Gutierrez, Waddell win Socon wrestling titles
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team had two individuals win titles at the Southern Conference Championships in Boone, N.C. on Saturday. Senior Fabian Gutierrez and junior Matthew Waddell punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships at 125 and 197, respectively.
UTC also saw sophomore Brayden Palmer and junior Drew Nicholson earn automatic bids with runner-up finishes at 133 and 165. Junior Franco Valdes (141) and freshman Noah Castillo (149) both placed third in the tournament.
Campbell won the team title with 100.5 points, followed by Appalachian State (95), Chattanooga (79), Gardner-webb (51) and The Citadel (38.5) to round out the top five. Davidson (12.5), VMI (12) and Presbyterian (6.5.) wrapped up the team scores.
Gutierrez, the top seed at 125 and ranked No. 24 nationally, advanced to the finals with a pair of pins early in the day. He stopped Davidson’s Hale Robinson in the first period (1:53) and The Citadel’s Malik Hardy in the second (3:44).
Gutierrez faced Campbell’s Korbin Meink, who was the third seed and No. 29 in the nation. He was 4-1 in five previous meetings against Meink, but his one loss was in the 2020 SoCon Finals.
Neither Meink nor Gutierrez could score a takedown in the first six minutes of the finals. They got into a scramble with 30 seconds left and the score tied 1-1. Gutierrez was able to come out on top as the clock wound down.
This is the first Socon title for the Chattanooga senior who improves to 20-6 overall. He qualifies for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in his career.
Waddell also scored his first career league title. The junior started the year at 184 but moved up midway through the season. He entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and posted a pair of impressive wins earlier in the day. He pinned The Citadel’s Ben Stemmet (4:09) and scored a 6-1 decision over VMI’S Tyler Mousaw in the semifinals.
He faced Campbell’s top-seeded Chris Kober in the finals. Kober had scored wins in their previous two meetings, but they did not wrestle this season.
There was no action in the opening period, and Waddell got on the board first in the second with an escape. He scored a takedown late and took a 3-0 lead into the third. Kober escaped, but Waddell fought him off for the rest of the match to secure the win.
Waddell qualifies for the NCAA Tournament for the third time. He is 14-10 overall and moved to 10-1 at 197 this season.
Palmer, the top seed and No. 18 overall, advanced to the finals with wins over VMI’S Patrick Maglathlin (2:51) and Davidson’s Kyle Gorant (9-4). He avenged a loss to Gorant in the dual meet with the Wildcats in November.
Palmer faced Appalachian State’s Codi Russell in the finals. Russell was the No. 2-seed and No. 30 in the nation. Palmer beat Russell 9-4 at the Scuffle and 2-1 in the dual in February, both close matches.
After a scoreless first Palmer got four back points and looked to be in control of the match. However, Russell quickly scored a reversal and four back points of his own. That eventually became the final score with Russell taking the title.
With two allocations at 133, Palmer needed to win a true second place match to secure his ticket to the NCAAS. Palmer dominated the true second place match with a 17-6 major decision over Campbell’s Domenick Zaccone.
Palmer will make his first trip to the NCAAS. He sits at 25-7 on the year.
Nicholson advanced to the finals for the second year in a row behind wins over Presbyterian’s Logan Spell (17-0) and The Citadel’s Selwyn Porter (6-2). He faced Gardner-webb’s Roderick Moseley in the finals. Nicholson was 2-3 all-time against Moseley, including three-straight losses coming into the tournament.
After a scoreless first frame, Moseley escaped in the second and took a 1-0 lead into the third. Nicholson tied it with an escape, but was then called for locked hands, which got a strong objection from the crowd.
Trailing 2-1, Nicholson scored a takedown for a brief lead, but Moseley reversed for a 4-3 advantage. Nicholson couldn’t get the escape and dropped the final.
There were also two bids up for grabs at 165. Nicholson took that ticket with a 6-2 decision against Appalachian State’s No. 18 Will Formato.
Nicholson qualifies for the NCAAS for the second time. He is 18-7 on the year.
Valdes, seeded fourth at 141, nearly upset top-seeded Shannon Hanna in the semifinal. He appeared to score a takedown at the end of regulation, but was not awarded the points. The match went to overtime with Hanna scoring the winning takedown in the first extra frame.
Valdes posted a pair of pins in the backdraw to take third place. He was trailing GWU’S Trevon Majette 4-0 in the second when he threw him to his back for the win.
Castillo nearly pulled off the upset of the early match, taking Campbell’s No. 9 Joshua Heil to overtime. Heil scored the win in the semifinals with a takedown in the first sudden victory period. Castillo went on to finish third with wins over VMI’S Luke Fegly (123) and GWU’S Brandon Bright (4-1).
Next up for the Mocs is the NCAA Championships March 17-19 in Detroit, Mich.