LEXINGTON, Va.- Wins by senior Jeremy Adams and freshman Ryan Goodsell against opponents they had lost to earlier this season set the tone early as VMI cruised to a 28-10 Southern Conference victory against Davidson on Friday evening at The Thunderdome. The win improves the Keydets to 5-4 overall and 1-2 in the SoCon, while the Wildcats fall to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the league.

Adams (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park), trailing 2-0 entering the third period to the Wildcats' Ben Altman (Wilmington, Del./Wilmington Friends) at 125, picked up a pair of stalling points issued against Altman to tie the match and send it into overtime. Adams barely avoided Altman's takedown and posted a takedown of his own only nine seconds into the first sudden victory period, avenging an 11-2 loss to Altman at the Pembroke Open two months previous.

Goodsell (Rhoadesville, Va./Orange County) followed suit at 133, avenging an early December, 6-3 setback against Davidson's Alex Radsky (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) with a 3-1 victory, giving the Keydets a 6-0 advantage. Senior Tyler Anthony (Canton, Ohio/Glen Oak), wrestling at less than 100%, improved to 14-7 overall and 2-0 in the SoCon with with his 6-1 decision against Vitali Radsky (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington).

The Wildcats got on the scoreboard at 149, when Carl Sandercock (Quincy, Ill./Hannibal) held on for a 4-2 victory, despite a series of fierce takedown attempts late in the third period by John Held (Williamsburg, Va./Lafayette).

Redshirt senior David Metzler (Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) took control of his 157-pound match quickly, earning a takedown in the first ten seconds of his match against Scott Matthews (Lewisville, N.C./West Forsyth). When the final buzzer sounded, Metzler had accrued over four minutes of riding time on his way to a 13-4 major decision, advancing the Keydets' lead to 13-3 midway through the match.

At 165, freshman Jayme Gordon (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) posted his fourth pin in five matches, needing only 39 seconds to depose Joe McGinley (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West). Senior Dustin McCabe (Gloucester Point, Va./Gloucester) ran VMI's advantage to 22-3 with his decision over Kevin Cook, coming up just short of extra points with his 10-3 win.

The Wildcats posted back-to-back wins at 184 and 197, with senior Trebor Clavette (Fletcher, N.C./A.C. Reynolds) holding off a feisty Curtis Moore (Stafford, Va./Gar-Field) 4-2 before junior Sam O'Hair (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) posted an 8-0 major decision against Ronnie Ellsworth (Newport News, Va./Menchville).

That set the scene for the night's final match, as a pair of freshman heavyweights capped the evening. VMI's Josh Wine (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) brought the crowd of 623 to their feet with his pin of Charlie Wolff (Rochester, Minn./Century) at the 4:48 mark, as Wine ran his record at The Thunderdome to 2-0 with two pins.

“We've been wrestling hard, just not smart in our recent matches, and tonight we were finally able to put the smart with the hard,” said VMI head coach John “Rocky” Trudgeon after his 143rd career dual victory. “I thought that we stayed in better position and wrestled better technically than we have been tonight. Jeremy and Ryan's wins really turned the entire match around early. Tyler laid his heart on the line out there, and we really appreciate what he was able to do for us. Dave came up strong and Dustin put it away for us. We really saw tonight that if Jayme gets into his positions, that he can finish quickly, and Josh Wine came out and put a great cap on a good overall win for us.”

The Keydets return to action next Saturday, competing at the All-Academy Championships, being hosted by the U.S. Military Academy.

VMI 28, Davidson 10
125- Jeremy Adams (VMI) dec. Ben Altman (DAV) 4-2 (sv1), VMI 3-0
133- Ryan Goodsell (VMI) dec. Alex Radsky (DAV) 3-1, VMI 6-0
141- Tyler Anthony (VMI) dec. Vitali Radsky (DAV) 6-1, VMI 9-0
149- Carl Sandercock (DAV) dec. John Held (VMI) 4-2, VMI 9-3
157- David Metzler (VMI) maj. dec. Scott Matthews (DAV) 13-4, VMI 13-3
165- Jayme Gordon (VMI) pins Joe McGinley (DAV) 0:39, VMI 19-3
174- Dustin McCabe (VMI) dec. Kevin Cook (DAV) 10-3, VMI 22-3
184- Trebor Clavette (DAV) dec. Curtis Moore (VMI) 4-2, VMI 22-6
197- Sam O'Hair (DAV) maj. dec. Ronnie Ellsworth (VMI) 8-0, VMI 22-10
285- Josh Wine (VMI) pins Charlie Wolff (DAV) 4:48, VMI 28-10

Att. - 623