Wiedmer: Southern Scuffle showcases Scenic City at its best

Oklahoma State's Kaid Brock, left, works for a single-leg takedown on Lehigh's Scott Parker in the 133-pound championship match Monday night at McKenzie Arena in the 2017 Southern Scuffle. Brock, a red-shirt freshman, won with the match by injury default.

By Mark Wiedmer January 3, 2017 5 min read

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Okahoma State good, bad and ugly in Southern Scuffle romp

Oklahoma State's Kaid Brock is seen loosening up on the big screen at McKenzie Arena before winning his championship match over Lehigh's Scott Parker in the 133-pound weight class Monday night.

Oklahoma State's Dean Heil, right, shoot for the takedown on North Carolina's Joey Ward in the 141-pound championship match Monday night at McKenzie Arena. Heil won 3-1.

Fans acknowledge the winners in the 141-pound class Monday night at the 2017 Southern Scuffle at McKenzie Arena.

Oklahoma State's Anthony Collica attempts to break free from Missouri' Lavion Maves in the 149-pound championship match Monday night at McKenzie Arena. Collica won 7-6.

UTC's Jared Johnson, above, wrestles Hofstra's Mike Hughes to finish 6th in the 285-pound class of the Southern Scuffle Monday night at McKenzie Arena. Hughes won the match 4-3.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestler Bryce Carr stood near the edge of McKenzie Arena’s wrestling mats Monday afternoon, having just secured a chance to capture third place in the Southern Scuffle’s 184-pound division.

Around his head was a gauze wrap stained with blood from a head butt Carr endured during a Sunday match. Then there was the cut on his cheek, which also had required stitches. Fresh blood oozed from his nose.

And they think football is a physical sport.

“I’m fine, I can still wrestle,” Carr said with a grin. “This event is big-time. All the big dogs come here to wrestle.”

All the big dogs. No. 1 Oklahoma State. No. 5 Missouri. No. 8 Cornell. No. 9 Lehigh. No. 13 Minnesota. No. 16 Stanford. No. 21 Appalachian State. No. 22 Northern Iowa. No. 24 Virginia. No. 25 Drexel. And that doesn’t include always salty UTC, Duke, North Carolina, Navy and Penn, to name only 15 of the 23 elite wrestling programs in attendance.