Stubborn Statum a Mocs leader

Josh Statum, the 133-pound starter for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team, will be targeting his first Southern Conference championship at Davidson University on Saturday, and he likely will be billed as the man to beat because of his "won't quit" mindset.

"Josh is genuinely a great kid," Mocs assistant coach Rocco Mansueto said. "He's terribly stubborn."

To Statum that means never, ever give in or up.

"In my mindset it's going to take a lot to break me," said Statum, a senior and repeat member of the school's dean's list. "If someone gets in on my legs, he's going to have to spend every ounce of energy to get the takedown. I'm stubborn in the sense that there is no end to my fight."

Some might have been satisfied with a runner-up finish in the conference tournament, but Statum left last year's championship event with an appetite that had only been whetted.

With that memory of standing a rung below champion Frank Celorrio of Appalachian State and seeing a spot in the NCAA tournament wrested from him, Statum vowed to get busy and better.

"He has accomplished a lot and he has gotten better," Mocs coach Heath Eslinger said. "He was on board with us from the first day we came in. We wanted to create a positive environment, and he seemed to feed off that."

Statum went through five conference opponents to secure a No. 1 seed, which should officially be his before suppertime tonight.

"I definitely thought he was capable," Eslinger said. "It wasn't a landslide, but Josh is very consistent and he realizes you have to battle every time you step out there, and you especially have to battle when things don't go your way."

One goal, at least, attained.

"I feel I still have some things to accomplish," he said. "I had intermediate goals like going undefeated in conference matches. Right now I'm training for the SoCon, and that's the next goal."

His influence blossomed throughout the team after Cody Cleveland and Joey Knox, the proven veterans, sustained season-ending injuries.

"He takes care of things in the (practice) room. He does everything you ask, but he takes care of the other things as well -- academics, an accepted wrestler's social life, his daily diet and his weight maintenance," Mansueto said. "There's no on and off switch with him. He does a really good job of wrestling hard and performing well."

The stubborn streak hasn't earned him a national Top 25 spot -- his dual meet record is 14-8 and he has been on the wrong end of lopsided decisions to ranked opponents -- but the experiences and more and more video time have made him a dangerous opponent.

Video sessions didn't used to be high on Statum's priority list. That changed with the arrival of Eslinger and friends. It isn't scouting a future opponent but studying one's past matches with a coach helping the critique in a one-on-one environment.

"My film study has progressed dramatically over the last year, and I think it has helped a ton," Statum said. "It's how we do on top, how we do on takedowns, how many takedowns we attempt and how we do on bottom.

"I really like the coaching staff we have now. I feel like I have blossomed. It seems like each coach brings something different."

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