Allen, Debien, Tolley lead UTC wrestlers
As Kyle Ruschell navigates his way through his first season as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling coach, he at least knows he has a few guys on his roster with some collegiate starting experience.
Three, to be exact — all with their own struggles last season that ultimately they overcame.
Alonzo Allen went through a stretch in which he lost five of six matches. Coming off a freshman season that ended in a Southern Conference championship, Chris Debien struggled to find a spot where he fit in from a weight-class perspective. Connor Tolley battled through seizures that took half of his junior season, although he did return to place third at 285 pounds in the SoCon tournament.
So if and when Ruschell’s team starts to struggle, it has a few guys who have been through some battles already.
“It’s good. They’re great leaders,” Ruschell said recently. “They lead in warmups; they’re vocal. They do everything right, and that’s why I like to have them in the room. Guys can go to them because they know those guys do it the right way — and they win.
“So having those pieces in place is huge.”
The Mocs will compete today in the Blue-Gold match at the First Tennessee Pavilion, starting at noon. In most cases, the results of today’s event — which is open to the public — will determine the lineup going into the season-opening Hokie Open on Nov. 4.
The 125-pound Allen went on to win the 2018 Southern Conference championship and qualify for the NCAA tournament. Having had surgery the previous April and missing most of the preseason, he started off hot before the bad stretch.
“It was like my body was giving out,” Allen recalled recently. “It had been a while since I was competing back-to-back-toback like that, but it taught me a lot. Even through my midseason humps, I still got to where I wanted to get.
“I just had to forget about the past and make it over that hump.
Debien had entered the season expecting to compete at 141 pounds, a spot that was awarded to then-senior Mike Pongracz. Debien moved up to 149 at one point, then tried some at 141 in a couple of tournaments before landing back at 133 pounds, where he won the SoCon as a freshman. He placed third in 2018 but is expected to move up to 141 pounds for his redshirt junior season.
“That’s part of the journey, part of the path,” he said. “Things aren’t going to go your way sometimes, but you’ve got to build off that. This year is a great opportunity: We have a new coach, new freshmen, new athletes. The strength training is going well; the practices are going well.
“Last season was a learning experience. It didn’t go how I wanted, but that’s how it goes. I just have to put that behind me. I still have the same goals, so I have to find little things that I didn’t do right last year and continue to do the things I did do right. I believe in myself; I believe in my wrestling. God’s given me the gift; this is my platform and I’m going to use it to the best of my abilities.”