The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team had three individual champions Saturday in the Southern Conference tournament at McAlister Fieldhouse in Charleston, S.C.
Alonzo Allen (125 pounds), Bryce Carr (184) and Scottie Boykin (197) earned titles for the Mocs, tying SIU-Edwardsville for the most by one team. They each automatically qualify for the NCAA championships in Cleveland, Ohio, set for March 15-17.
As a team UTC finished second, with 88 points to regular-season champion Appalachian State's 110. Campbell finished third with 63 points, a point ahead of SIUE. The Citadel (30.5), Gardner-Webb (21), Virginia Military Institute (15.5) and Davidson (13) rounded out the scoring.
The Mocs had one second-place finish, as Chad Pyke fell to SIUE's Nate Higgins by pin in 4:38 in the 165-pound final.
Carr, the SoCon wrestler of the year, and Boykin each earned his second conference title, while it was Allen's first.
"No one wants to finish second after the amount of work we put into it, but this is a really special group of guys," UTC coach Heath Eslinger told GoMocs.com afterward. "There are a lot of things to be excited about today, especially the next few weeks for Scottie, Bryce and Alonzo.
"I thought Chad Pyke wrestled well, but that is just our sport. You can go from the mountaintop to the valley in a breath, and I just feel for those guys."
The Mocs had four take third place: Chris Debien (133), Michael Pongracz (141), Justin Lampe (174) and Connor Tolley (285). Roman Boylen was fourth at 149 pounds.
The at-large selections are set to come out Tuesday, with Eslinger hoping to have a couple qualify.
"I think we have guys who can get on the podium," he said. "With the type of schedule we wrestled, hopefully we can get one or two more in."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.