CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Virginia Military Institute wrestling team concluded its 2012-13 dual match season Saturday afternoon, splitting its results with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and host University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The Keydets knocked off SIUE 23-12 in the opener, but fell 36-3 in the nightcap.
The Keydets' victory over SIUE snapped a four-match skid and was VMI's biggest margin of victory since blanking Davidson 36-0 on Jan. 27. Despite the outcome with the Mocs in the second match of VMI's day, the Keydets hung tough, with four of the team's nine losses coming by three points or less.
In the first match of the Cougars, the affair was close early as VMI picked up six points on a forfeit at 125 pounds, but the points were washed at 133 pounds as SIUE picked up a win by fall.
But senior Ryan Goodsell cracked the match open at 141 pounds, needing a sudden victory to grab a valuable three points for VMI. The final 30 seconds of the bout were thrilling as Goodsell's opponent, Dillon Pousson, got the drop on the Keydet with a takedown directly to Goodsell's back, giving the Cougar four points with the takedown and two near fall. But Goodsell got free and hit a reversal to cut the lead in half 4-2. Pousson escaped with 28 seconds left in the period for a 5-3 lead.
Opening the second period, Pousson chose bottom after Goodsell deferred and the SIUE grappler quickly scored a reversal for a 7-3 lead. Goodsell broke free and hit a takedown shortly thereafter to pull within striking distance, 8-5. The third period saw Goodsell tie the bout at 8-8 and force overtime. In the extra period, Goodsell scored a takedown 22 seconds in, giving him the win and starting a seven-bout winning streak for the Keydets.
The next four weight classes were VMI's from the start as Zeb Stewart won 7-0 at 149 pounds, Ted Gottwald claimed a 2-0 decision at 157 pounds, Mark Darr winning by technical fall, 15-0 and John Dommert's narrowly escaping with a 2-0 victory. Urayoan Garcia snagged a win by fall in the waning moments of his 197 pound bout, sticking Josh Wood in 6:23 for VMI's final points of the match.
VMI's second match of the day started off closely, but the Mocs soon broke it open to cruise to the win. Chattanooga, which is 6-0 in the Southern Conference, claimed at least a share of the regular season title with Campbell. The two will meet on Monday for their season finale.
After a pin at 125 pounds, VMI bounced back as Andriy Onufriyenko won by the thinnest of margins, 9-8 over Marvin Lopez. But the Mocs reeled off wins in the next eight weight classes. However, several of those bouts were close, such as Goodsell's at 141 pounds, which was a 6-3 decision for Chattanooga's Dean Pavlou.
Several of VMI's younger wrestlers will be in action tomorrow for the 2013 National Collegiate Open, hosted at the Arthur Ashe Center in Richmond, Va. As a team, VMI returns to action March 9 for the Southern Conference Championships, which will be hosted in Lexington, Va. at VMI's Cameron Hall.
Agate:
Saturday, Feb. 23 at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - Mclellan Center - Chattanooga, Tenn.
SIUE (5-18, 1-5 SoCon) 12
VMI (2-14, 2-4 SoCon) 32
Weight: Winner (School) Type Loser (School) Result - Running Score (VMI-SIUE)
125: Armando Herrera (VMI) Won by Forfeit (6-0)
133: Patrick Myers (SIUE) WBF Andriy Onufriyenko (VMI) 1:28 (6-6)
141: Ryan Goodsell (VMI) SV-1 Dillon Pousson (SIUE) 10-8 (9-6)
149: Zeb Stewart (VMI) DEC Brandon Brindley (SIUE) 7-0 (12-6)
157: Ted Gottwald (VMI) DEC Kyle Lowman (SIUE) 2-0 (15-6)
165: Mark Darr (VMI) TECH FALL Adam Osmoe (SIUE) 15-0 5:46 (20-6)
174: John Dommert (VMI) DEC Jake Residori (SIUE) 2-0 (23-6)
184: Conor Black (VMI) DEC Deshoun White (SIUE) 3-2 (26-6)
197: Urayoan Garcia (VMI) WBF Josh Wood (SIUE) 6:23 (32-6)
285: David Devine (SIUE) WBF Michael LaPrade (VMI) 1:36 (32-12)
Saturday, Feb. 23 at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - Mclellan Center - Chattanooga, Tenn.
VMI (2-15, 2-5 SoCon) 3
Chattanooga (10-6, 6-0 SoCon) 36
Weight: Winner (School) Type Loser (School) Result - Running Score (UTC-VMI)
125: No. 18 Nick Soto (UTC) TECH FALL Armando Herrera (VMI) 18-3 5:33 (5-0)
133: Andriy Onufriyenko (VMI) DEC Marvin Lopez (UTC) 9-8 (5-3)
141: Dean Pavlou (UTC) DEC Ryan Goodsell (VMI) 6-3 (8-3)
149: Alex Hudson (UTC) MAJ DEC Zeb Stewart (VMI) 10-0 (12-3)
157: Trey Stavrum (UTC) DEC Ted Gottwald (VMI) 8-5 (15-3)
165: Josh Condon (UTC) WBF Mark Darr (VMI) 5:43 (21-3)
174: John Lampe (UTC) DEC John Dommert (VMI) 6-3 (24-3)
184: Robert Prigmore (UTC) DEC Jonathan Jones (VMI) 3-0 (27-3)
197: No. 18 Niko Brown (UTC) WBF Urayoan Garcia (VMI) 4:41 (33-3)
285: Kevin Malone (UTC) DEC Michael LaPrade (VMI) 3-0 (36-3)
