NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion wrestling program returns to the Ted Constant Center after recording three place-winners at the Cleveland State Open last weekend, with the No. 18 Monarchs set to take on the Chattanooga Mocs Saturday afternoon. Eight out of the 10 matches in this weekend’s non-conference battle will showcase at least one ranked wrestler between the two programs.
“We are looking forward to wrestling UTC at home on Saturday at the Ted at 1:00 p.m.,” said Head Coach Steve Martin. “UTC has won 28 SoCon Titles since 1978 and has been ranked in the top-20 for the majority of this year. They are a team that fights hard for seven minutes. Our guys love wrestling at home so we are looking forward to the challenge and the chance to get better this weekend!”
The Monarchs and the Mocs are tied at 2-2 in the series that dates back to the 1972 season. The last meeting between the teams was during 2011, with the Monarchs coming out on top by a score of 31-9.
The match will be streamed live through Monarch Media on odusports.com. Fans can also follow along by tuning into the Cover It Live blog or @ODUWrestling on Twitter for in-match updates. Live stats are also available through Trackwrestling.com.
Between the two teams, the match will feature seven NCAA qualifiers from a season ago. Chattanooga welcomes back All-SoCon honorees and NCAA qualifiers, Nick Soto (No. 10 seed 133 lbs.) and Levi Clemons (174 lbs). The Monarchs lost just one NCAA qualifier in Billy Curling (No. 15 174 lbs.), but return All-American Jack Dechow (No. 13 seed 184 lbs.), Bandon Jeske (125 lbs.), Chris Mecate (No. 5 seed 141 lbs.), Alexander Richardson (No. 16 seed 149 lbs.) and Tristan Warner (157 lbs.).
Projected Lineups
125 – No. 16 Brandon Jeske (2-2) vs. No. 19 Sean Boyle (10-2)
133 – Michael Hayes (9-8) vs. No. 18 Nick Soto (9-5)
141 – Jacob Kingett (7-4) / No. 9 Chris Mecate (5-2) vs. Michael Pongracz (10-5)
149 – No. 10 Alexander Richardson (7-2) vs. No. 16 Shawn Greevy (8-4)
157 – Austin Eads (4-1) / Devin Geoghegan (8-3) / TC Warner (17-8) vs. Austin Sams (5-8) / Kamaal Shakur (0-0)
165 – No. 11 Tristan Warner (8-0) vs. Garrett Alexander (1-3)
174 – Austin Coburn (13-7) vs. Levi Clemons (0-2) / No. 31 Sean Mappes (8-4) / McCoy Newberg (10-3)
184 – No. 3 Jack Dechow (7-1) vs. John Shrader (7-2) / John Lampe (9-4)
197 – No. 23 Kevin Beazley (12-7) vs. Scottie Boykin (9-5)
HWT – No. 15 Jacob Henderson (10-3) / Matt Tourdot (10-3) vs. Jared Johnson (12-4)
The Monarchs will return to the mat on Dec. 29, as they travel to Evanston, Ill. to participate in the Midlands Championships.
For an in depth look to everything Monarchs Wrestling, make sure to follow the team on Facebook, Twitter (@ODUWrestling) and YouTube and on ODUsports.com. Fans can join in on the conversation by using the hashtag #ODUWREST