Maybe Brayden Palmer just needs a little jolt from time to time.
In both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches at the 2023 Southern Scuffle at McKenzie Arena, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior 133-pounder quickly fell behind due to takedowns, yet in both cases rallied back to claim victories over ranked opponents to advance to the championship round. That made him only the second Mocs wrestler in school history to do so and the first to advance to the final at the prestigious in-season tournament since Nick Soto in 2012.
"I don't know if falling behind angers me. I feel like sometimes I start a little bit slow in tournaments," Palmer said Monday. "I always kind of wrestle worse than normal."
Similar to his wrestling style, Palmer had a slow start to his college career, which started at Clarion, a Division I program in Pennsylvania. In two years there he saw action in just nine matches before deciding to transfer to UTC, which is closer to his hometown of Hendersonville. That's probably why it took a while for him to realize he had the potential to be pretty good at the sport in college, with last season's Scuffle being the turning point.
He also said that he had needed to change "some lifestyle habits." It's safe to say, that's happened.
"I'd lost the first match here a year ago and I was afraid I'd go 0-2, and I didn't want to do that," Palmer said. "Then I got the first one, then I got three or four (straight wins) and I was like, 'Alright, I can do this at this level.
"At the beginning of last season, I would kind of freak out a little bit, but I've learned over the last year that no matter what, I'm just going to stay calm and keep wrestling and this stuff will happen."
After that opening round loss last year, Palmer won seven consecutive matches to take third in his weight class. He then added four more wins for a streak of 11 consecutive victories over two years at the Scuffle prior to his 7-3 loss in Monday's championship round to nationally second-ranked and three-time All-American and NCAA runner-up Daton Fix from Oklahoma State. But the run included consecutive ranked victories for the 27th-ranked Palmer, who defeated 16th-ranked Ramazan Attasauov of Iowa State and Minnesota's Aaron Nagao, who is ranked 21st.
UTC head coach Kyle Ruschell was slightly disappointed he didn't have more team members still wrestling Monday -- he entered the day with just two wrestlers remaining, with 285-pounder Logan Andrew winning two consolation matches Sunday before being eliminated Monday morning -- but is pleased by the progress and the performance of Palmer.
"Anytime that Chattanooga singlet is out there in the finals, it's good, right?" Ruschell said. "Especially in our home tournament. Brayden can do special things, and when everything's right, he can do stuff like that. He's hard to score on and guys know that; he can make a couple of mistakes and still win, so I'm proud of him.
"It's his world, man. I knew he had some gifts when he got here, but the way he watches his weight, to his expectation of being an All-American or a national champion, it's real. It's not something he's saying."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.
Photo courtesy Laura O'Dell // UTC junior 133-pounder Brayden Palmer rallied to become only the second Mocs wrestler in school history to advance to the finals of the annual Southern Scuffle.