Normally in the case of wrestle-offs one wrestler will do a little something extra to deem himself the better of the two. Yet in the case of Fabian Gutierrez and Alonzo Allen, two wrestlers fighting for the 125 lbs position at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, they're about as neck and neck as you're going to get. Gutierrez, a sophomore currently owns a 15-4 record. Allen, a senior is 14-5.
At the beginning of the year it seemed a safe bet to pencil in Gutierrez as the starter. Not only did he finish champion to Allen's second at the Hokie open, he pinned Allen in the finals. At the Southern Illinois Edwardsville Cougar Clash, he took second to Allen's third. It might also be noted that in common losses, he has wrestled opponents closer than Allen has. He wrestled #8 Ryan Millhof to an 8-4 decision, whereas Allen lost to Millhof 14-5 major decision. A 9-7 loss to North Carolina State redshirt Jake Camacho, was a 7-3 loss for Allen.
Yet this past weekend, it was Allen who placed an impressive fifth to where Gutierrez finished one match shy of a medal at the Southern Scuffle. A loss to barely above .500 Jake Allen of Navy, another factor to add in. All five of Allen's losses consistent to the rankings, with Gutierrez's loss to Allen marking his second head scratcher of the season. He lost a 17-5 major decision to Austin Neal of Newberry, currently ranked #11 in Division II.
In regards to impressive wins, Gutierrez owns a 6-1 win over Midland's place-winner and three time NCAA qualifier Elijah Oliver of Indiana as well as a fall over Ohio's Shakur Laney. Allen defeated Stanford two time NCAA qualifier Gabriel Townsell 9-7 and a 6-5 victory over Iowa State's Alex Mackall.
The fact of the matter is, unless something drastically out of the ordinary happens, regardless of who Chattanooga decides to wrestle at the Southern Conference championships this March, they'll most likely have a champion. Of the six other teams that compete in the conference, the only other 125 lbs'er that might give a slight challenge to either Gutierrez or Allen would be Campbell's Korbin Meink. Gutierrez already defeated Meink earlier this season 6-4.
All we wrestling fans can do now is to sit back and wait. Watch and see, and speaking of seeing it'll be interesting to see how Chattanooga handles things this Friday and Saturday at the Virginia duals. It seems a logical guess to wager that Gutierrez might start a few duals and Allen others. With Allen having dropped a 5-2 decision to Lock Haven's Luke Werner, it might be interesting to see how Gutierrez does against him. A good question is who do you put in verses #19 Michael McGee of Old Dominion?
Again, anything can happen in this sport often full of strange outcomes and parity, but after the Virginia duals this weekend, comes a schedule of eight dual meets all of which should end in no worse than 7-1 if not 8-0 records for either wrestler. 6-2 at the very worst. Again, Campbell's Meink should be mentioned as well as Indiana's Oliver, who as stated previously Gutierrez has already defeated.
Who will Chattanooga start in two months? Who will be heading to Pittsburgh this March at a shot at All American status and who will be watching from the stands? Has it already been determined? Will there be a final wrestle-off before that day comes? It's hard to tell, but one thing is for sure. It's one of the many interesting things about NCAA Division I wrestling this season.
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