CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Fueled by a pin right off the bat from Carson DesRosier (149 lbs) and carried down the stretch by narrow victories via Brodie Porter (184 lbs), Christian Bell (285 lbs) and Gylon Sims (125 lbs), The Citadel (7-6, 3-0 SoCon) bolted ahead early before holding off an aggressive Chattanooga (5-5, 2-1 SoCon) squad down the stretch en route to a third consecutive victory in Southern Conference competition, edging the host Mocs behind a 19-18 margin following the application of criteria point (falls, 3.21.b) for the Bulldogs on Saturday evening in McKenzie Arena.

"Going into SoCon duals, you know teams are going to be bringing their best fight and effort to win," interim head coach Luke Welch said. "I think it was a very competitive dual and our guys found a way to persevere through. The guys on the team wrestle for each other and they wrestle hard and they do the work. I'm happy we were able to come out on top but I'm more proud of the guys being there for one another. We had guys on the edge of their seats cheering, it was awesome. Some individuals stepped up big, some got, on paper, upset, but again, the fight was good."

Next up, the four-event roadtrip continues through Appalachia as the Bulldogs move on to Gardner-Webb on Friday, Feb. 6 before returning to Boone, N.C., for a dual against Appalachian State on Sunday, Feb. 8.


FINAL RESULTS
The Citadel def. Chattanooga, 19-18 (Criterion 3.21.b)
Saturday, Jan. 31 | Mckenzie Arena | Chattanooga, Tenn.

125 -- Gylon Sims (CIT) over T. Tice (UTC), DEC (4-1 SV-1)
133 -- E. Uhorchuk (UTC) over Teegan Vasquez (CIT), DEC (9-4)
141 -- H. Mason (UTC) over George Rosas (CIT), MD (9-1) 
149 -- Carson DesRosier (CIT) over Y. Otero (UTC), FALL (4:36)
157 -- C. Liddie (UTC) over Kyrel Leavell (CIT), DEC (11-5)
165 -- Thomas Snipes (CIT) over M. Reiniche (UTC), DEC (5-3)
174 -- K. Munro (UTC) over Jacob Silka (CIT), DEC (3-2)
184 -- Brodie Porter (CIT) over L. Jones (UTC), DEC (4-2)
197 -- K. Rule (UTC) over Adam Ortega (CIT), TF (21-5, 6:32)
285 -- Christian Bell (CIT) over E. Vergara (UTC), DEC (7-4 SV-1)