Niko Brown didn't know whether his season would be extended after a second-place finish in Saturday's Southern Conference wrestling tournament.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman has lived to wrestle another day this year after learning on Wednesday that he had gained a wild-card berth for next week's NCAA tournament in Philadelphia.
The 197-pounder will carry a 19-9 record into the tournament.
"Hopefully Niko will get there, see that he can compete on a national level and get even more hungry for opportunities in the future," UTC coach Heath Eslinger said.
The addition of Brown gives the Mocs a six-man contingent for the tournament, which begins a week from today and runs through Saturday night's championships. He joins senior and former All-American Cody Cleveland (141), juniors Bucky Johnson (133) and Brandon Wright, sophomore Josh Condon (157), Brandon Wright (174) and senior Jason McCroskey.
This will be Cleveland's third trip and the second for McCroskey and Johnson.