PITTSBURGH - Facing three opponents for the day, the VMI wrestling team earned its first dual victory of the season Saturday morning at the Pitt Duals held at Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Keydets claimed a 29-14 win over Bloomsburg in their first dual of the day before falling to Brown, 28-12, and to No. 23-ranked Edinboro, 46-0, in the final round.
"Today was a good day of wrestling teams we do not see often," said VMI head coach Chris Skretkowicz. "The level of competition carried throughout the day. We wrestled hard against some higher level competitors."
Against Bloomsburg, senior 125-pounder Dalton Henderson put the Keydets on the board first with five points as he earned a 17-2 tech fall in 3:11 over the Huskies' Willy Girard. After Bloomsburg forfeited at 133 to put VMI up 11-0, the Huskies' Grant Bond picked up a 23-7 tech fall over John Reed at 141 pounds to trim the lead to 11-5. VMI would claim the next two bouts at 149 and 157 by decision to go up 17-5 before the Huskies reeled off three straight decision victories to cut the VMI lead to 17-14 with just two bouts left.
VMI's Taylor Thomas was given six free points off a Bloomsburg forfeit to secure VMI's first dual victory of the season. Keydet heavyweight Sam Bouis earned insurance points by way of a Bloomsburg injury default as VMI registered a final tally of 29-14 for the win.
Against Brown, the Keydets were able to jump to a 3-0 lead and later tie the match at 12-12 midway through before ultimately falling to the Bears by a 28-12 score. Facing the No. 23-ranked team in the country for the final match, the Keydets battled but could not manage any points as Edinboro registered a 46-0 shutout victory.
Sophomore 157-pounder Neal Richards was able to extend his nine-bout winning streak to 11 before falling to Edinboro's Chase Delande by a close 6-3 decision in the third match of the day.
The Keydets return home to face a ranked Pitt squad next Saturday, Jan. 21, at 2 p.m. at Cormack Hall.
Round 1
Bye
Round 2
VMI 29, Bloomsburg 14
125: Dalton Henderson (VMI), tec. Fall Willy Girard (Bloom) 17-2, (3:11) – VMI leads 5-0
133: Michael Hulcher (VMI) wins by forfeit – VMI leads 11-0
141: Grant Bond (Bloom) tec. fall John Reed (VMI) 23-7, (6:52) – VMI leads 11-5
149: Stevan Smith (VMI) dec. John Barber (Bloom), 9-4 – VMI leads 14-5
157: Neal Richards (VMI) dec. Kevin Laubach (Bloom), 5-3 – VMI leads 17-5
165: Reid Stanley (Bloom) dec. Cade Kiely (VMI), 8-2 – VMI leads 17-8
174: Trevor Allard (Bloom) dec. Shabaka Johns (VMI), 4-2 – VMI leads 17-11
184: Kyle Murphy (Bloom) dec. Chris Beck (VMI), 4-0 – VMI leads 17-14
197: Taylor Thomas (VMI) wins by forfeit – VMI leads 23-14
285: Sam Bouis (VMI) ing.. def. (4:35) – VMI wins 29-14
Round 3
Brown 28, VMI 12
125: Dalton Henderson (VMI) dec. Michael Russo (BRO), 9-4 -- VMI leads 3-0
133: Jimmy Pawelski (BRO) pins Michael Hulcher (VMI), 7:51 -- Brown leads 6-3
141: Zeke Salvo (BRO) pins John Reed (VMI), 4:36 -- Brown leads 12-3
149: Stevan Smith (VMI) pins Travis Vasquez (BRO), 2:38 -- Brown leads 12-9
157: Neal Richards (VMI) dec. Matt Latanze (BRO), 9-3 – Score tied 12-12
165: John Viruet (BRO) maj. dec. Cade Kiely (VMI), 13-2 -- Brown leads 16-12
174: Andrew Labrie (BRO) dec. Shabaka Johns (VMI), 9-2 -- Brown leads 19-12
185: CJ LaFragola (BRO) dec. Chris Beck (VMI), 5-2 -- Brown leads 22-12
197: Tucker Ziegler (BRO) dec. Taylor Thomas (VMI), 8-2 -- Brown leads 25-12
285: Ian Butterbrodt (BRO) dec. Sam Bouis (VMI), 7-1 -- Brown wins 28-12
Round 4
No. 23 Edinboro 47, VMI 0
125: No. 9 Sean Russel (EU) maj. dec. Dalton Henderson (VMI), 18-8 -- Edinboro leads 4-0
133: No. 18 Korbin Myers (EU) pins Michael Hulcher (VMI), :53 -- Edinboro leads 10-0
141: Nate Hagan (EU) maj. dec. John Reed (VMI), 16-4 -- Edinboro leads 14-0
149: No. 9 Patricio Lugo (EU) tech. fall Stevan Smith (VMI), 17-1 -- Edinboro leads 19-0
157: Chase Delande (EU) dec. Neal Richards (VMI), 6-3 -- Edinboro leads 22-0
165: No. 18 Austin Matthews (EU) pins Cade Kiely (VMI), 2:36 -- Edinboro leads 28-0
174: Ty Schoffstall (EU) pins Shabaka Johns (VMI), 6:31 -- Edinboro leads 34-0
184: No. 17 Dakota Geer (EU) maj. dec. Chris Beck (VMI), 18-4 -- Edinboro leads 38-0
197: Dylan Reynolds (EU) dec. Taylor Thomas (VMI), 5-0 -- Edinboro leads 41-0
285: No. 12 Billy Miller (EU) pins Thomas Shea-Roop (VMI), 1:34 -- Edinboro wins 47-0
