Appalachian State’s dominant start against the University of Tennessee Chattanooga quickly took the drama out of Sunday’s showdown at McKenzie Arena between two first-place teams in the Southern Conference wrestling standings.
The visiting Mountaineers won 27-12 to improve to 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference, dropping the Mocs to 5-8, 3-1.
The Mocs opened the dual with a 6-5 decision in favor of junior 125-pounder Fabian Guiterrez, but their 3-0 lead quickly evaporated as the Mountaineers won the next six bouts. Included in that stretch of wins for the visitors was a technical fall at 133 pounds by Codi Russell and a pin at 141 by Bradley Irwin.
A key match followed at 149 with the day’s only pairing of nationally ranked wrestlers. Appalachian State’s Jonathan Millner, ranked 21st, kept the momentum rolling with a 6-3 win over 24th-ranked Tanner Smith. The Mocs lost three more tight decisions – 8-4 at 157, 2-1 at 165 and 5-2 at 174 – to fall behind 22-3.
UTC sophomore Matthew Waddell, ranked 20th at 184, then won by pin to improve to 19-6 this season. Senior 197-pounder Rodney Jones (14-9) followed with a decision in the Mocs’ favor, but the Mountaineers closed it out with a technical fall at 285.
The Mocs return to competition with another critical SoCon dual at 2 p.m. Saturday at Campbell (7-2, 3-0).
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.