The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has released its 2018-19 wrestling schedule, the Mocs’ first season under coach Kyle Ruschell.
The Mocs will have five home matches at Maclellan Gymnasium, highlighted by a Nov. 11 visit from North Carolina, and will host their annual Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1-2 at McKenzie Arena. They will open their Southern Conference schedule at home against Virginia Military Institute on Jan. 20.
“We are really excited about this year’s schedule,” Ruschell said in a UTC release. “We have an exciting home match early with North Carolina coming to Maclellan Gym, along with a strong run of SoCon duals after the Scuffle.”
In addition to the Scuffle, UTC will compete in four other tournaments during the regular season: Nov. 4 at the Hokie Open in Blacksburg, Virginia; Nov. 18 at the Wolfpack Open in Raleigh, North Carolina; Dec. 2 at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s tournament; and Jan. 11-12 at the Virginia Duals in Hampton.
After taking on Ohio State in a neutral-site match last season, the Mocs will face a Big Ten opponent for the second straight year, wrestling at Indiana on Feb. 24 to close the regular season. The SoCon tournament is March 9 at Appalachian State, which won the league title last season.
“Most of the schedule was already in place, but we were able to add the Indiana dual late in the process. I think it is a great way to close out the regular season and get us ready for the conference tournament,” said Ruschell, a former wrestler and assistant at Wisconsin who joined former Mocs coach Heath Eslinger’s staff in June, became interim coach in July when Eslinger resigned and was named coach in August.
The Mocs, who finished 8-7 in 2017-18, return five starters, led by SoCon 125-pound champion Alonzo Allen.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.