LEXINGTON, Va. -- Despite starting the evening with a pair of wins, the Virginia Military Institute wrestling team could not hold on as the visiting Patriots from George Mason University stole a win at Cocke Hall Wednesday night, 27-12.

VMI won three matches on the night, but a run of six victories by the Patriots put the match out of reach for the Keydets (1-11). However, VMI did collect a win by fall at 174 pounds from John Dommert, sticking Corey Smith in just over a minute.

The evening, which began at 165 pounds, started off the VMI way with freshman Mark Darr edging out George Mason's Ty Kneep 6-5. Dommert was next up for VMI and used his pin to extend VMI's lead to 9-0.

But despite the Patriots (3-12) winning the next since matches, the bouts were close, including the 197-pound contest. Patriot Matt Meadows managed to just edge out VMI's Urayoan Garcia, 3-2. After giving up bonus points in the next two bouts, VMI found itself trailing 13-9 after the heavyweight round.

The 133-pound bout was another close affair, with another rookie, Andriy Onufriyenko, being edged out just 4-3 by Zach Isenhour. At 141 pounds, Ryan Goodsell found himself in a tight match with Sahid Kargbo, but the Patriot pulled out the victory 9-6.

VMI got one final victory on the evening at 149 pounds as Zeb Stewart collected his seventh victory of the year with a decisive 6-1 victory over Greg Flournoy. The evening ended with a George Mason victory however, with Jaaziah Bethea getting the better of Ted Gottwald, 14-6.

VMI has a quick turnaround before its next event, which be this Saturday as the Keydets head north to West Point, N.Y. for the All-Academy Championships, hosted at the United States Military Academy. Action is set to kickoff at 10 a.m. in Army's Gillis Field House..

Wednesday, Jan. 30 at Virginia Military Institute - Cocke Hall - Lexington, Va.
George Mason 27 (3-12)
VMI 12 (1-11)
Weight: Winner (School) Type Loser (School) Result - Running Score (VMI-GMU)
165: Mark Darr (VMI) DEC Ty Knepp (GMU) 6-5 - 3-0
174: John Dommert (VMI) WBF Corey Smith (GMU) 1:11 - 9-0
184: Ryan Hembury (GMU) MAJ DEC Jonathan Jones (VMI) 12-2 - 9-4
197: Matt Meadows (GMU) DEC Urayoan Garcia (VMI) 3-2 - 9-7
285: Jake Kettler (GMU) WBF Michael LaPrade (VMI) 1:40 - 9-13
125: Rich Lovorato (GMU) MAJ DEC Armando Herrera (VMI) 13-2 - 9-17
133: Zach Isenhour (GMU) DEC Andriy Onufriyenko (VMI) 4-3 - 9-20
141: Sahid Kargbo (GMU) DEC Ryan Goodsell (VMI) 9-6 - 9-23
149: Zeb Stewart (VMI) DEC Greg Flournoy (GMU) 6-1 - 12-23
157: Jaaziah Bethea (GMU) MAJ DEC Ted Gottwald (VMI) 14-6 12-27