Mocs Shutout VMI, Claim SoCon Wrestling Title

The wrestling team recorded four pins and a technical fall Sunday and shut out VMI 50-0 to complete an undefeated Southern Conference season and claim the SoCon regular-season championship.

The Mocs registered their fourth shutout of the season and won their fifth dual in the last six outings. They improved their overall record to 14-10 and went 5-0 in the conference. VMI drops to 6-6-1 and 2-3 in the SoCon.

“To the people in the stands, it may have looked like a dominating performance,” UTC Head Coach Terry Brands said. “But I noticed some things that we still need to work on and still need to perfect. We have less than two weeks before we head to the conference championships, and we will hit it hard on the practice mats until then.”

UTC recorded four pins in the first six matches. Senior Matt Pitts pinned Jeremy Adams at 125 pounds, sophomore Michael Keefe pinned Jay Carter at 133, sophomore Jake Yost won by fall over Chris Hardy at 157 and senior Jon Sioredas notched a fall over Tommy Cunningham in the 165-pound match.

The Mocs threw in three major decisions and a technical fall for good measure. Freshman Wayne French blanked Sam Alvarenga at 157 with a 16-0 technical fall. Sophomore Josh Keefe scored a 15-7 major over Tyler Anthony at 133, junior Dan Peterson outscored Dustin McCabe 21-7 at 174 and junior John Davis defeated Jeff Sale 20-10.

Freshman Wes Taylor defeated Brian Yannetti 11-6 at heavyweight. Senior Josh Ward won by forfeit at 197.

The match was the final home match for Pitts, Sioredas, Ward and Drew Roberts. The SoCon Championships take place March 5 in Greensboro, N.C.

UTC 50, VMI 0
125 Matt Pitts (UTC) fall Jeremy Adams (VMI), 2:19 6-0
133 Josh Keefe (UTC) maj. dec. Tyler Anthony (VMI), 15-7 10-0
141 Michael Keefe (UTC) fall Jay Carter (VMI), 1:26 16-0
149 Wayne French (UTC) tech fall Sam Alvarenga (VMI), 16-0 21-0
157 Jake Yost (UTC) fall Chris Hardy (VMI), 2:16 27-0
165 Jon Sioredas (UTC) fall Tommy Cunningham (VMI), 2:30 33-0
174 Dan Peterson (UTC) maj. dec. Dustin McCabe (VMI), 21-7 37-0
184 John Davis (UTC) maj. dec. Jeff Sale (VMI), 20-10 41-0
197 Josh Ward (UTC) forfeit 47-0
285 Wes Taylor (UTC) dec. Brian Yannetti (VMI),