FAIRFAX, Va. – Battling host George Mason point for point, the VMI wrestling team dropped a close 16-15 loss to conclude the regular season Thursday night in Fairfax, Virginia.

With the Keydets ahead 12-9 through seven bouts and following three prior ties, the Patriots' Luke Ludke earned a crucial major decision victory at 184 pounds to put George Mason ahead by a point, 13-12, with just two bouts remaining.

After VMI's Taylor Thomas grinded out a 7-5 tiebreaker decision over GMU's Cameron Houston at 197 pounds to put VMI back up, 15-13, the Patriots' heavyweight Matt Voss ultimately earned the win for George Mason by earning a hard-fought 3-2 decision over VMI's Urayoan Garcia for the 16-15 victory.

"It was a tough loss tonight," said VMI head coach Chris Skretkowicz. "Although we split the meet five to five, it came down to a bonus point in one of the matches. We continue to close the gap with our competition and are building confidence, but still came up short."

The Keydets have two weeks to prepare for the Arby's Southern Conference tournament, which is slated for Saturday, March 5, in Asheville, North Carolina.

George Mason 16, VMI 15
February 18, 2016
Fairfax, VA

125 – Dalton Henderson dec. Ibrahim Banduka (GMU), 4-3 ... 3-0 (VMI listed first)
133 – Vince Rodriguez (GMU) dec. Dominick Gallo, 4-1 ... 3-3
141 – Darren Ostrander dec. Tejon Anthony (GMU), 10-5 ... 6-3
149 – Blake Roulo (GMU) dec. Stevan Smith, 7-3 ... 6-6
157 – Gregory Flournoy (GMU) dec. Neal Richards, 3-1 ... 6-9
165 – Shabaka Johns dec. Patrick Davis (GMU), 9-2 ... 9-9
174 – Mark Darr dec. Ryan Forrest (GMU), 7-4 ... 12-9
184 – Luke Ludke (GMU) maj. dec. Ben Wagner, 11-3 ... 12-13
197 – Taylor Thomas TB-1 Cameron Houston (GMU), 7-5 ... 15-13
285 – Matt Voss (GMU) dec. Urayoan Garcia, 3-2 ... 15-16