Preview: @UNCBearsWrestle starts 2018 at the Southern Scuffle

Monday, January 1

Chattanooga, TN

All Day

University of Northern Colorado

Southern Scuffle

12/30/2017 4:26:00 PM | Wrestling

Northern Colorado wants to continue to improve at the annual tournament in Chattanooga

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

GREELY, Colo.- For the third straight year, Northern Colorado wrestling starts the New Year on the road as they travel to Chattanooga, Tenn. for the Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear. The Bears have been improving each week this season and look to add to their success at the Scuffle on New Year's Day.

After a slow start to the season, Dylan Gabel continues to excel for UNC and is wrestling his best heading into the Scuffle. Gabel is 8-4 on the season and ranked No. 18 in the 184 lb weight class by Flowrestling.com.

Gabel is not the only Bear ranked nationally, with Jacob Seely also sitting at No. 18 in the 197 lb weight class according to Flowrestling.com. Seely has a 13-3 record with two championships and an eighth-place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational.

Northern Colorado is coming off a tough loss to No. 4 Oklahoma State in its first conference dual of the season.

UNC had a few weeks off to rest over the holiday break and now looks to refocus on the competition at the Southern Scuffle. The tournament features 24 teams in the two-day competition. At the Scuffle, UNC will see wrestlers from several ranked teams including, No. 2 Penn State, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Lehigh, No. 9 NC State, and No. 14 Northern Iowa. Other potential opponents for the Bears include conference foes Air Force and Utah Valley, along with Duke who will travel to Greely later this month.

Last year at the Southern Scuffle, both Gabel and Keilan Torres placed for UNC, making it the first time in program history with multiple placers.

Northern Colorado Lineup
125: Michael Johnson and Sean Cannon
133: Rico Montoya
141: Owen Lamb and Benjamin Polkowske
149: Jimmy Fate
157: Tyler Kinn and Macoy Flanagan
165: Keilan Torres
174: Sethan Bogulski
184: #18 Dylan Gabel
197: #19 Jacob Seely and Tanner Davis
HWT: Robert Winters Jr.

Following the Bears
Day one of the Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear starts at 8 am MT on Jan. 1 and the competition goes all day. It then resumes on Jan. 2 at 8 A.M., also lasting all day. The tournament streamed live at Flowrestling.com (paid subscription required). Live scoring is also provided by Flowrestling.com through Flow Arena. Follow the tournament live with live updates and results on Twitter with @UNCBearsWrestle.