Blue-Gold matchups
125: Alonzo Allen (Fr.) vs. Cody Minnick (Fr.)133: Chris Debien (Fr.) vs. Alex Ward (So.)141: Michael Pongracz (Jr.) vs. Roman Boylen (Fr.)149: Zach Shareef (Fr.) vs. Andrew Webb (Fr.)157: Kamaal Shakur (Fr.) vs. Demarco Gatti (Fr.)165: Dominic Lampe (Fr.) vs. Barrett Walthall (So.)174: Sean Mappes (Jr.) vs. Bryce Carr (Jr.)184: John Lampe (Sr.) vs. Chad Solomon (Fr.)197: Scottie Boykin (Jr.) vs. Clay Dent (Sr.)285: Jared Johnson (Jr.) vs. Connor Tolley (Fr.)
A mixture of veterans and a whole lot of youngsters will be on display at Maclellan Gym tonight when the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga unveils its 2015-16 wrestling team.
The veterans include Michael Pongracz, who’s dropping from 149 to 141 pounds; Sean Mappes (174); John Lampe (184); Scottie Boykin (197); and Jared Johnson (285).
Austin Sams, who’s expected to be at 149 pounds, will sit out tonight’s Blue-Gold meet rather than taking the chance of further aggravating a minor injury.
Among the young Mocs to watch in the 6 p.m. event are those vying to fill the figurative big shoes of Sean Boyle (125) and Nick Soto (133). The 125-pound match features freshmen Alonzo Allen and Cody Minnick, and the 133-pound match pits Chris DeBien against Alex Ward, who just completed his two-year Mormon mission trip.
Another two wrestlers coach Heath Eslinger is looking forward to seeing in a setting more formal than the practice room are Kamaal Shakur (157) and Dominic Lampe (165).
“Our guys are hungry to compete under the lights, and this is a good opportunity for fans to see some of the guys our fans don’t yet know,” Eslinger said.
One of the most competitive bouts may be at 174 pounds when Mappes will battle Bryce Carr, last year a national junior college champion.
Yet tonight is more for Eslinger than the competition, and the lineup for the season-opening Nov. 7 home meet versus Stanford won’t necessarily be set by the Blue-Gold outcomes.
“I want to see if there are areas of weakness we haven’t seen yet that we need to address,” the coach said. “It could be anything from not warming up enough or warming up too much to the technical aspects.”
Boykin and Shakur will take part in the NWCA All-Star Classic this Sunday at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta. In the undercard starting at 3:15 p.m., Shakur will take on North Carolina State’s Chad Pike and Boykin will wrestle against Army’s Bryce Barnes.
“I think any time you can get guys in an event of this caliber, it is a great thing for our program, from a publicity standpoint,” Eslinger said in a release. “I also think they are two guys who are super-deserving. They are both very talented and are going to do great things this year.”
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.