CHARLESTON, S.C.- Sophomore Josh Wine captured his second straight Southern Conference Championship with a 4-2 decision against UNC Greensboro's Joe Sheffield, winning the heavyweight championship and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA National Championships, being held in two weeks in St. Louis, Mo.

Wine (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) was one of VMI's four placewinners at the SoCon Championship, held at the McAlister Field House on Post at The Citadel.  VMI had fourth-place finishes by Joe Munno (149), Andrew Szymborski (174) and Ronnie Ellsworth (197), placing fifth of the six teams competing.

Wine (14-6), the top seed at heavyweight, defeated Chattanooga's Cody Sigler 9-3 in the semifinals, then dispatched of Sheffield to capture the title.  He becomes VMI's first repeat champion in seven years, since Adam Britt won the SoCon title at 157 in 2001 and 2002.

Munno (Glen Allen, Va./St. Christopher's) lost a major decision to Appalachian State's Savva Kostis to begin the day, then won a 9-2 decision over Justin Sparrow to reach the Consolation Final.  There, he wrestled a closer match with Kostis, but came out on the losing end, 11-5.

Szymborski (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) got off to a good start, taking a 5-2 decision over Davidson's Kevin Cook, before falling to the  eventual champion, Chattanooga's Jason McCroskey, in 5:30.  Szymborski bounced back to pin ASU's Logan Parce in only 44 seconds, before being pinned at 5:17 by UNCG's Byron Sigmon.

Ellsworth (Newport News, Va./Menchville) won a 3-2 decision in his first match, then dropped a 6-0 decision to eventual champion Odie Delaney.  Ellsworth then notched a 15-6 major decision against Davidson's Jorge Estrada before losing a 10-2 major decision to Chattanooga's Ethan Winel.

Chattanooga won the team title with 104 points, netting six champions while having nine of their ten competitors place.  UNC Greensboro placed second with 73 points, taking home one individual championship and five runner-up placings, while ASU (63 pts.), The Citadel (55.5 pts.) and VMI (27 points) each had one individual champion as well.  Davidson (20.5 pts.) rounded out the standings with two third-place and two fourth-place showings.

Wine will continue his season at the NCAA National Championships, beginning on Thursday, March 19 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.