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LAST YEAR’S TOP 10 TEAMS1. Penn State, 2. Missouri, 3. Oklahoma State, 4. Nebraska, 5. Michigan, 6. Cornell, 7. Lehigh, 8. Pittsburgh, 9. Wyoming, 10. Virginia.
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SOUTHERN SCUFFLE SCHEDULETickets: Daily admission is $30 for reserved seats, $20 for general admission and $10 for youth general admission. All-session passes are $55 for reserved, $35 for general admission and $15 for youth.Today8 a.m.: Doors open for spectators9 a.m.: Championship round of 64Noon: Championship round of 32; first consolation round3 p.m.: Second consolation round5:45 p.m.: Championship round of 16; third consolation roundSaturday8 a.m.: Doors open for spectators9 a.m.: Championship quarterfinals and fourth consolation round11:30 a.m.: Fifth consolation round12:30 p.m.: Sixth consolation round1:30 p.m.: Championship semifinals; consolation quarterfinals3:30 p.m.: Consolation semifinals7 p.m.: Championship finals; medal matches for third, fifth and seventh places
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2015 SUPREME SCUFFLERS125: Alan Waters, Missouri133: Earl Hall, Iowa State141: Lavion Mayes, Missouri149: Joshua Kindig, Oklahoma State157: James Green, Nebraska165: Alex Dieringer, Oklahoma State174: Robert Kokesh, Nebraska184: Gabriel Dean, Cornell197: J’Den Cox, Missouri285: Austin Marsden, Oklahoma State
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2015 SCUFFLER RUNNERS-UP125 – Nashon Garrett, Cornell133 – Rossi Bruno, Michigan141 – Geo Martinez, Boise State149 – Drake Houdashelt, Missouri157 – Jason Nolf, Penn State165 – Nick Sulzer, Virginia174 – Matt Brown, Penn State184 – Max Thomusseit, Pitt197 – Coner Hartmann, Duke285 – Adam Coon, Michigan
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SCUFFLERS TO WATCH125 pounds: Darin Cruz, Lehigh; Edde Klimara, Oklahoma State; Dalton Macri, Cornell; Nico Megaludis, Penn State; Zeke Moisey, West Virginia; Drew Templeman, Wyoming; Conor Youtsey, Michigan.133 pounds: Mason Beckman, Lehigh; Kaid Brock, Oklahoma State; Rossu Bruno, Michigan; Jordan Conaway, Penn State; George DiCamillo, Virginia; Dom Forys, Pittsburgh; Nahshon Garrett, Cornell.141 pounds: Randy Cruz, Lehigh; Jimmy Gulibon, Penn State; Dean Heil, Oklahoma State; Evan Henderson, North Carolina; Zach Horan, Central Michigan; Bryce Meredith, Wyoming; Mike Raciato, Pittsburgh; Tommy Thorn, Minnesota.149 pounds: Matt Cimato, Drexel; Anthony Collica, Oklahoma State; Colin Heffernan, Central Michigan; Alex Pantaleo, Michigan; Zain Retherford, Penn State; Jake Short, Minnesota.157 pounds: Dylan Cottrell, West Virginia; Mitch Minotti, Lehigh; Brian Murphy, Michigan; Jason Nolf, Penn State; Russell Parsons, Army; Lucas Smith, Central Michigan.165 pounds: Alex Dieringer, Oklahoma State; Jake Faust, Duke; Geno Morelli, Penn State; Duke Pickett, Cornell; Ethan Ramos, North Carolina.174 pounds: Jadaen Burnstein, Navy; Kyle Crutchmer, Oklahoma State; Brian Harvey, Army; Davonte Mahomes, Michigan; Bo Nickal, Penn State; Mike Ottinger, Central Michigan; Brian Realbuto, Cornell; Elliott Riddick, Lehigh.184 pounds: Dominic Abounader, Michigan; Nolan Boyd, Oklahoma State; Nathaniel Brown, Lehigh; Gabe Dean, Cornell; Mike McCutcheon, Penn State; Matthew Miller, Navy; Alex Utley, North Carolina.197 pounds: John Bolich, Lehigh; Scottie Boykin, UTC; Conner Hartmann, Duke; Max Huntley, Michigan; Morgan McIntosh, Penn State; Zach Nye, Virginia; Brett Pfarr, Minnesota; Jake Smith, West Virginia.285 pounds: Adam Coon, Michigan; Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State; Jared Johnson, UTC; Tanner Harms, Wyoming; Michael Kroells, Minnesota; Austin Marsden, Oklahoma State; Ryan Solomon, Pittsburgh; Max Wessel, Lehigh.
The Southern Scuffle, proclaimed the best collegiate wrestling tournament this side of the season-ending NCAA championships, begins at 9 a.m. today at McKenzie Arena.
The event, 30 teams strong and continuing through Saturday's 7 p.m. medal-round matches, features some of the best wrestlers and programs in the country.
It has become a jewel in coach Heath Eslinger's University of Tennessee at Chattanooga program.
"There are no 'gimmes' from the first round on. It's tough match after tough match," Eslinger said. "As a coach, you find out a lot about your team's resiliency."
Penn State, the nation's top-ranked team, heads a field that includes 10 programs ranked in the latest NWCA Top 25. Filling out that group are No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Lehigh, No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Cornell, No. 15 North Carolina, No. 16 Central Michigan, No. 17 Virginia, No. 23 Minnesota and No. 25 West Virginia. In addition, Appalachian State, a Southern Conference foe of UTC, is tied with Wisconsin as the top team that failed to make the most recent poll.
Penn State has won five straight Scuffle championships (four outright, one tied with Cornell) and enters the event as a clear favorite, with Oklahoma State and Cornell its most likely challengers.
The Nittany Lions were accorded six finals pre-seeds, with four of those No. 1. Oklahoma State has three No. 1 seeds and two more wrestlers expected to reach the finals, while Cornell also has three top seeds and another as a likely finalist.
Penn State also has the most wrestlers (eight) figured to finish among the top four in their weight classes, while Oklahoma State has seven and Cornell has four.
The No. 1 pre-seeds are Nico Magaludis (125), Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157) and Morgan McIntosh (197) from Penn State, Dean Heil (141), Alex Dieringer (165) and Austin Marsden (285) from Oklahoma State, and Nahshon Garrett (133), Brian Realbuto (174) and Gabe Dean (184) from Cornell.
Dean is a two-time winner of the tournament's outstanding wrestler award, winning it last year after pinning top-seeded Max Thomusseit of Pitt in the second period of their championship match.
Lehigh has four wrestlers expected to be among the top four in their weight classes, Minnesota three and Central Michigan, North Carolina, Penn and West Virginia two each.
UTC has two seeded wrestlers - No. 6 285-pounder Jared Johnson and No. 10 197-pounder Scottie Boykin.
Eslinger said the Mocs will have 18 or 19 wrestlers in the tournament, many of them freshmen. He and assistants Jeff Bedard, Niko Brown and Levi Clemons were looking forward to seeing how each of the Mocs handled big-time competition and the major tournament atmosphere.
"This tournament gives wrestlers a chance to compete against not just one really good guy but good guys each time out," Eslinger said. "As a coach, this tournament gives you some perspective as to where your wrestlers stand among the best guys in the country."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.