New London, Conn. -- The VMI wrestling team (4-2) took first place at the Ninth Annual All-Academy Championships, held at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Saturday. The finish was VMI's highest in the history of the event. It was also the highest finish ever by a non-service academy. VMI's previously high-finish was last year's second place showing. The Keydets finished with 91 points, 12 in front of second place Army.

All 10 Keydets finished in the top of four of their respective weight classes. Two placed first, three placed second, two came in third, and three placed fourth.

Senior Adam Britt (Mechanicsville, Va./ Atlee) won the 157 lb. bracket for the second year in a row. In doing so, Britt moved into sole possession of second placed on VMI's all-time win list with 112. He now stands five behind the leader Charlie Branch (1991-95), who had 117. Britt won his bracket by pinning Norwich's James Carmicheal in 2:46 of the first round, scoring an 11-0 major decision over Travis Piccard of The Citadel in the semifinals and defeating Michael Carbonaro of Navy, 13-0 to claim the championship.

Senior Matt Erwin (South Vienna, Ohio/ St. Paris Graham) placed first in the 174 lb. bracket, also recording his second straight victory. Erwin pinned Kings Point's Matt Jones in 2:33 of his first round match. He then won a 12-10 overtime decision from Luke Lazzo of Navy in the semifinals, before soundly defeating Keith Clifton of The Citadel, 8-0 in the title match.

Sophomore 149-pounder Jason Kontopedes (Beaverdam, Va./ Boys Ranch (Texas)) placed second in his bracket. He pinned Josh Peterson of the Air Force Academy in 3:47 of his first round match and then recorded a major decision (11-3) over Navy's Pat Lukanich in the second round. Kontopedes was then narrowly defeated in the championship, 9-8 by Army's Anthony Dunkin.

Fellow sophomore Mike Parsons (Lakeville, Ohio/ Loudonville) placed second in the 165 lb. bracket, his second straight silver medal at the event. Parsons defeated The Citadel's James Rose, 3-2 in the opening round and Blaine Brown of Air Force, 11-1 in the semifinals. He then fell to Frank Edwards of the Naval Academy in the championship, 9-2.

Sophomore Jason Cox (Amherst, Va./ Amherst County) placed second in the 184 lb. bracket, also for the second straight year. Cox won his first round match, 6-2 over John Dickerson of The Citadel. He defeated Navy's Travis Manion, 3-2 in the semifinal, before being pinned by Air Force's Lucas Lever in 6:38 of the championship match.

Freshmen Chris Seta (Reading, Ohio/ Reading) and Scott Buhman (Portage, Ind./ Portage) took third in the 141 and 285 lb. brackets, respectively.

Junior Juan Sanchez (Alexandria, Va./ Hayfield), freshman Micah Amrozowicz (Virginia Beach, Va./ Kellam) and junior David Walker (Chesapeake, Va./ Great Bridge) placed fourth in the 125, 133, and 197 lb. weight classes.

The Keydets will open their Southern Conference schedule next weekend with a 7:30 p.m. match against Appalachian State on Friday and an 11:30 a.m. match vs. UNC Greensboro on Saturday. Both matches will be at VMI's Cocke Hall.

All-Academy Championships Results
1--VMI (91)
2--Army (79)
3--Air Force (76.5)
4--Navy (70.5)
5--Citadel (68.5)
6t--Norwich (6.5)
6t--Coast Guard (6.5)
8--Kings Point (3)

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