I didn’t really know what to expect from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team this year.

I knew they’d scrap — although I didn’t see much in the November shutout loss to Virginia Tech — and I assumed they’d get better as the season progressed.

This is one of the most inexperienced teams the Mocs have put out there since former coach Jim Morgan’s early years with the program. To refresh your memory, there has been a redshirt freshman at 125 (Bucky Johnson), at 149 (Dan Waddell), at 174 (Jason McCroskey) and at 197 (Ethan Winel) most of the year. Then there is a sophomore (Josh Statum) at 133 who hadn’t wrestled in a varsity match in almost two years and a true freshman (Cody Sliger) at heavyweight. And when Johnson missed part of the year with tonsillitis, the Mocs were left with a true freshman (Paul Garza) in his place.

It leaves the Mocs with three experienced wrestlers in Cody Sliger (141), Joey Knox (157) and Seth Garvin (165) and Knox has been in and out of the lineup.

Coach Chris Bono talks about making strides and preparing for the postseason, but this bunch of Mocs is more than susceptible to losing UTC’s hold on the Southern Conference championship, especially if they don’t wake up, shape up and start taking advantage of extra quality time. Bono has made himself available for one-on-one workouts and a couple only have taken advantage — Cleveland and Garvin.

“The jump from high school wrestling to college wrestling is like going from English to Chinese,” Bono said last week. “I feel like I’m spending a lot of afternoon practice time teaching when we need to be training and getting in shape for the postseason.”

The coach was venting about the lack of off-season work his team put in, and any successful athlete who’s been there will tell you rather quickly that college athletics demands a daily commitment. Maybe it’s one of the lessons these youngsters have to learn, and if they don’t there’s a good chance their days as Mocs wrestlers will be numbered.

UTC ran into problems earlier this season when 133-pound Steve Hromada quit after Bono helped him get a sixth year of eligibility. Statum wasn’t yet eligible and then Ben Johnson, another of those redshirt freshmen and the only remaining candidate to fill the slot, quit to concentrate on his grades. Two weeks ago they lost both of the 184-pounders — Kyle McKee and Tyler Roberson — and then last week Winel allegedly ran afoul of the law and got suspended from the team.

Bono and assistants Nate Gallick and Israel Silva deserve better. Now I’m not saying that some of the kids aren’t working. They are, but like the coach said, it’s a major jump into the college circle. I will say, though, that there are a couple of older wrestlers who are setting a poor example, and maybe they’re running low on extra chances — or ought to be. If somebody isn’t going to buy into what Bono’s selling, then maybe he ought to move on where wrestling is less important.

Gallick, by the way, has been in Russia competing in what Bono said was the strongest tournament in the world and Silva has been training at the U.S. Olympic training facility in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Mocs might not have had a problem at 133 if former Bradley Central wrestler David Mang had gotten into school. Mang didn’t meet athletic academic requirements but reportedly is in school and making good grades. Word is that he has been competing in mixed martial arts events.

An Elsea moment

Veteran Chattanooga referee Donnie Elsea has the unwanted reputation of taking a spill at some point during most every tournament in which he officiates. He’s been bowled over, knocked down and bounced into the bleachers. He has been left bruised, sometimes bloodied and once or twice dazed.

It’s something other officials laugh about — not so much at Elsea’s reputation as the spills they also have taken. It is almost like a badge of honor like Tater Vineyard’s broken nose or even Eddie Davis’ seam-splitting show at Soddy-Daisy’s match with Ooltewah earlier this year.

An official in Science Hill’s Fandetti Brawl had his moment Saturday, getting hit in the head when he gave new meaning to the phrase “up close and personal. It happened in the first period of one of Science Hill 140-pounder Brett Usary’s matches and the ref had to be replaced.

“That was pretty funny,” Usary told Jeff Birchfield of the Johnson City Press. “I’ve never seen or heard of anything like the ref getting knocked out before.”

He obviously has somehow missed Elsea in action.

Usary, by the way, won his 200th varsity match in the tournament.

Sympathies to Jim Morgan

Veteran Baylor coach Jim Morgan and his wife, Sis, buried one of their two sons last week. James David Morgan was 34 years old and apparently died of an epileptic seizure.

I know it happens weekly if not daily, but as a parent with grandchildren, it just doesn’t seem right that a parent should have to go through such an ordeal.

I think of all the lives Morgan and his wife have touched over the years whether at Baylor, at UTC or just out riding their bikes or walking around the neighborhood. In a kindly fashion, he has always taught the tough lessons that will carry one through, and he has served as a father figure to so many good young men who might otherwise have taken another turn.

Please keep Jim and Sis in your thoughts and prayers.

The coming weeks

Notre Dame goes to Ooltewah on Tuesday, Soddy-Daisy is at Bradley Central on Thursday and McCallie goes to Baylor on Friday.

The region duals are a week from Thursday at Soddy-Daisy, Bradley and East Ridge and the traditional region tournaments will be making first-time visits to Walker Valley and Signal Mountain.

The state tournament at McKenzie Arena in mid-February has been moved from its conventional Thursday-Saturday schedule to Wednesday-Friday.