LEXINGTON, Va.- On a night where VMI welcomed over 40 former Keydet greats, the largest crowd ever to witness a VMI wrestling match, 1,527 fans, packed Cocke Hall as the Keydets opened up their 2010-11 Southern Conference dual season, falling to SoCon rival The Citadel 27-13.
"Tonight, we won the matches that we thought we had a chance to win," said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. "From 125 to heavyweight we fought hard, but we were outmanned in certain spots. The Citadel is a very nice team, and I commend them on the victory."
The Citadel (7-9, 3-1 SoCon) took the early 6-0 lead, as Bulldog junior Richard Alarcon pinned VMI's Charles Gray at the 4:14 mark in the freshman's first-career dual match. The Bulldogs followed by earning a decision victory at 133 lbs., as junior Luke Todd took on Tyler Sim. Sim earned a first period takedown, followed by at reversal and another takedown at the 1:17 mark to fall behind 6-1.Todd would go on to add an escape point with five seconds remaining to bring the bout to the final tally of 6-2.
VMI (3-6, 0-1 SoCon) fans were treated to a superb matchup at 141 lbs.,VMI junior David Yost squared off against Jordan Dix. After a scoreless first period, Yost earned an escape in the early going, and a takedown at the 1:05 mark to take an 3-0 lead. Nearly 20 seconds later, Dix earned an escape to end the third period and bring the score to 3-1 heading into period three. Yost was able to hold onto the advantage, adding 3-1 and bring The Citadel advantage to 9-3 heading into 149 lbs.
After junior Jacob Barton was defeated by Derek Royster via technical fall to bring the team score to 14-3, VMI sophomore Mike Burnett made his season-debut at 157 lbs., taking on Nick Lafevre. Trailing 2-0 heading into the third period, Burnett earned a takedown 20 seconds in to knot the bout at 2-2. Burnett then tacked on a riding point at the end of regulation to take the 3-2 victory and bring the VMI deficit to 14-6.
Between the 157 lbs., and 165 lbs. matchup, VMI honored past program standouts, including former coach Ike Sherlock, numerous conference and state champions, as well as all-time win leader Adam Britt and members of the 1985 SoCon Championship squad.
"It was very exciting the large number of alums that came back for this reunion," said Trudgeon. "My hats off the Greg Cavallaro and the Keydet Club for organizing all of this and getting the publicity out for the event, and being able to see guys that I haven't seen in a long time. It was a pretty exciting event for VMI wrestling."
After No. 8 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj made quick work of VMI's Ted Gottwald with a pin at the 1:24 mark to give The Citadel a 20-6 lead, Matt Brock took on No. 33 J.C. Oddo at 174 lbs, pulling off an upset victory.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the second period of the bout, Brock earned an escape point seven seconds into
the period to even the score up at 2-2,a mark that carried into the third period of action.
Brock would take his first lead of the match 1:16 into the third, throwing Oddo to his back and take a 4-2 decision victory, improving to 12-9 on the season. The win brought the score to 20-9 in favor of the Bulldogs with three matches remaining.
After sophomore John Dommert was defeated 7-4 by Justin Sparrow at 184 lbs., The Citadel's Kelby Smith picked up a major decision victory over VMI freshman Josh Phillips by a 15-5 score to bring the match to a 27-9 tally in favor of The Citadel with one match, heavyweight, remaining.
At heavyweight, No. 13 Josh Wine took on Bulldog freshman Luke Johnson, in a bout where Wine held nearly 70 pound weight advantage. Wine earned a takedown 50 seconds into the match, and held onto the 2-0 lead into the third period. Nearly 30 seconds into the third period, Wine added an escape to take a 3-0 lead, followed by a takedown for a 5-0 advantage. The senior heavyweight went on to earn at 12-2 major decision to close out the bout 27-13.
VMI returns to the mat in its first road SoCon match of the season at Davidson on Feb. 4. Match time is set for 7 p.m. Following the dual against Davidson, the squad will travel to the All-Academy Championships on Sun, Feb. 6 in an all-day event hosted by The Citadel.
Match Agate
Wt Winning Wrestler (School) WinType Losing Wrestler (School) Score
125 Richard Alarcon Jr. (The Citadel)FALL Charles Gray (VMI) 4:14
133 Tyler Sim (The Citadel) DEC Luke Todd (VMI) 6 - 2
141 David Yost (VMI) DEC Jordan Dix (The Citadel) 3 - 1
149 Derek Royster (The Citadel) TF5 Jacob Barton (VMI) 20 - 5 (6:11)
157 Michael Burnett (VMI) DEC LaFevre, Nick (The Citadel) 3 - 2
165 T. Luvsandorj (The Citadel) FALL Edward Gottwald (VMI) 1:24
174 Matthew Brock (VMI) DEC James Oddo (The Citadel) 4 - 2
184 Justin Sparrow (The Citadel) DEC John Dommert (VMI) 6 - 4
197 Kelby Smith (The Citadel) MD Joshua Phillips (VMI) 15 - 5
285 Joshua Wine (VMI) MD Luke Johnson (The Citadel) 12 - 2
