Jake Young came within a gymnast’s split of upsetting Missouri’s 10th-ranked Dorian Henderson, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team gave 19th-ranked Missouri all it wanted Saturday night at Maclellan Gym.
The visiting Tigers posted a 24-14 victory, but the match wasn’t decided until nationally sixth-ranked Nick Marable from Christian Brothers in Memphis posted a technical fall at 165 pounds. It put a victory out of reach for the Mocs, whose win streak stopped at four.
Young, the freshman from Ooltewah who is ranked 20th nationally, appeared twice to have a takedown near the edge of the mat, but both times Henderson refused to give in and came away with a 6-4 victory.
“That was a great match,” Mocs coach Heath Eslinger said. “Jake is capable of winning the national championship. There are 10-15 guys right there, and he’s one of them.”
It may not be long before Eslinger is saying the same of redshirt freshman Josh Condon, who stepped in at 157 pounds to replace injured senior Joey Knox. Condon went into the third overtime period and earned a 2-1 victory over 16th-ranked Patrick Wright. Condon got an escape in the second overtime — a 30-second period — and was then able to keep Wright on the mat to pull out his 10th win of the season.
“It’s a good way for him to come out, but it’s obvious he’s still in a maturation process,” Eslinger said.
Ben Johnson, stepping in for the first time for former All-American Cody Cleveland, the Mocs’ other injured senior, gave a good account of himself but dropped a 6-3 decision.
“I definitely need to improve, especially on finishing takedowns, and I need to work on scoring more from the bottom,” said Johnson, a redshirt freshman.
UTC’s other victories came from underclassmen as well. Bucky Johnson (125) posted a 5-1 decision and Dean Pavlou (149) and Jason McCroskey (184) had major decisions. McCroskey started the meet and gave the Mocs a short-lived lead, but the Tigers’ 18th-ranked Brent Haynes quickly tied it with a major decision at 197 and seventh-ranked heavyweight Mark Ellis’ pin gave them a 10-4 advantage.
Eslinger, whose team will be at home a week from today to wrestle UNC Greensboro in a meet that could decide the Southern Conference championship, was pleased with the Mocs’ effort.
“We controlled the things that were there for us to control. Overall the guys did a good job,” he said. “The guys are seeing that they’re on the verge of going from a good team to a great team.”
He said he couldn’t wait to get back into the practice room.
MISSOURI 24, UTC 14(Meet started at 184 pounds)125–Bucky Johnson (UTC) dec. Eric Wilson, 5-1; 133–Nathan McCormick (M) major dec. Josh Statum, 18-5; 141–Nick Hucke (M) dec. Ben Johnson, 6-3; 149–Dean Pavlou (UTC) major dec. Brandon West, 10-2; 157–Josh Condon (UTC) dec. Patrick Wright, 2-1, OT; 165–Nick Marable (M) tech. fall over Bond Davis, 7:00; 174–Dorian Henderson (M) dec. Jake Young, 6-4; 184–Jason McCroskey (UTC) major dec. Todd Porter, 12-1; 197–Brent Haynes (M) major dec. Niko Brown, 15-4; 285–Mark Ellis (M) pinned Matt Lettner, 1:41.Records: Missouri 3-4; UTC 7-6.
“It’s the tiny things that aren’t flashy and are sometimes boring that allow you to make the necessary steps to cross that line between good and great,” Eslinger said. “It’s getting all of the guys to commit and to realize that they only have a chance or two to do something special.”
Missouri wrestled without 184-pound Max Askren. The former All-American did not make the trip.
“He’s had some issues with his back, especially late last season,” Tigers coach Brian Smith said. “We sat down with him before the season started and gave him a schedule of when we wanted him to wrestle, and we have made him stick to it.”
Smith thought for a while he might have needed Askren, who edged McCroskey 7-5 at the Midlands tournament.
“I’m really impressed with Chattanooga,” Smith said. “They are very entertaining. They have the crowd coming out to see them. They’re a good young team.”