pounds this morning in St. Louis against fifth-seeded Manuel Rivera of Minnesota. A standout and four-time Tennessee state high school champion at Baylor, Cornell University’s Leen will wrestle tonight against Mike Poeta of Illinois for the NCAA’s 157-pound championship.
Leen reached the championship match with a 9-2 semifinal win over Stanford’s Josh Zupanic of Stanford. His big win, though, came in the quarterfinals as he upset top seed and returning champion Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro.
Cleveland, who lost his opening match Thursday, wrestled his way back through the consolations and assured himself of All-America status with a 7-6 victory over Michigan’s Kellen Russell, the 141-pound No. 3 seed. However, the man who put him in the consolation rounds Thursday, Army’s Matthew Kyler, bested him 7-6 in the seventh losers-bracket round and ended Cleveland’s quest for a third-place finish.
The sophomore extended the Mocs’ string of All-Americans to four years. Michael Keefe and Jon Sioredas were fifth in 2005 and Mett Keller was eighth in 2006 and fourth last year. He also has now provided future UTC teams with a building block in coach Chris Bono’s estimation.
“This is the first All-American I feel I can really claim,” said Bono, in his second year as the Mocs’ head coach. “I feel better about next year already, though. We’ll have an All-American coming back and we can build a program around that. We can start talking about national championships.”
Cleveland beat Russell, who entered the tournament with a 30-5 record and a No. 6 national ranking, with an escape and two takedowns in the third period.
“It was obvious from the start of the match that he wanted it a little more than Russell,” Bono said. “His commitment to the program and our way of doing things paid off.”
Cleveland was ahead 11-1 against Oklahoma’s Zach Bailey but had to scramble in the final period to pull out a 15-13 win in the third round of consolations. He then proceeded to beat Liberty’s Tim Harner 5-0 to set up the match with Russell.
While he was delighted with Cleveland’s showing, Bono was somewhat disappointed that none of Cleveland’s seven teammates that got here with him were in the medals.
“We have an All-American, but we only have one. We could have had several,” he said.
The Mocs started Friday night’s round in 37th place but figured to move up with Cleveland’s win and placement points.
Other than Cleveland, Lloyd Rogers (174) and Matt Koz were the only other Mocs to reach the fourth consolation round. However, each fell two wins shy of All-America status. Rogers’ hopes ended in an 11-7 loss to Hofstra’s Alton Lucas, the No. 6 seed, while fellow senior Koz was eliminated on a major decision loss to Hofstra’s Joe Rovelli, the No. 10 seed. Before he was eliminated, Koz got a measure of revenge with a victory over Oklahoma’s Joel Flaggert, who had beat him 5-2 in the teams’ Jan. 18 dual meet.
UTC seniors Javier Maldonado (125) and Seth Garvin (157) were ousted in the third round Friday morning.
Maldonado lost to North Dakota State’s Eric Hoffman. After posting a 2-1 first-period advantage, he gave up a takedown and two-point near-fall off one of his own shots in the second. He tied the match at 6 but had to cut Hoffman to start the third period. He got a takedown and cut Hoffman again but was stalemated on another shot before giving up a late takedown.
Garvin lost to Indiana’s Brandon Becker 10-0. He gave up a five-point move in the first period and never recovered.
Former McCallie wrestler Spencer Manley lost in the third round of consolations. Wrestling for Navy, Manley fell 4-0 to Oklahoma State’s Newly McSpadden.
UTC’s Mocs on Friday
Seventh-round consolations
141—Matthew Kyler (Army) dec. No. 10 Cody Cleveland, 7-6.
Sixth-round consolations
141—Cleveland dec. No. 3 Kellen Russell (Michigan), 5-0.
Fifth-round consolations
141—Cleveland dec. Tim Harner (Liberty), 5-0; 174—No. 6 Alton Lucas (Hofstra) dec. Lloyd Rogers, 11-7; 197—No. 12 Joseph Rovelli (Hofstra) major dec. Matt Koz, 13-2.
Fourth-round consolations
125—Eric Hoffman (North Dakota State) dec. Javier Maldonado, 12-6; 141—Cleveland dec. Zach Bailey (Oklahoma), 14-13; 157—No. 4 Brandon Becker (Indiana) major dec. Seth Garvin, 10-0; 174—Rogers dec. Aron Scott (Iowa State), 8-2; 197—Koz dec. No. 10 Joel Flaggert (Oklahoma), 4-1.
Third-round consolations
125—Maldonado dec. Nicholas Bedelyon (Kent State), 8-4; 133—Kyle Hutter (Old Dominion) dec. Hromada, 2-1; 141—Cleveland dec. Corey Jantzen (Harvard), 3-0; 149—Eric Medina (Maryland) pinned Joey Knox, 2:34; 157—Garvin dec. Christian Snook (Army), 5-4, OT; 174—Rogers dec. Philip Moricone (Edinboro), 3-2; 184—No. 9 Brent Chriswell (Arizona State) major dec. Josh Edmondson, 14-3; 197—Koz dec. John Drake (Cal State-Fullerton), 5-1.
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 ...
