UTC athletics roundup: 10 Mocs place in Southeast Open wrestling tournament

Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / UTC's Matthew Waddell controls SIU-Edwardsville's Ryan Yarnell during the 165-pound match in the Mocs' 2019-20 season-opening dual on Nov. 1 at Miller Park.
Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / UTC's Matthew Waddell controls SIU-Edwardsville's Ryan Yarnell during the 165-pound match in the Mocs' 2019-20 season-opening dual on Nov. 1 at Miller Park.

Led by runner-up finishes from Fabian Gutierrez and Matthew Waddell, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga had 10 top-six wrestlers Sunday in the Southeast Open at Roanoke, Virginia.

Gutierrez, a junior 125-pounder, won decisions over Missouri and Campbell wrestlers before falling 6-3 to Virginia Tech's Sam Latona in the weight-class final. Sophomore Waddell had two 8-5 wins at 184 before his 14-5 loss to Southern Conference favorite Andrew Morgan from Campbell.

Gutierrez edged another Campbell SoCon favorite, Korbin Mein - a defending league champion - 3-2 in the semifinals.

Five Mocs finished fourth - Wade Cummings at 133, Tanner Smith at 149, Tyler Shilson at 157, Rodney Jones at 197 and Grayson Walthall at 285 - and Franco Valdes (133), George Carpenter (157) and Drew Nicholson (165) were sixth.

UTC will host Army at noon and Illinois at 2 p.m. next Sunday. Army and Illinois will vie at 10 a.m.

Rodriguez wins Baras title

Mocs sophomore Tomas Rodriguez was the singles champion of the UTC Steve Baras Fall Classic after scoring 18 points with three No. 1 wins in the four-day tennis event that concluded Sunday. Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, UNC-Asheville and USC-Upstate joined the hosts in the competition.

Soccer Mocs fall on PKs

The UTC soccer team ended its season Sunday despite tying host UNC Greensboro 1-1 in a Southern Conference women's tournament quarterfinal. After 110 minutes of regulation and overtime, the third-seeded Spartans won 4-2 on penalty kicks to advance to a semifinal against No. 2 seed Furman.

UNCG (10-7-2) scored in the 42nd minute, but the Mocs (9-6-4) dramatically got even in the final minute of regulation on Osa Iyare's 35-yard free kick. Hollie Massey and Chloe Arnold were the Mocs who subsequently made PKs. Ashton Shields made 11 saves in the game, while UNCG outshot her team 23-15.

"We are disappointed to not be advancing on in the tournament, but our team can hold their heads high," coach Gavin McKinney said in a UTC release. "To equalize late on and lose it in penalties is heartbreaking. The girls fought as hard as they could. They have been an amazing group to work with this season."

UTC golfers tied for 11th

The UTC men's golf team was tied for 11th place at 298 after Sunday's round in the 21-team East Bay Deli Classic at Kiawah Island in South Carolina. Auburn had a nine-shot lead at 14-under-par 274 on the Turtle Point course.

The Mocs' Leon Bader was tied for 16th at even-par 72. Moritz Lammel shot 74 as an individual, Oliver Simonsen and A.J. Lintunen carded 75s, Will Porter had a 76 and Matt Smith and Connor Nolan (individual) added 77s.

Compiled by Ron Bush. Contact him at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.

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