2008 Woodie Awards
Wrestlers lose close one to UNI, destroy Cumberland at Chattanooga duals
Nicholas Bradshaw
Issue date: 2/2/06 Section: Sports
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The Chattanooga Mocs wrestling team narrowly lost to the No. 22 ranked University of Northern Iowa in the marquee matchup on Saturday 19-18. The double-header event also featured a 58-0 trouncing of Cumberland University by UTC.
McDonald, Tenn., junior Matt Keller, ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation, started the night out with a quick pin to give the Mocs a 6-0 lead. The pin was Keller's eighth of the season and earned him his 11th consecutive victory.
Michael Keefe lost a close 9-8 match in the 141-pound weight class, making the score 6-3. UTC tacked on more points as Aaron Martin won his match at 149 bringing the score to 9-3.
The Mocs then lost the next three matches at 157, 165 and 174. Jake Yost lost 3-2 at 157, Justin Otis lost 5-2 at 165 and T.J. Sayers lost 16-5 to UNI standout Nick Baima, who was ranked as high as No. 7 nationally at 165 pounds, but moved up to 174 for this match.
Baima's win over Sayers gave UNI a 13-9 lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the night.
John Davis won 5-1 at 184 to bring the Mocs back within a point of UNI at 13-12. Then, Lloyd Rogers lost a close 6-5 match at 197 enabling UNI to extend their lead to 16-12.
The critical match of the night then became the heavyweight matchup featuring UTC's Israel Silva, a Marysville, Wash., junior, against Tyler Rhodes of UNI. It was a close battle with Rhodes and Silva tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation, but Rhodes was awarded an extra point for riding time and walked away with another UNI one-point win.
The final match at 125 was a forfeit in UTC's favor making the final score 19-18.
"We lost four matches by one point," head coach Joe Seay said. "Some of those could have gone either way. I thought we wrestled very solidly for most of the night. We had a chance to win the match, but we didn't pull them out. I told our guys afterwards, if they do that at the conference tournament, they won't go to Nationals. It's that simple."
The Cumberland University dual was not nearly as dramatic as the UNI dual with the Mocs orchestrating a perfect 58-0 rout of the Bulldogs. The Mocs won four forfeits and piled up the rest of their points with five pins and one major decision.
Martin, Wayne French, Kyle McKee, Zach Tramel and Javier Maldonado and Daniel Peterson all won their matches for the Mocs.
The Chattanooga wrestling team will be back in action Saturday for another twin dual at Maclellan Gym.
The Mocs will take on Appalacian State and Cumberland College with the first match starting at 7 p.m.
McDonald, Tenn., junior Matt Keller, ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation, started the night out with a quick pin to give the Mocs a 6-0 lead. The pin was Keller's eighth of the season and earned him his 11th consecutive victory.
Michael Keefe lost a close 9-8 match in the 141-pound weight class, making the score 6-3. UTC tacked on more points as Aaron Martin won his match at 149 bringing the score to 9-3.
The Mocs then lost the next three matches at 157, 165 and 174. Jake Yost lost 3-2 at 157, Justin Otis lost 5-2 at 165 and T.J. Sayers lost 16-5 to UNI standout Nick Baima, who was ranked as high as No. 7 nationally at 165 pounds, but moved up to 174 for this match.
Baima's win over Sayers gave UNI a 13-9 lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the night.
John Davis won 5-1 at 184 to bring the Mocs back within a point of UNI at 13-12. Then, Lloyd Rogers lost a close 6-5 match at 197 enabling UNI to extend their lead to 16-12.
The critical match of the night then became the heavyweight matchup featuring UTC's Israel Silva, a Marysville, Wash., junior, against Tyler Rhodes of UNI. It was a close battle with Rhodes and Silva tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation, but Rhodes was awarded an extra point for riding time and walked away with another UNI one-point win.
The final match at 125 was a forfeit in UTC's favor making the final score 19-18.
"We lost four matches by one point," head coach Joe Seay said. "Some of those could have gone either way. I thought we wrestled very solidly for most of the night. We had a chance to win the match, but we didn't pull them out. I told our guys afterwards, if they do that at the conference tournament, they won't go to Nationals. It's that simple."
The Cumberland University dual was not nearly as dramatic as the UNI dual with the Mocs orchestrating a perfect 58-0 rout of the Bulldogs. The Mocs won four forfeits and piled up the rest of their points with five pins and one major decision.
Martin, Wayne French, Kyle McKee, Zach Tramel and Javier Maldonado and Daniel Peterson all won their matches for the Mocs.
The Chattanooga wrestling team will be back in action Saturday for another twin dual at Maclellan Gym.
The Mocs will take on Appalacian State and Cumberland College with the first match starting at 7 p.m.
