The Cyclone wrestling team will kick off the new year by competing at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Wednesday and Thursday.
The lineup for the Cyclones will go as follows:
Attached
125: Corey Cabanban
133: Charlie Klepps
149: Ryan Leisure
157: Grant Stotts
165: Chase Straw
165: Isaac Judge
174: Mac Southard
197: Francis Duggan
197: Joel Shapiro
HWT: Gannon Gremmel
Unattached
125: Aden Reeves
133: Ramazan Attasauouv
165: Zane Mulder
165: Logan Schumacher
184: Julien Broderson
The decision to not take majority of the starting lineup came after head coach Kevin Dresser evaluated what was to come for the Cyclones in January.
“If you look at our schedule from Jan. 9 to Jan. 31, that’s 22 days. If my math is right, we have eight dual meets in 22 days. That basically means we’re doing a dual meet every two and a half days. That’s hard on your body. You have to be ready for that,” Dresser said. “So, those particular seven guys that we didn’t take along with us I just felt better to get those guys really prepared for that. The three guys we’re sending don’t have any weight issues and don’t have any things that kind of grind guys out throughout the year. Just being a little calculated and making sure we’re our very best when we get on a plane on Jan. 8, go out to Utah Valley, got a dual meet Thursday and then three duals meets in Tempe, AZ. Then we turnaround and come back here and we have something Friday and Sunday and Friday and Sunday and we just to be ready for the grind.”
Dresser is excited for the opportunity this brings for the rest of the team.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys who get a chance to wrestle at a national level tournament,” Dresser said. “It’s a great chance for those guys. They’ve earned that opportunity to get there.”
For the starters, this will be a good opportunity to continue to see where they stand and what can be improved as they prepare for a tough month ahead. For wrestlers like Gremmel, not stepping away from the competition is the best way to keep on track.
“I think mostly all three of those guys I think just need matches,” Dresser said. “Gremmel competes really, really well. He seems to really improve the most, like a lot of people but Gremmel especially seems to really improve the most when he’s competing. We get the most out of him when he competes because he competes really well we’re trying to get a little more of that in the wrestling room. So to me, to get a chance to go get four or five matches was really good for him and he’s excited about that opportunity.”
The schedule for Southern Scuffle will go as follows:
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Wednesday
9:00 a.m. – Pigtail Round
9:45 a.m. – Championship Round of 32
12:30 p.m. – 1st Round of Consolations
1:15 p.m. – Championship Round of 16
2 p.m. – 2nd Round of Consolations
4:45 p.m. – 3rd Round of Consolations
6:30 p.m. – Championship Quarterfinals & 4th Round of Consolations
Thursday
9 a.m. – 5th Round of Consolation
11 a.m. – Championship Semifinals, Consolation Quarterfinals
1 p.m. – Consolation Semifinals
6 p.m. – Championship Finals & Medal Matches
You can watch the Southern Scuffle on FloWrestling.
