When Jared Johnson was considering where he wanted to go to college to continue his wrestling career, his decision boiled down to two schools: Oklahoma and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. UTC was quick to make the heavyweight an offer, while OU entered the picture later in the process.
After Sunday, Sooners coach Mark Cody may be wishing he’d been a little quicker with the sophomore from Jefferson City, Mo.
“They were both recruiting me real hard,” Johnson said moments after his 12-11 win over No. 11 Ross Larson on Sunday at Maclellan Gym clinched the Mocs’ 19-16 win over the Sooners a first-round matchup in the NWCA National Duals. “(Oklahoma) didn’t start recruiting me until after my state tournament, and I went out and visited. But Chattanooga stuck with me from day one and stayed on even when I said I thought I was playing football.
UTC 19, OKLAHOMA 16
125–No. 10 Sean Boyle (UTC) dec. Ryan Millhof, 9-3; 133–No. 4 Cody Brewer (OU) maj. dec. No. 13 Nick Soto, 15-3; 141–Michael Pongracz (UTC) dec. Trae Blackwell, 2-0; 149–Shawn Greevy (UTC) dec. Shayne Tucker, 6-2; 157–No. 19 Justin DeAngelis (OU) dec. Austin Sams, 7-1; 165–Clark Glass (OU) pinned Justin Lampe, 4:32; 174–No. 17 Matt Reed (OU) dec. Sean Mappes, 7-5; 184--McCoy Newberg (UTC) maj dec. Brooks Climmons, 13-2; 197–Scottie Boykin (UTC) dec. Andrew Dixon. 3-1 (SV); 285–Jared Johnson (UTC), dec. No. 11 Ross Larson, 12-11.
Records: UTC 12-5; Oklahoma 6-10.
“They were just great to me, and I love the coaches here, and that ultimately sold it for me.”
Johnson’s win — which was decided by a riding-time point at the end of the match — capped a furious comeback by the Mocs, who trailed 16-9 with three matches remaining but never lost the vocal support of a large and raucous UTC crowd. It was the Mocs’ first win over the Sooners in four meetings and allows UTC to advance to the eight-team championship rounds Saturday and Sunday in Iowa City.
“Great match,” UTC coach Heath Eslinger said. “A lot of fun for fans, for the athletes, for the coaches, for everybody here. That’s what sporting events are about. Kudos for the fans here in Chattanooga for coming out in full force. That’s why kids play sports.”
The Mocs (12-5) led 9-4 after Shawn Greevy’s 6-2 win over Shayne Tucker at 149 pounds, following UTC wins by Sean Boyle at 125 pounds and a 2-0 win by 141-pounder Michael Pongracz. The lone sour note early for the Mocs was UTC’s 13th-ranked 133-pounder Nick Soto losing a 15-3 major decision to No. 4 Cody Brewer.
But three straight Sooners wins — including a pin of Justin Lampe by OU’s Clark Glass — had the Mocs in need of a miracle with matches at 184, 197 and 285 remaining.
UTC started the comeback with a 13-2 major decision by McCoy Newberg to pull within three. Mocs 197-pounder Scottie Boykin and Oklahoma’s Andrew Dixon then put on a battle for the ages. Neither wrestler could gain an advantage, and the three two-minute periods ended with a 1-1 tie, setting up a “sudden victory” extra period.
Boykin, who had been trying to shoot for Dixon’s legs to get a takedown throughout the match, finally found an opening and got the takedown to claim the 3-1 win and tie the team score at 16.
University of Tennessee 149-pound-class wrestler Shawn Greevy, left, works on Shayne Tucker of Oklahoma on the way to a 6-2 win on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, in Chattanooga. UTC team defeated Oklahoma by a team score of 19-16.
Photo by John Rawlston/Times Free Press.
“I knew he had game-planned against me, so I knew I’d have to be smart about it,” Boykin said. “I knew I could beat him. It was just a matter of time and being smart and getting my chance.
“I just kept shooting the whole match and figured eventually I’d get one. I made him take a bad shot and pounced on it real hard.”
After the victory, Boykin saluted the crowd, which he credited for giving the Mocs the boost they needed to stage the rally.
“The crowd was definitely a big part,” he said. “I just kept feeding off the crowd. I come from a football background with high energy, and I’m a high-energy wrestler. So whenever the crowd’s into, it I’m more into it.”
With the match tied thanks to Boykin’s heroics, the Mocs’ heavyweight didn’t want to waste his teammates’ efforts.
“He put us in position to win the match,” Johnson said. “I wanted to go out there and do it for him.”
Johnson jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but Larson battled back to tie and then briefly lead before Johnson got another takedown in the final 30 seconds. Larson tied the match at 11 on a reversal at the final horn, but Johnson was awarded the riding-time point for the win to set off celebrations in the stands and on the mat.
“It’s a game of inches,” Eslinger said. “We say that when we lose; we say that when we win. The difference in winning and losing in that dual meet is four seconds. It’s a takedown against Scottie rather than for him or a reversal against Jared rather than for him.
“We’re ecstatic that it came out in our favor today.”
Courtesy of: Jim Tanner, Timefreepress.com