Jump to content



  • Photo:

    Photo:

    Tennessee Chattanooga ready for Chippewa Challenge

    CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The wrestling team heads North this weekend to compete in the Chippewa Challenge at Central Michigan University Sunday in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

    The event features five teams with each wrestling in four dual matches on the day.

    The Mocs, ranked as high as 17th nationally, will face Gardner-Webb at 10 a.m., Cal Poly at noon, Eastern Illinois at 4 p.m. and host Central Michigan at 6 p.m.

    UTC, 8-0, carries an undefeated record into the round-robin event. The last time the Mocs enjoyed a start this successful was in 1988 when the team kicked off the season winning its first 10 dual matches.

    "This will surely be a test for our team," UTC Head Coach Chris Bono said. "Wrestling four duals in one day is tough, and Central Michigan may be one of the top teams we face all year. We have to be focused in each and every match. But we are going up there to win all four."

    Central Michigan is ranked as high as No. 7 nationally, and the Chippewas will be the Mocs' highest-ranked opponent since they took on No. 5 Minnesota at last year's Northeast Duals on Nov. 26. The Gophers won that match, 36-6.

    CMU is 8-4-1 on the year. The Chippewas have faced national top-five opponents Minnesota and Hofstra twice each and No. 2 Missouri. CMU has a 33-9 win over American, a team UTC defeated 28-12 in its last outing. Central Michigan has also beaten Bloomsburg, Penn, Michigan, Michigan State, No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 8 Northwestern.

    The Chippewas won the Reno Tournament of Champions and finished fourth at the Midlands. They have six nationally-ranked wrestlers in their lineup, including third-ranked Bubba Gritter at heavyweight and fifth-ranked Brandon Sinnot at 174.

    Cal Poly is 3-3 in dual matches, Eastern Illinois is 0-5 and Gardner-Webb is 3-9-1.

    Bono will employ a slight change in his lineup, placing sophomore Kyle McKee at 197 pounds instead of sophomore Mike Marable.

    The rest of the tentative lineup remains intact with No. 18 Javier Maldonado at 125, No. 8 Matt Keller at 133, No. 14 Michael Keefe at 141 and No. 13 Aaron Martin at 149 making up the top four weight classes for UTC.

    Jake Yost and T.J. Sayers will compete at 157 and 165 respectively. Lloyd Rogers, ranked 17th, will face Sinnot at 174. Josh Edmondson and Matt Koz round out the lineup at 184 and 285 respectively.

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...