Chattanooga sports fans won't have to go far to witness elite-level competition this week.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is hosting the 2020 Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear, Wednesday and Thursday.
The wrestling tournament, which features 28 NCAA programs, begins this morning at 10 at McKenzie Arena (gates open at 9) and is considered one of the top in-season collegiate events in the country. The full schedule of events and tickets are available on TheSouthernScuffle.com.
"It brings, especially to our community, the nation's best into town," UTC coach Kyle Ruschell said. "Fans come to this event knowing they will see guys who will be wrestling in March in the national finals. We've got a huge field of over 400 wrestlers, so it's going to be a jam-packed two days."
The 17th version of the Scuffle - the ninth to be held in Chattanooga - includes six teams ranked in the NWCA Top 25. Leading that group is No. 6 North Carolina State, followed by No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Pittsburgh, No. 11 Iowa State, No. 25 Stanford and No. 25 Rider. Virginia Tech, ranked fifth, and No. 17 North Carolina are sending partial representation to the Scuffle.
The other programs attending with full teams are Air Force, Appalachian State, Binghamton, Cal State Bakersfield, Cleveland (Ohio) State, Davidson, Drexel, Gardner-Webb, George Mason, Little Rock, Lock Haven, Navy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Oregon State, Rutgers, The Citadel, VMI and West Virginia.
Ruschell's Mocs will be led by a pair of seeded wrestlers, sixth-seeded Tanner Smith at 149 pounds and fourth-seeded Matthew Waddell at 184. Ruschell has high hopes those two, and a few others, could make the medal rounds.
"Our goals as a team are to get as many as we can on the podium," Ruschell said. "It's a simulation of the national tournament, so if we're doing well in this one, we know we're doing the right stuff.
"I sure hope there are a lot of surprises. I can see our guys knocking off some seeded guys and wrestling on day two. If you make it to day two, you are pretty much placing."
All totaled, there are nine All-Americans, three former Scuffle Champions, 65 currently ranked in the top 25 and 19 ranked in the top 10. Three Oklahoma State wrestlers - Kaden Gfeller, Daton Fix and Nick Piccininni - have won Scuffle titles. Gfeller has a chance to become a three-time titlist.
There will be a new team champion as seven-time champ (including the last two) Penn State is not in the field. While N.C. State is the highest-ranked team in the field, Oklahoma State has the edge in seeding.
The Cowboys have seven top 10-seeded wrestlers including five No. 1 seeds - Piccinini (125 pounds), Gfeller (141), Boo Lewallen (149), Joe Smith (174) and Dakota Greer (197). N.C. State has five top 10 seeds, led by No. 1s Hayden Hidlay (157) and brother Trent Hidlay (184).
Pittsburgh, led by No. 1 seeds Micky Phillippi (133) and heayweight Demetrius Thomas, has six top-10 seeds.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.