LEXINGTON, Va. – In a back and forth match, the VMI Keydets
wrestling team suffered its first dual match loss of the season, dropping a
27-15 decision to Campbell University Friday night.
The match served as the
first-ever conference meeting between the two teams, who have met on nine
previous occasions. VMI is now 8-2-
all-time against Campbell since 1978-79 when the Institute added scholarships
for wrestling. It was the Keydets (1-1, 0-1 SoCon) first loss to Campbell since
2000-01.
“It was a really hard-fought
match, there were a lot of one point, two point matches and hats off to
Campbell, they won those matches,” said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. “We have
to find a way to turn that around, and I really think we can. We fought hard,
most of the time our third periods were better than our first periods.”
Four of the night's 10 bouts
were decided by three or fewer points, including two by one point and an overtime
match to kickoff the evening.
At 141 pounds, the starting
weight class for the match, Zeb Stewart put VMI up 3-0 after winning 9-7 in overtime.
Stewart went down 7-1 in the first period, but battled back to force the extra
period. Stewart wasted no time in the extra period, taking down Jordan Tolbert
in the first 20 seconds of overtime.
Campbell jumped out to a 5-3
lead after earning a technical fall at 149 pounds, but the lead was short lived
as the Keydets picked up six points at 157 pounds after Campbell forfeited the
weight class. The Camels (5-4, 2-0 SoCon) got a pair of back-to-back 4-3
decisions at 165 and 174 pounds, grabbing an 11-9 lead.
Once again however, the
Keydets got the lead back, this time at 184 pounds as Conor Black recorded VMI's
first dual match pin of the season, putting TeShaun Johnson on his back in the
third period. The six points gave the Keydets a 15-11 lead.
But the Camels claimed
victory in the final four weight classes of the night as the Keydets suffered a
major decision at 197-pounds and two decisions at heavyweight and 133 pounds.
VMI also forfeited 125 pounds to make the final score 27-15.
“We're on to really important
stuff next week. We have final examinations, so tonight was it before finals,”
said Trudgeon. The Keydets will be idle until Dec. 29 when they head to Lock
Haven, Pa. to take part in the Mat Town USA Invitational, hosted by Lock Haven
University.
VMI – 15
Campbell – 27
Attendance: 524
Match Started at 141 Pounds
Bout-by-Bout Winner def. Loser Type Score – Running Score: (VMI-CU)
141 Pounds: Zeb Stewart (VMI) def. Jordan Tolbert (CU) 9-7 (OT) (3-0)
149 Pounds: Mark Hartenstine (CU) def. David Yost (VMI) Tech. Fall 15-0 (3:32)
(3-5)
157 Pounds: Michael Burnett (VMI) wins by forfeit (9-5)
165 Pounds: Nick Rex (CU) def. Carry Joseph (VMI) dec. 4-3 (9-8)
174 Pounds: James Cook (CU) def. Matthew Brock (VMI) dec. 4-3 (9-11)
184 Pounds: Conor Black (VMI) def. TeShaun Johnson (CU) Pin 5:53 (15-11)
197 Pounds: John Weakley (CU) def. John Dommert (VMI) Major Dec. 15-6 (15-15)
285 Pounds: Joe Nolan (CU) def. Andrew Embree (VMI) 6-3 (15-18)
125 Pounds: Josh Fisher (CU) wins by Forfeit
(15-24)
133 Pounds: Joey Rizzolino (CU) def. Ryan Goodsell (VMI) Dec. 4-3 (15-27)
