The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestlers began and ended their Southern Conference dual meet Sunday at The Citadel with a major decision followed by a win by pin, and they had another such combination in the middle.
Added to Rodney Jones' forfeit victory at 197 pounds, the Mocs collected 15 bonus points in winning 39-9. And their other win, 6-5 for Drew Nicholson at 165, was one of their most impressive because it came against a nationally No. 26-rated opponent.
The meet began at 141 pounds, where UTC's Mason Wallace won 14-4. Then Tanner Smith made the team score 9-0 with a pin. After the Bulldogs' Douglas Gudenburr sliced that to 9-6 with a pin of his own at 157, Nicholson prevented a tie and Hunter Fortner majored 9-0 ahead of Matthew Waddell's ninth pin of the season at 184 and Jones' six points the easy way.
Mocs heavyweight Grayson Walthall lost a 5-3 decision, but 125-pounder Fabian Gutierrez and Wade Cummings closed out the visitors' victory with a 10-2 major and the team's third pin of the day.
UTC is 6-9 overall and 4-2 in SoCon competition; the Bulldogs are 4-5, 2-4. The Mocs host Indiana for senior night at 7 Friday at McKenzie Arena.
Softball Mocs fall
Tennessee Tech's six-run fifth inning led to a 7-5 softball win Sunday over UTC at Jim Frost Stadium on the final day of the Chattanooga Challenge.
UTC (3-4) led 3-1 on Ally Walker's two-run double in the first inning and her score on Katie Corum's double in the third, but Tech's Sydney Love-Baker homered off Allison Swinford in the third and got the first run home in the fifth with her bases-loaded walk. The Mocs then changed pitchers to undefeated Celie Hudson, but the Golden Eagles (6-4) got five more runs on four hits before going out in the field again.
Emma Sturdivant answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, but no one scored again. Jenice Casanas was 3-for-3 and scored twice for UTC.
Tennis teams split
The UTC tennis teams took turns Saturday and Sunday in going 1-1 at McCallie School's Strang-Voges indoor courts. The men (9-2) lost 4-3 to Lipscomb (7-0) but beat Young Harris 7-0, and on Sunday the female Mocs (5-2) fell 6-1 to Marquette and edged Brenau 4-3.
Niklaus Gerdes rose to 11-0 at No. 1 singles in 2020 and to 9-0 with Tomas Rodriguez at No. 2 doubles.
Compiled by Ron Bush. Contact him at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.