Hatcher returns to UTC wrestling

Mike Hatcher has returned to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling program, this time as Kyle Ruschell’s head assistant coach. Hatcher was a Mocs volunteer assistant under Heath Eslinger from 2009 to 2013, while directing the Chattanooga Wrestling Club youth organization, and for the past three years he’s been an assistant at Cal Poly to former UTC wrestler Jon Sioredas. Before Cal Poly, Hatcher worked at Grand Canyon. He was on four NCAA champion Iowa teams coached by famed Dan Gable, and he spent five years as director of Olympic freestyle regional training centers in Tennessee, Arizona and California. He’s been a state chairman for USA Wrestling. “Mike Hatcher brings a wealth of knowledge on and off the mat to our programs,” Ruschell said in a UTC release. “His experience in terms of recruiting, fundraising, and outreach, not to mention his strong relationships within our own community, are invaluable assets during this exciting time for Chattanooga wrestling!”

GOLF

› UTC sophomore golfer Dorota Zalewska helped her native country, Poland, win the European Team Shield Championship recently in Vilnius, Lithuania. Before that she won the Kram Open by five strokes. In the team tournament, Zalewska led the Polish foursome in stroke play (and was second overall) with a 1-overpar 73 and won 5 and 4 in match play. Poland beat Bulgaria 2.5- 0.5 in the championship match. Another Moc, Esme Hamilton, had a couple of impressive showings this summer in her native Great Britain, including a 73-72 combo after an opening 78 in the St. Rule Trophy competition at St. Andrews.

GENERAL

› “Meet the Mocs at the Market” continues a recent UTC tradition Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the First Tennessee Pavilion beside Finley Stadium. Fans can get Meet the Mocs posters and players’ autographs. The soccer team will be in Cookeville for an exhibition match, but other UTC sports teams are scheduled to make appearances: men’s basketball, women’s tennis and softball 10:30-11:30; spirit squad 10:30-1:30; track and cross country 11:30-12:30; volleyball and wrestling 12:30-1:30; football 1:302: 30; women’s basketball and men’s golf 2:30-3:30; and men’s tennis 2:30-4.

TENNIS

› The Chattanooga team with Garrick Sanford as captain finished second to a Birmingham group in the 18-under intermediate division of the USTA Southern Junior Team Tennis Sectional Championships last weekend in Rome, Georgia. Fifty teams with about 400 players from nine states were in the event, which included eight age-group categories.