Wrestling team set after annual Blue-Gold Match

The 2009-10 UTC wrestling team started its season Friday night with the annual Blue and Gold Match at the Macllelan Gym. A large crowd turned out for the event and saw the Gold team notch a come-from-behind win 17-15.

No team built a significant lead and the entire match was a back-and-forth affair.

Sophomore Demetrius Johnson, from Memphis, and senior Josh Statum, from Homewood Ala., went head-to-head in the opening match. Johnson, a former Southern Conference champion in the 125-pound weight class, won the match 6-3.

In the 133-pound class, freshman Josh Sandoval, from Colleyville, Texas, took a 9-5 decision over Cody Hood, from Harrison, Tenn.

Senior Cody Cleveland, from Tullahoma, Tenn., put the Gold team ahead following his 8-2 decision over sophomore Ben Johnson, of Chattanooga. But Dean Pavlou, a freshman from Cleveland, Tenn., tied the match at 6-6 with a 7-3 decision over fellow freshman and Marietta, Ga. native Alex Hudson.

Joey Knox, a senior from Dublin Ga., won tough match for the Blue at the 157-pound weight class by notching a 5-2 win over Josh Condon, a freshman from Powder Springs, Ga.

The Blue team seemed to finally take the upper hand when junior Mark Rogers, from Palm City, Fla., scored a 7-5 win over Jake Young, a freshman from Ooltewah, Tenn. Rogers win put the Blue team up 12-9.

The pivotal match came at the 197 pound weight class when Freshman Niko Brown, of Kissimmee, Fla. scored a technical fall for the Gold team against Stephen Garrett, from Nashville.

Junior Tom Minwell, from Clarksville, Tenn., earned a 3-1 decision over junior Matt Lettner of Soddy Daisy, Tenn. in the heavyweight match to close it out.

The mat Mocs begin their season with a trip to Blacksburg, Va. Nov. 7 through 8 where they will take on Virginia Tech and Kent State before competing in the Hokie Open.

UTC's first home match is set for Nov. 14 when it will host Gardner Webb and Anderson.