The new America South Football Alliance semipro development league based in Mobile, Alabama, includes the Chattanooga Panthers, who are holding tryouts the first three Saturdays in January from noon to 3 p.m. at Gold's Gym on Highway 153 in Hixson. A leaguewide combine will be scheduled in February. The league plans to begin play in April 2020 with a 10-week regular season. The age range is 18-35, and "any football (playing) experience is acceptable," said head coach and defensive coordinator Chad Conwell. "During the first tryout we will be testing strength, explosiveness, footwork, speed and agilities as well as endurance," said Conwell, who worked three years with the Lane College Dragons and was a volunteer assistant this past season for Red Bank High School's Region 3-3A champions. "We will be observing work ethic as well as passion for football throughout the tryout month. Once tryouts are done we will start training camp in March." The rest of 2019 will focus on "building the organization and training the guys. I will try to schedule a few scrimmages and exhibition games," Conwell added. Gary Johnson of Mobile is the president and Charles Roberts of Atlanta the commissioner of the ASFA, which has 12 teams in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. The league's mission statement emphasizes community involvement in addition to providing sports entertainment and chances for some players to develop into professional prospects. "I'm very excited about taking control of this new team and am ready for all the fun that comes with it," Conwell said. "My plan for the team is to build something that young men can become a part of and be proud of." Tryout and registration fees are a combined $45. For information, email Conwell at chattpanthers1@gmail.com or offensive coordinator Anthony Olvera at iwasajedionce@icloud.com.
Wrestling
» Top-ranked Penn State and No. 3 Oklahoma State head the field for the 2019 Southern Scuffle tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at McKenzie Arena. This is the eighth year the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has hosted the event that began at UNC Greensboro in 2003, and it has been called the top regular-season tournament in the nation. No. 19 Lock Haven and No. 23 Iowa State also are sending full teams, and No. 7 North Carolina State, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 14 Virginia Tech and No. 21 Lehigh will be partially represented. Other entrants are Air Force, Appalachian State, Binghamton, Cal State Bakersfield, The Citadel, Columbia, Drexel, Duke, Edinboro, Gardner-Webb, George Mason, Ohio, Navy, Northern Colorado, Rider and Stanford. Four Penn State wrestlers are ranked No. 1 in their weight classes, and the Scuffle includes 21 other top-10 wrestlers with four NCAA champions and 19 All-Americans. Wrestling starts each day at 10 a.m., and tickets are available at TheSouthernScuffle.com.
Basketball
» The Dalton State College men won for the third time in a row Saturday afternoon, 98-86 against visiting Life University. Randy Bell was 6-of-6 on 3-point shots while scoring 24 points for the Roadrunners (7-5), and Sean Chislom and Sean Cranney had 18 points each with 10 and six rebounds and five and seven assists. Kingston Frazier, D'Anfernee Pugh and Elijah Staley added 11 points apiece. Deven Dorsett led Life (10-6) with 19 points and eight rebounds.
» The Covenant College teams lost Saturday in Texas, 78-71 in Belton against the 10-1 Louisiana College men at Mary Hardin-Baylor's Cru Classic and 78-65 to the McMurry women at the UT Dallas Classic. Joanna Smith had 20 points and nine rebounds in defeat for the Lady Scots (2-9), and Kaley Hallmark scored 17 points and matched Taylor Robinson's four steals against McMurry (4-9). For the Scots (5-5), Will Crumly was 5-of-6 on 3s and totaled 33 points and 10 rebounds while Mitchell Hollis had 13 points with three 3s and Bailey Spragg delivered nine assists.
» The Sewanee men beat Virginia's Bridgewater College 79-76 on Saturday at Oglethorpe's holiday classic in Atlanta, rallying from a 38-31 halftime deficit to improve to 10-1. The Tigers tied it at 58 on Luke Smith's 3-pointer with 9:42 to play, then went ahead for good at 60-58 on a pair of free throws from Jordan Warlick a little more than a minute later. Bridgewater (5-6) closed the gap to 77-76 on a layup with 12 seconds remaining, but Smith made two free throws and Bridgewater's 3-point attempt in the final seconds was off target. Cam Caldwell had 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, Smith 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Hunter Buescher 13 points for Sewanee.