A crowd of more than 600 gathered Friday night at Maclellan Gym and watched the UTC wrestling team in the annual Blue & Gold Match.
The gold squad came from behind for a 17-15 victory.
No wrestler reached double figures in scoring in any of the first five matches of the intrasquad scrimmage.
"It is tough on them because they are teammates and hopefully they have mutual respect for each other," said coach Heath Eslinger in a UTC release. "At the same time, there is a lot on the line because there are 38 guys vying for 10 spots.
"They have done a great job of responding to the challenge that we are here to make each other better."
Eslinger, a former standout at Bradley Central High School and UTC, is beginning his first season as coach of the Mocs. He most recently was head coach at Cleveland High.
The deciding match Friday night was at 197 pounds. Freshman Niko Brown scored a technical fall against junior Stephen Garrett, putting the gold team ahead 15-14.
Heavyweight Tom Minwell, a junior, followed with a 3-1 decision over junior Matt Lettner to close the event.
Demetrius Johnson, a sophomore and defending Southern Conference champ at 125, also won by decision for the gold team, as did senior Cody Cleveland (141) and sophomore Brandon Wright (165).
Winning by decision for the blue team were freshmen Josh Sandoval (133) and Dean Pavlou (149), senior Joey Knox (157), junior Mark Rogers (174) and sophomore Jason McCroskey (184).
"This was a great way for us to start the season," Eslinger said. "Getting this many people out to the match and being a part of Blue & Gold Week shows that we have great support in Chattanooga for our program."
UTC opens its season Nov. 7-8 in Blacksburg, Va. The Mocs take on Kent State and Virginia Tech on Nov. 7 and then compete in the Hokie Open Nov. 8.
UTC's first home matches are Nov. 14 against Gardner-Webb and Anderson.
GOLD 17, BLUE 15
125 -- Demetrius Johnson (Gold) dec. Josh Statum, 6-3; 133 -- Josh Sandoval (Blue) dec. Cody Hood, 9-5; 141 -- Cody Cleveland (Gold) dec. Ben Johnson, 8-2; 149 -- Dean Pavlou (Blue) dec. Alex Hudson, 7-3; 157 -- Joey Knox (Blue) dec. Josh Condon, 5-2; 165 -- Brandon Wright (Gold) dec. Mikey Fuller, 10-3; 174 -- Mark Rogers (Blue) dec. Jake Young, 7-5; 184 -- Jason McCroskey (Blue) dec. Tyler Roberson, 6-2; 197 -- Niko Brown (Gold) tech. fall Stephen Garrett, 7:00, 18-3; 285 -- Tom Minwell (Gold) dec. Matt Lettner, 3-1
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