There is an urgency in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling room to get back on the right track, and the Mocs hope to do that today in Norfolk, Va., where they tackle 22nd-ranked Old Dominion.
UTC coach Heath Eslinger plans to weigh in a pair of freshmen for the meet, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Freshman Garrett Alexander (1-3) is the lone wrestler scheduled to weigh in at 165 pounds, but freshman Kamaal Shakur will weigh in at 157 and it's possible that he or 157-pound Austin Sams will wrestle at 165.
The Mocs' other 165-pound candidate, Jared Pressley, is out with a staph infection in his knee.
"We have to see how the dual is going. We want to figure out the best lineup, but we're here to win," Eslinger said Friday.
He might have burned a redshirt season for Shakur regardless.
"Tennessee pulled (quarterback) Josh Dobbs out of a redshirt, and that worked out pretty well," Eslinger said.
Shakur's appearance today would be an attempt to shore up the lineup. The team has lost two close meets in a row, and the general feeling is that the Mocs (3-2) let prime opportunities against Purdue and North Carolina slip through their fingers.
"We've got to get back on track, and this is a great opportunity," Eslinger said. "We need to do what we should've done the last two matches.
The Mocs lost 19-16 to Purdue and 18-17 to North Carolina and surrendered their Top 25 national ranking.
They are still feeling the loss of Corey Mock, one of the team's three senior anchors along with Sean Boyle (125) and Nick Soto (133). And the 18th-ranked Soto has dropped three of his last five matches, including a pin against Purdue.
"Obviously 165 is a question right now, but I think overall we're pretty darn solid bottom to top. There are a lot of guys wrestling well," Eslinger said. "What we have to do is get six or seven wrestling well on the same day. Guys are showing they can win. They just need to do it together. If we had we'd be 5-0 right now."
Old Dominion, which is 2-2, has a 16-15 win over Purdue. The Monarchs have five wrestlers ranked in the top 25 for their weight classes: No. 20 Brandon Jeske (125), No. 12 Alexander Richardson (149), No. 14 Tristan Warner (165), No. 4 Jack Dechow (184) and No. 18 Jacob Henderson (285).
Chattanooga is 1-2 all-time vs. ODU and lost 31-9 in their last meeting during the 2011-12 season.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.