LEXINGTON, Va.- VMI jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, and earned victories from redshirt senior John Pope, junior Luke Todd, sophomore John Dommert, and seniors Ronnie Ellsworth and Josh Wine, but it wasn't enough as the NC State Wolfpack downed the Keydets 23-15 Friday night in front of over 700 fans at VMI's Cocke Hall.
"We won five matches, but NC State just scored all the bonus points tonight," said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. "Our guys fought, they fought hard, but we had a few things like Ted Gottwald moving up to 165 lbs., having a freshman at 157 lbs., and a real nice headlock at 149 lbs. by Matt Nerein on Mike Long brought a 0-0 match to a fall their way."
The match began at 125 lbs., where VMI (2-3) redshirt senior John Pope earned a hard-fought win over NC State's (6-3) Pedram Rahmatabadi. Pope used a takedown in the first period, followed by two more in the third period to secure the 8-6 victory over Rahmatabadi, who entered the bout with an 11-6 record on the season.
In match two at 133 lbs., junior Luke Todd improved to 4-5 on the year, defeating NC State freshman George Hovis, 8-3 after taking an early 4-1 lead in the first period on a takedown and near fall. The win brought the team score to 6-0 in favor of the Keydets heading into the 141 lbs. bout.
However, NC State began its run at 141 lbs., as Darius Little defeated VMI junior David Yost via major decision, 11-3. The next two bouts NC State earned pinfalls, Matt Nereim pinned VMI redshirt senior Michael Long at the 4:04 mark, and Colton Palmer defeated VMI freshman Nick Emison with the fall at 5:13 to bring the score to 16-6 in favor of the Wolfpack.
At 165 lbs., freshman Ted Gottwald was defeated by NC State's Colin Genthert 8-0. Gottwald was able to hold off Genthert's attack in the first period, but was outscored in the second period 7-0 on a takedown, two near falls and an escape point. Genthert added a riding time point to secure the 8-0 win.
VMI's slide continued at 174 lbs., as junior Matt Brock took on NC State's Quinton Godley. With Godley leading 3-0 heading into the final period, Brock pressed early, but surrendered a two-point takedown prior to earning an escape point to fall via decision 5-1.
One of the top battles of the night came at 184 lbs., as VMI sophomore John Dommert battled NC State's Nijel Jones. Dommert lead 2-0 after the first period on an early takedown, but surrendered a pair of reversals in the early portion of the period to bring the score to 4-2. Late in the period, Dommert secured two reversal points to send the bout into the third period knotted at 4-4. In the third, Dommert earned an escape point with a minute left, followed by a takedown and three near fall points to secure a 10-4 victory and cut the Wolfpack lead to 23-9 with two bouts remaining.
At 197 lbs, senior Ronnie Ellsworth fell behind 2-0 in the first period to KaRonne Jones of NC State, but was able to score an escape early in the second and a takedown later in the period to carry a 3-2 advantage into the third period. Ellsworth sealed the win with a takedown with :19 seconds left to secure the 5-2 win and run the tally to 23-12 in favor of VMI heading into the heavyweight bout of the match.
At heavyweight, No. 14 Josh Wine of VMI squared off against Elohiem Palma of NC State. Wine took the lead early with a takedown, while Palma earned an escape point to bring the bout to 2-1 heading into period two. Palma took a 3-2 lead on a reversal five seconds in, but Wine would escape to tie the score up and earn a takedown just before the end of the period to carry a 5-3 advantage into the third period. Palma earned a takedown with a minute left in the match, but Wine earned an escape, riding time, and take down points to take the match 8-7 and bring the finals score to 23-15 in favor of the Wolfpack.
"We're going back to the drawing board," said Trudgeon. "We have two matches on Sunday and they are both going to be every bit as challenging as the one tonight, but our guys just have to keep plugging along."
The Keydets return to action with a quick turnaround, next taking the mat Sun., Jan. 16 at the University of Virginia. The Keydets square off against No. 27 UVA at 1 p.m., followed by a bout against No. 36 Penn at 5 p.m. Live stats will be available for both matchups, courtesy of UVA.
Match Agate
125 Johnathan Pope (VMI) DEC Rahmatabadi, Pedram (North Carolina State ) 8 - 6
133 Luke Todd (VMI) DEC George Hovis (North Carolina State ) 8 - 3
141 Darius Little (North Carolina State ) MD David Yost (VMI) 11 - 3
149 Matthew Nereim (North Carolina State ) FALL Mike Long (VMI) 4:04
157 Colton Palmer (North Carolina State ) FALL Nicholas Emison (VMI) 5:13
165 Colin Genthert (North Carolina State ) MD Edward Gottwald (VMI) 8 - 0
174 Quinton Godley (North Carolina State ) DEC Matthew Brock (VMI) 5 - 1
184 John Dommert (VMI) DEC Nijel Jones (North Carolina State ) 10 - 4
197 Ronald Ellsworth (VMI) DEC KaRonne Jones (North Carolina State ) 5 - 2
285 Joshua Wine (VMI) DEC Eloheim Palma (North Carolina State ) 9 - 7
