LEXINGTON, Va. – Hoping to send four senior Keydets off with a win, the VMI wrestling team earned a 37-0 shutout victory over Southern Conference foe Davidson College Wednesday night at Cormack Hall.
Competing in their final home dual, seniors Emmitt Kelly, Mark Darr, Derek Thurman and Urayoan Garcia earned individual victories to lead the team to the shutout, its first such victory since blanking Davidson, coincidentally, by a 36-0 score during the 2012-13 campaign. It was also the largest margin of victory since defeating Campbell last year by a 45-8 score.
“I am truly going to miss our seniors,” said VMI head coach Chris Skretkowicz. “They have worked so hard for our program. Tonight was a great way to send them off.”
Junior Dalton Henderson won his 10th consecutive bout by earning an 11-3 major decision over Camden Bertucci at 125 pounds for a quick 4-0 VMI lead. Coming off a third-place finish at All-Academy, freshman 133-pounder Dominick Gallo won his fourth straight match by topping Dustin Runzo by a 4-1 decision to lift the lead to 7-0.
At 133 pounds, Hunter Starner earned his third pin of the year by defeating Davidson's Billy McClelland in the second period (4:12) to balloon the VMI advantage to 13-0 after three bouts. Kelly earned a 5-0 decision at 149 pounds to go out with an individual win in his senior home finale before freshman Neal Richards registered a 10-4 decision over Davidson's Tony Palumbo.
After a Shabaka Johns pin at 165 pounds and Mark Darr decision victory provided the Keydets a 28-0 advantage, senior Derek Thurman earned a hard-fought 4-3 decision over Davidson's Konner Pritchard.
Down 7-5 near the end of his bout, 197-pounder Taylor Thomas earned a takedown in the final seconds to force overtime, where he earned a takedown and four-point near fall en route to a 13-7 sudden victory decision.
At heavyweight, senior Urayoan Garcia gutted out a 3-2 tiebreaker decision to preserve the shutout.
VMI returns to action this Sunday on the road with a SoCon dual at SIU-Edwardsville. The match is scheduled for a 2 p.m. EST start in Edwardsville, Illinois.
