The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga finished third in the team standings at the Southern Conference wrestling tournament Sunday in Boone, North Carolina, though the finals were not kind to the Mocs.
Top-seeded Campbell, ranked 20th in the country, won the championship with 117 points, followed by Appalachian State (102) and the Mocs (75), who went 0-for-5 in the title round. One of those second-place finishers, 184-pound Matthew Waddell, secured a spot in the upcoming NCAA tourney due to his No. 16 national ranking.
Fellow UTC sophomore Tanner Smith dropped his true second-place match at 149 and will have to wait until the NCAA brackets are announced Wednesday before finding out if he advances to the March 21-23 event in Minneapolis.
Other Mocs who finished second in Boone were senior Rodney Jones (197), junior Fabian Gutierrez (125) and sophomore Mason Wallace (141). Sophomore Tyler Shilson placed third at 157 pounds, while sophomore Wade Cummings wound up fourth at 133.
Waddell pinned his way to the finals with falls over Virginia Military Institute's Max Gallahan and Davidson's Gavin Henry. He lost 10-2 to eighth-ranked Andrew Morgan of Campbell, but then managed to secure the second allocation at 184, with Henry finishing third.
Gutierrez was the No. 1 seed at 125 and opened with a 12-1 decision over Davidson's Cian Fischer. He lost in the title match to 2019 SoCon champ Korbin Meink of Campbell.
Wallace took his No. 3 seed to the finals after opening with a pin over Gardner-Webb's Brandon Bright. He beat second-seeded Bradley Irwin of Appalachian State (9-3) in the semifinals, then went on to battle hard against No. 11 Josh Heil of Campbell in the title match before falling 6-4.
Smith advanced to the finals with wins over Presbyterian's Bryton Goering, a 17-1 technical fall, and Campbell's Jason Kraisser, 6-4. He lost 6-2 to No. 22 Jonathan Millner in the finals, then dropped a true second-place match to The Citadel's Selwyn Porter, 7-6.
Jones had a bye in the first round and defeated Zach Brown of VMI in the semifinals, 9-5. He lost in the title match to Appalachian State's Demazio Samuel.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.