Matthew Waddell is a Southern Conference wrestling champion and has qualified for nationals.
Waddell, a Gilmer High School alum, is currently a junior at the University of Tennessee — Chattanooga and wrestles for the Mocs at 197 pounds.
UTC attended the SoCon Championships last weekend, and Waddell posted a 3-0 record and won the title at 197. The victory means Waddell will be heading to the NCAA Division I Championships for the third time.
Waddell entered the tournament seeded No. 2, and he met Campbell’s No. 1 seed Chris Kober in the finals. No points were scored in the first period, and Waddell chose bottom to begin the second. Waddell scored an escape and later got a takedown for a 3-0 lead.
Kober got a point back with an escape in the third period, but Waddell denied all of his offensive advances to walk away as champion.
Waddell dominated on his way to the finals, and he pinned The Citadel’s Ben Stemmet in the third period to begin the event. In the semifinals, Waddell downed Virginia Military Institute’s Tyler Mousaw, 6-1.
Waddell wrestled at 184 pounds the past two seasons, and was there for much of this season as well. However, an injury forced a lineup adjustment, and he bumped up to 197. Since making the move, he has posted a 10-1 record.
In addition to Waddell, UTC’s SoCon champion Fabian Gutierrez (125 pounds) and runners-up Brayden Palmer (133) and Drew Nicholson (165) also qualified for nationals.
As a team, the Mocs finished third with 79 points behind champions Campbell (100.5) and Appalachian State (95). Gardner-Webb (51), The Citadel (38.5), Davidson (12.5), VMI (12) and Presbyterian (6.5) followed.
The NCAA Championships will be held March 17-19 in Detroit, Mich., and televised on ESPN.