LEXINGTON, Va.- The Keydets rattled off consecutive victories to begin the night with John Pope and Luke Todd earning decision, but Appalachian State used a technical fall as well as three majors and a disqualification victory to take a 26-11 win Friday night at Cocke Hall.
The festivities began at 125 lbs., with redshirt-senior John Pope returning from injury to take on Appalachian State's Tony Gravely, the 2010 SoCon Champion. After battling to a 5-5 tie in the first period, Pope took control of the bout, outscoring Gravely 9-1 the rest of the way with a variety of back points and near falls to give VMI the early 3-0 lead.
The next match was one of the most exciting bouts of the night, featuring VMI junior Luke Todd against Brett Boston, at 133 lbs. Todd trailed 4-2 after the first period, but scored a takedown in the second period and tacked on four reversal and a pair of takedown points with less than three seconds left to take the match, 10-8.
With the 6-0 lead in hand, junior Ryan Goodsell squared off against Mike Kessler, falling 11-8 to give Kessler a 12-3 major decision to cut the VMI lead to 6-4.
At 149 lbs., VMI welcomed back another redshirt-senior to the lineup in Mike Long, who has also missed time due to injury. Long fell behind 5-0 in the first 1:26, as Kostis earned a takedown at the 1:17 mark and three near fall points at the 1:26 portion of the period. Kostis went on to take the 13-3 win, giving the Mountaineers consecutive major decisions as the squad took an 8-6 lead in the team scoring, and improving the Appalachian State 149 pounders season mark to 21-9.
Looking to snap the Mountaineer streak, sophomore Mike Burnett took on Appalachian State's John Blakely at 157 lbs. Blakely took a 2-0 lead at the 55 second mark, earning a pair of back points. With 54 ticks left in the first period, Burnett collected an escape point to bring the score to 2-1 heading into the second frame. Just over a minute into period two, Blakely earned trio of near-fall points to build his lead to 5-1 as the match carried into the third period. However, Blakely would take the match 8-2 to continue the Appalachian State streak and run the team tall to 11-6.
In a match at 165 lbs., VMI freshman Ted Gottwald squared off against the No. 20 165 pounder in the country, Kyle Blevins. The freshman managed to keep the match close at 4-1 after the first period, however, Blevins extended his lead in the final periods, going on to take the match via technical fall 19-4, bringing the dual score to 16-6 in favor of the Mountaineers.
At 174 lbs., VMI's win leader, junior Matt Brock, faced a must-win match for the Keydets against Carter Downs. Following a scoreless first period, Brock took a 2-0 lead at the 1:21 mark. In the waning seconds of the period, Brock secured a leg-lock, earning two additional points to carry a 4-0 advantage into the third period. Brock would hold the tally scoreless in the third period to secure the shutout and cut the score to 16-9 as the match went to 184 lbs.
At 184, sophomore John Dommert battled No. 20 Austin Trotman, one of three Appalachian St. grapplers with at least 25 wins on the season. Trotman jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first minute of the match, and carried an 8-4 lead into second frame. However, Trotman built a 15-7 lead at the end of regulation, adding a riding point to take the 16-7 major decision win and carry the score to 20-9.
With two matches remaining, sophomore Evan Dill battled Jon Hartley in a battle at 197 lbs. Dill was able to secure two takedown points at the 1:14 mark and take a 2-0 lead into period two. Dill added to the lead with an escape four seconds into the period, but Hartley answered right back with four back points to take a 4-3 lead. Trailing 6-5 heading into the third and deciding period, Dill took a 7-6 lead with 46 seconds left with a takedown near the outer-portion of the mat. In the waning moments of the match with the score tied at 7-7, Dill was able to get a takedown, and followed with a trio of near-fall points while tacking on a riding point to win the match 13-7.
At heavyweight, No. 15 Josh Wine took on Appalachian State's Marc Tyson, with Wine taking a 2-0 lead following the first period. Tyson earned an escape point 39 seconds into the second period. With the score 2-1 heading into the third, Wine picked up a quick escape point to bring the score to 3-1 with 1:57 left in the bout. However a flagrant misconduct penalty against Wine resulted in a win for Tyson, six points for George Mason and a one-point deduction for VMI to bring the final score to 26-9, Appalachian St.
The Keydets return to action Sunday, Feb. 13 at 3 p.m., taking on the Liberty Flames from the Vines Center. Live video, as well as live stats will be available for the match via VMIKeydets.com
VMI- 9
Appalachian State- 26
Non Match Team Points (Deductions/Criteria)
School Points Reason WtClass
VMI -1 Flagrant Misconduct 285
Individual Matches
Wt Winning Wrestler (School) WinType Losing Wrestler (School) Score
125 Johnathan Pope (VMI) DEC Antonio Gravely (Appalachian State) 13 - 6
133 Luke Todd (VMI) DEC Brett Boston (Appalachian State) 10 - 8
141 Mike Kessler (Appalachian State) MD Ryan Goodsell (VMI) 12 - 3
149 Savva Kostis (Appalachian State) MD Mike Long (VMI) 13 - 3
157 John Blakely (Appalachian State) DEC Michael Burnett (VMI) 8 - 2
165 Kyle Blevins (Appalachian State) TF5 Edward Gottwald (VMI) 19 - 4 (6:41)
174 Matthew Brock (VMI) DEC Andrew Downs (Appalachian State) 5 - 0
184 Austin Trotman (Appalachian State) MD John Dommert (VMI) 16 - 7
197 Evan Dill (VMI) DEC Jon Hartley (Appalachian State) 13 - 7
285 Tyson, Marc (Appalachian State) DQ Joshua Wine (VMI)
