Mocs eliminated from NCAA wrestling tourney

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s six- wrestler run in the 2016 NCAA tournament has ended.

Scottie Boykin was the last Moc standing Friday, but then he fell to Rider’s Ryan Wolfe 7-5 in the 197-pound consolation bracket at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Fellow juniors Mike Pongrancz ( 141) and Sean Mappes (174) were the only other Mocs to advance from Thursday’s action, the tournament’s first day. Kamaal Shakur (157), John Lampe (184) and Jared Johnson (285) were eliminated Thursday night.

Pongracz was eliminated by a 7-4 loss to Franklin & Marshall’s Rick Durso, and Mappes was put out when he lost by major decision (13-3) to Nebraska’s Micah Barnes.

While there was disappointment Thursday, especially with the elimination of Shakur and Johnson, UTC did have some bright spots.

Boykin got UTC’s only championship-bracket victory with a 7- 4 decision over 15th- seeded Nate Rotert of South Dakota State. In the first consolation round, Pongracz upset 10th-seeded Todd Preston from Harvard and Mappes upset twotime All-American Brian Realbuto, a No. 2 seed from Cornell.

Five of UTC’s six NCAA representatives are expected back next season, with only Lampe graduating. Shakur was named the Southern Conference’s freshman of the year prior to receiving the outstanding wrestler award at the SoCon tournament. The Mocs also will welcome the return of freshman 133-pounder Chris DeBien from Cleveland, who missed the second half of the season due to a knee injury.