The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team will have plenty of time for sightseeing in Philadelphia.
In one of the NCAA wrestling tournament’s quickest entrance/exit performances, UTC went winless in 12 matches among six wrestlers. The tournament began at 11 a.m., and the Mocs all were out by 10:15 p.m.
“Oh, what a day,” UTC coach Heath Eslinger said. “At the end of the day it’s my responsibililty. I’m the leader and I have to figure out a way to get these guys ready. Academically, we’ve made improvement. Socially, we made an improvement. Competitively, the Southern Conference is not the measuring stick. This one is, and it’s up to me to get us to the top of that stick.”
After a dismal first-round showing when all six lost, Eslinger tried to their teams focus The upbeat coach directed his comments to the Mocs about moving forward.
“I told them there are 16 other guys in each weight class that are in the consolations too and that they have to make sure they’re one of the 16 that is ready to go,” he said.
There was very little thought among Mocs boosters that the team would be eliminated from the championship round so quickly, especially considering that former All-American Cody Cleveland was back in the lineup and as healthy as he could be.
Cleveland lost 9-7 in overtime to Oklahoma’s Zack Bailey, a fifth-year senior whom he had beaten in their three previous meetings.
“It truly was a heartbreaking match,” Eslinger said. “He took it to the kid but wound up losing a close one. Those are the kind you have to win in this environment. Still, we competed hard in fourth of the six matches. A couple of the guys just never got started.”
While Cleveland lost his first match in barnburning style, he dropped his second to Iowa State’s Chris Drouin by 7-3. Brandon Wright, who got off to a slow first-match start, failed to score in his second bout with Arizona State’s Eric Starks and lost 2-0.
“I’m proud of this group of guys. I love them and I wouldn’t want to be coaching any other team here,” Eslinger said. “I’m disappointed in our performance. At the end of the day this is just one of the measuring sticks that we use.
“My process was to deal with academics and social practices and I felt the wrestling would follow. I still believe that. I want All-Americans and national champions, and we won’t let up until we get one and probably not even then.”