EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Hoping to maintain momentum following a 37-0 shutout victory over Davidson last Wednesday, the VMI wrestling team fell to Southern Conference foe Southern Illinois-Edwardsville by a 33-8 score Sunday afternoon in Edwardsville, Illinois.

Junior Dalton Henderson won his 11th consecutive bout at 125 pounds by topping SIUE's Joe Antonelli by a 10-2 major decision to give VMI a quick 4-0 lead. The outcome was Henderson's second straight win by major decision as six of his last seven victories have earned bonus points for the Keydets.

A week removed from placing third at the All-Academy Championships, VMI 133-pounder Dominick Gallo fell by an 11-6 decision to Dakota Leach as the Cougars trimmed the VMI lead to 4-3. SIUE took the lead following a 12-2 major decision over VMI's Hunter Starner at 141 pounds and the Cougars never looked back en route to the win.

"I am not happy with our performance today," said VMI head coach Chris Skretkowicz. "We looked extremely flat and did not get to any of our attacks. We had a lot of calls that didn't go our way early on and we let that momentum take the match away from us."

After VMI senior Emmitt Kelly fell by a 14-6 major decision at 149 pounds, freshman Neal Richards scored VMI's only other points for the day by earning a dominant 17-5 major decision over SIUE's Erik Travers at 157 pounds to cut the Cougar advantage to 11-8 at the midway point.

The Cougars had little trouble through the remainder of the match as three of the five bouts were decided with bonus points. After Shabaka Johns (165) and Mark Darr (174) fell by close decision losses, the final three bouts resulted in pins and a major decision in favor of SIU Edwardsville.

VMI continues SoCon action Thursday night as it travels to Appalachian State for another road match. The first bout is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Boone, North Carolina.