CHARLESTON, S.C. – Opening the 2015-16 campaign with a Southern Conference dual against rival The Citadel, the VMI wrestling team started strong but ultimately fell by a 21-14 score Saturday morning in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Keydets jumped to a 7-0 advantage following a Dalton Henderson 9-3 decision over The Citadel's Caleb Smith at 125 pounds and 16-2 major decision by freshman Benjamin Pachello over the Bulldogs' Andrew Clayton at 133.

Citadel bounced back with nine consecutive points with three straight victories by decision. VMI's Hunter Starner took a 10-4 loss to Ty Buckiso at 141 pounds before Emmitt Kelly fell to The Citadel's Matt Frisch by a close 4-3 score at 149 pounds. The Bulldogs pulled ahead by a 9-7 team score following Aaron Walker's 11-6 decision over VMI freshman Neal Richards in the 157-pound battle.

“Going into the dual I knew it was going to be a close match,” said VMI head coach Chris Skretkowicz. “I'm proud of the effort given by our lower weights. Bennie Pachello stepped up in his college debut and scored a big win for us. I thought we were very flat in the upper weights. We needed to hand fight more in order to gain control at that point and we didn't get it done.

“I'm disappointed that we didn't come away with the win, but we will learn from our mistakes and move forward as a team.”

Junior Shabaka Johns got the Keydets back on track with a 15-4 major decision over The Citadel's William Connell at 165 pounds to put VMI back up by a slim 11-9 margin. VMI senior Mark Darr extended the lead for the Keydets to 14-9 after topping Citadel's Timothy Knipl by a 3-1 decision at 174 pounds.

However, that was the final individual victory for the Keydets as the Bulldogs took three straight major decisions in the upper weight division to come from behind and grab the victory. Citadel's Sayer Root topped Derek Thurman by a 12-4 score at 184 pounds before VMI's Urayoan Garcia was defeated by Marshall Haas, 11-3, at 197 pounds to pull the Bulldogs back ahead, 17-14.

At 285, Citadel's Joe Bexley provided four more insurance points for the Bulldogs to yield the final 21-14 tally by topping VMI's Tasi Mathias by a 13-0 major decision to close the match.

The Keydets return to action quickly as the majority of the team will compete at the Hokie Open all day Sunday hosted by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Citadel 21, VMI 14
125 Dalton Henderson (VMI) over Caleb Smith (The Citadel) (Dec 9‐3) … 3-0 VMI
133 Benjamin Pachello (VMI) over Andrew Clayton (The Citadel) (MD 16‐2) … 7-0 VMI
141 Ty Buckiso (The Citadel) over Hunter Starner (VMI) (Dec 10‐4) … 7-3 VMI
149 Matt Frisch (The Citadel) over Emmitt Kelly (VMI) (Dec 4‐3) … 7-6 VMI
157 Aaron Walker (The Citadel) over Neal Richards (VMI) (Dec 11‐6) … 7-9 Citadel
165 Shabaka Johns (VMI) over William Connell (The Citadel) (MD 15‐4) … 11-9 VMI
174 Mark Darr (VMI) over Timothy Knipl (The Citadel) (Dec 3‐1) … 14-9 VMI
184 Sawyer Root (The Citadel) over Derek Thurman (VMI) (MD 12‐4) … 14-13 VMI
197 Marshall Haas (The Citadel) over Urayoan Garcia (VMI) (MD 11‐3) … 14-17 Citadel
285 Joe Bexley (The Citadel) over Tasi Mathias (VMI) (MD 13‐0) … 14-21 Citadel