McGee Places Sixth at Southern Scuffle

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Old Dominion junior Michael McGee took down three wrestlers, including two ranked wrestlers to place sixth at 125 pounds at the Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear.
 
The two-day event began on January 1, and McGee, who was wrestling unattached and hasn't competed at all this season after coming into the season ranked seventh in four national polls, certainly didn't look rusty. Entering the competition, McGee was the seven-seed, and he started his day defeating Corey Cabanban of Iowa State, 10-5 in a win by decision. 
 
McGee followed that performance with an 8-7 win by decision over No. 24 Fabian Gutierrez, representing the host school of Chattanooga, to advance to the quarterfinals in the 125-pound bracket.
 
In the quarterfinals, McGee was matched up against the second-seeded and No. 7-ranked wrestler, Nic Aguilar from Rutgers. Aguilar earned a pin and a win by major decision in his first two matches of the event before taking on the Monarch junior. McGee managed to edge the top-10 wrestler in a 5-4 win by decision. McGee earned two points on a late reversal with 14 seconds left in the match to propel him to the victory and to the semifinal round. The quarterfinal victory was the final bout McGee wrestled in on the first day.
 
McGee was forced to medically forfeit all of his matches on day two of the Southern Scuffle, but his success on day one led to his sixth-place finish.
 
McGee wasn't the only Monarch wrestling in the Southern Scuffle, as redshirt junior Jacob Curling competed at 165 pounds, redshirt freshman Christos Avgeros wrestled at 174 pounds and redshirt freshman River Henry wrestled in the 197-pound bracket. Each Monarch wrestler was unattached. 
 
Curling was pinned by Northern Colorado's No. 23 Austin Matthews in his first bout in three minutes and 59 seconds, then suffered a technical fall loss to Jackson Turley of Rutgers, 19-4. Avgeros fell in his first bout, getting pinned by No. 24 Spencer Carey of Navy in three minutes and 49 seconds. He also lost in the consolation bracket to Campbell's Austin Murphy in a tight 7-4 decision.
 
Henry also lost his two bouts, the first one in a 6-3 decision against Campbell's Taye Ghadiali. Henry's second loss came against Bryan McLaughlin of Drexel in a 14-2 major decision.

This was the 17th annual Southern Scuffle and the ninth time it was hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. It is billed as the top in-season collegiate wrestling tournament in the nation, and this year's had representatives from 28 teams, including six teams in the most recent NWCA Top-25. 
 
The Monarchs will next compete in the Franklin and Marshall Open on Saturday, January 4. The next dual meet ODU will wrestle in will be at the Virginia Duals, a two-day event that starts on Friday, January 10.