UTC 20, OHIO UNIVERSITY 18(Meet started at 149 pounds)125–Gabriel Ramos (O) pinned Prescott Garner, 2:58; 133–Gavin Moore (O) dec. Adam Wilson, 7-1; 141–Shawn Greevy (UTC) major dec. Heath Allen, 13-0; 149–Alex Hudson (UTC) dec. Darrin Boing, 6-0; 157–Josh Condon (UTC) dec. Casey Gordon, 6-1; 165–Dan Waddell (UTC) dec. Kyle Dilley, 6-3; 174–Nick Purdue (O) dec. Brandon Wright, 7-2; 184–Jason McCroskey (UTC) dec. Ryan Garringer, 11-5; 197–Niko Brown (UTC) major dec. Kyle Sanders, 13-5; 285–Jeremy Johnson (O) pinned Matt Lettner, 2:21.Records: UTC 5-6; Ohio 3-3.
As a first-year wrestler for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Shawn Greevy had yet to enjoy many memorable moments.
However, the freshman 141-pounder from Pennsylvania posted his first team-impacting victory Monday as the Mocs rallied to edge Ohio University 20-18 at Athens, Ohio.
In the night’s final match with his team down 18-16 after blowing a 13-point lead, Greevy came through with a 13-0 major decision that allowed UTC to end a two-match losing streak and take a 5-6 record into this weekend’s duals tournament at the University of Virginia.
“It’s a big win for him,” Mocs coach Heath Eslinger said by cell phone. “He’s a competitor. He was excited that the match was coming down to him. He has a great career ahead of him because he loves to compete.”
Greevy can add this win to his firsts as a Mocs wrestler — his first collegiate win (7-2 decision over VMI’s Ryan Goodsell in Virginia Tech’s Hokie Open), his first loss (6-5 to Old Dominion’s Brennan Brumley) and his first pin (in 1:41 versus Cumberland University’s James Bushart).
“I expected him to win. I really wanted him to wrestle their kid that’s ranked 14th in the country,” Eslinger said.
Greevy built a 7-0 lead on Heath Allen through the first period and piled up 4:31 in riding time while coming up just two points shy of a technical fall.
“We wrestled well up and down the lineup,” Eslinger said. “I’m just glad we had a 13-point lead. It’s a road trip against a tough team and it’s a win. We lost close matches to North Carolina and Stanford that bothered us, and we wrestled hard, but we needed a win like this.”
UTC appeared to have the match well in hand after bolting to leads of 9-0 and then 16-3 in a meet that started with a decision for Alex Hudson, who stepped in at 149 pounds in place of Dean Pavlou. UTC won five of the first six — including decisions from Josh Condon (157), Dan Waddell (165), Jason McCroskey (184) and Niko Brown (197). Brown posted a major decision, the Mocs’ only bonus points other than the one from Greevy.
Ohio University rallied with back-to-back pins at 285 and 125 and a decision at 133 to take its first lead of the night and set the stage for heroics by Greevy, who has been filling in for injured Cody Cleveland (hamstring).
The Bobcats won by upset at 125 pounds. Gabriel Ramos fell behind 7-2 but pinned the Mocs’ Prescott Garner with two seconds left in the first period.
“We were winning 9-0 and got defensive pinned,” Eslinger said. “I felt bad for Prescott there, but I wasn’t mad at him. I’d rather he learn it now than later.”
This was the Mocs’ first competition since a sixth-place team finish in Tournament of Champions at Reno, Nev., on Dec. 19, which came just days after consecutive dual losses at Iowa (47-0) and Stanford (20-17).