NEW YORK – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga took five hits in the first round of the NCAA wrestling tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Only 197-pounder Scottie Boykin was able to pull out a victory, besting South Dakota State’s Nate Rotert, 7-4.
Kamaal Shakur was pinned by No. 2 seed Jason Nolf, Penn State’s 157-pounder, in 3:35; Sean Mappes (174) lost 8-2 to Army’s Brian Harvey; John Lampe (184) lost by technical fall to Iowa’s Sammy Brooks (6:30); Mike Pongracz fell to Virginia Tech’s Solomon Chishko; and heavyweight Jared Johnson dropped a 4-3 decision to Edinboro’s William Miller.
Boykin then lost in the second championship round to Missouri’s J’den Cox, the weight class’s No. 2 seed, by major decision (15-4), but the first-round win saved him from wrestling another Thursday match.
Pongracz and Mappes rebounded with consolation-round victories Thursday evening, Pongracz defeating Harvard’s Todd Preston 5-3 and Mappes winning 6-5 over Cornell’s Brian Realbuto.