GREENSBORO, N.C.- UNC Greensboro won four of the first five matches as VMI opened its Southern Conference slate on Wednesday evening with a 33-12 loss at the Fleming Gymnasium in Greensboro. The win improves the Spartans to 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the SoCon, while the Keydets fall to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the league.

Freshman Jayme Gordon picked up where he left off last weekend, pinning his third straight opponent in claiming one of three VMI wins on the evening, taking down Byron Sigmon at the 1:14 mark at 165 lbs. Other winners for the Keydets included seniors Tyler Anthony at 141 lbs. and Dustin McCabe at 174 lbs.

The Spartans picked up six points with a forfeit victory at 125 lbs. to begin the evening, followed by an 18-2 technical fall for Jeff Hedges against Ryan Goodsell at 133. Anthony (13-7, 1-0 SoCon) then put the Keydets on the board and cut the margin to 11-3 with his 7-1 decision over Ben Wilmore.

In the match of the night, UNCG junior Marcus Hannah (8-4, 2-1 SoCon) pushed the Spartan lead back to 11, claiming an 8-6 overtime victory over VMI's David Metzler (15-11, 0-1 SoCon). With less than 10 seconds left in regulation, Hannah scored a takedown to tie the match at 6-6 and send it into an extra time. Shortly after the whistle, Hannah scored another takedown for the win, 8-6.

The teams traded pins at the next two weights, with Spartan freshman Andrew Saunders pinning VMI's Vince Cole in 5:40 (3-13, 0-1 SoCon) in the 157-pound bout. Gordon (7-8, 1-0 SoCon) responded with his fourth pin of the season, bringing the margin to 20-9 in favor of the hosts.

A 5-2 decision from McCabe (11-12, 1-0 SoCon) against Spartan freshman mikal McKee gave the Keydets life, trailing by eight points with three matches to go. However, the Spartans claimed each of the next three matches to wrap up the match. At 184, sophomore Nick Clark (3-9, 1-2 SoCon) tallied a 17-4 major decision over VMI's Curtis Moore, while senior Daren Burns pinned VMI's Ronnie Ellsworth in 2:33 in the 197-pound match. At heavyweight, junior Ryan Hsu closed out the evening with a 3-2 decision over Leon Barrow (7-5, 0-1 SoCon) to bring the final tally to UNCG 33, VMI 12.

The Keydets return to action on Tuesday evening, taking on The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. at 6 p.m.

UNCG 33, VMI 12
125: Mitchell Johnson (UNCG) win by forfeit. UNCG 6, VMI 0
133: Jeff Hedges (UNCG) def. Ryan Goodsell (VMI) Tech. Fall, 18-2. UNCG 11, VMI 0
141: Tyler Anthony (VMI) def. Ben Wilmore (UNCG) Dec, 7-1. UNCG 11, VMI 3
149: Marcus Hannah (UNCG) def. David Metzler (VMI) Dec, 8-6 OT. UNCG 14, VMI 3
157: Andrew Saunders (UNCG) def. Vince Cole (VMI) Fall, 5:40 . UNCG 20, VMI 3
165: Jayme Gordon (VMI) def. Byron Sigmon (UNCG) Fall, 1:14 . UNCG 20, VMI 9
174: Dustin McCabe (VMI) def. Mikal McKee (UNCG) Dec, 5-2. UNCG 20, VMI 12
184: Nick Clark (UNCG) def. Curtis Moore (VMI) Maj. Dec, 17-4. UNCG 24, VMI 12
197: Daren Burns (UNCG) def. Ronnie Ellsworth (VMI) Fall, 2:33 . UNCG 30, VMI 12
285: Ryan Hsu (UNCG) def. Leon Barrow (VMI) Dec, 3-2. UNCG 33, VMI 12