The charter bus for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team already was scheduled, but the Mocs have added a couple of days to the tour.
Instead of heading straight to Edwardsville, Ill., for a Sunday afternoon meet with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, the Mocs will go first to Iowa City to tackle top-ranked Iowa on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the NWCA’s National Duals. That’s UTC’s reward for knocking off Oklahoma 19-16 this past Sunday in the NWCA round of 16.
The other teams traveling to Iowa City are second-ranked Missouri, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Minnesota, No. 5 Cornell, No. 11 Lehigh and No. 12 Illinois. The semifinals would be Saturday afternoon, the championship match on Sunday.
“It’s great company. It’s nice to be included in an elite group of teams like that,” UTC coach Heath Eslinger said. “We obviously have our hands full, but we’re not shying away from it.”
Although they haven’t faced any of the teams in dual-meet competition, the Mocs did get looks at Cornell, Missouri and Lehigh at the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1-2. Iowa won the Midlands championship that week.
“They’re gooood,” Eslinger said, stretching out his one-word description. “They’re ranked tops in the country and they have a good guy at every weight class.”
Included in the Hawkeyes’ current 15-win streak are defeats of Iowa State, Michigan State, Rutgers, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Minnesota and Penn State. Their closest match was an 18-14 victory at Ohio State on Jan. 4.
There is a Chattanooga connection to Iowa in associate head coach Terry Brands. The two-time world champion and 2000 Olympic bronze medalist was head coach at UTC from 2002 to ’05, and Eslinger was his assistant from 2002 to ’04.
The Mocs most recently wrestled Iowa in 2012, losing 37-6 at Maclellan Gym. UTC lost 47-0 to the Hawkeyes in 2010.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.