FAIRFAX, Va.- Junior Sam Alvarenga and sophomore Tommy Cunningham notched the only Keydet wins as Virginia laid claim to the "Battle on the Beltway" by a 29-6 margin Wednesday evening at Robinson High School in Fairfax. Virginia (3-1) and VMI (1-3) had wrestled the last three times in Richmond for the "Rumble on the River", before moving this year's meet to Fairfax, where the Cavaliers won their third straight over the Keydets.

"We had a bunch of close matches tonight that we needed to win, and we just couldn't pull them out," said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. "Alvarenga and Cunningham had good wins for us tonight, and we were close at 133, 165 and 174, and then Scott Buhman was taken down in the final seconds of the third period. We had our opportunities, but just couldn't get it done in the third period. Now we need to turn this into a positive going into this weekend and the State Championships."

With the match starting at 125 pounds, sophomore Lam Ly fell in his first dual match of the season by a 15-5 margin to UVA's Anthony Burke. Virginia built their advantage to 10-0 with decisions at 133 and 141, where Eric Albright and Nick Alparone scored wins over VMI's Brandon Stillo and Jochen Granja, respectively.

The Keydets made a charge in the next two weight classes, as Alvarenga ran his overall record to 11-5 on the season with a 10-3 decision over Drew DiPasquale at 149. Cunningham then won his fourth consecutive dual match victory of the season, scoring a 4-1 win at 157 over Kyle Artusio to cut the UVA advantage to 10-6.

But that was as close as VMI would get on the evening, despite many close matches at the upper weight classes. Virginia's Mike Sewell, wrestling at 165 pounds for the first time this season, defeated Chris Hardy, 3-2 to give Virginia a 13-6 advantage midway through, before Mike Grogan scored a 1-0 victory over Dustin McCabe at 174.

A pair of freshmen Keydets fell in the next two matches, as Kyle Elgert lost via major decision (17-6) to Kyle Narkiewicz at 184 before Niels Madsen was pinned in 1:58 by Brent Jones, a 2005 graduate of Robinson High School. In the night's final match, UVA's Nick Smith won a 3-1 decision over Scott Buhman to bring the final tally to 29-6.

VMI returns to action this Saturday when the Keydets take part in the Virginia Intercollegiates at James Madison.

"Battle on the Beltway" Results:
125 - Anthony Burke (UVa) def. Lam Ly (VMI), 15-5 (UVA 4-0)
133 - Eric Albright (UVa) def. Brandon Stillo (VMI), 7-3 (UVA 7-0)
141 - Nick Alparone (UVa) def. Jochen Granja (VMI), 9-5 (UVA 10-0)
149 - Sam Alvarenga (VMI) def. Drew DiPasquale (UVa), 10-3 (UVA 10-3)
157 - Tommy Cunningham (VMI) def. Kyle Artusio (UVa), 4-1 (UVA 10-6)
165 - Mike Sewell (UVa) def. Chris Hardy (VMI), 3-2 (UVA 13-6)
174 - Mike Grogan (UVa) def. Dustin McCabe (VMI), 1-0 (UVA 16-6)
184 - Kyle Narkiewicz (UVa) def. Cubby Elgert (VMI), 17-6 (UVA 20-6)
197 - Brent Jones (UVa) def. Niels Madsen (VMI), Fall@1:58 (UVA 26-6)
HWT - Nick Smith (UVa) def. Scott Buhman (VMI), 3-1 (UVA 29-6)