ASHEVILLE, N.C. – VMI Wrestling 165-pounder
Ryan Vigil muscled his way to Saturday's Southern Conference championship match after going 3-0 on day one of the SoCon Championship Friday at Kimmel Arena.
VMI will have four Keydets represented on the second day of the tournament. The Keydets enter the final day with 27 team points, currently in seventh, with opportunities to move up.
Vigil, who was tabbed the eight seed in the 165 bracket, had a long way to the finals by running through three wrestlers, the most by any finalist in any bracket this year.
In his path to the first-place bout, Vigil posted a technical fall in the pigtail match, 17-2. Less than a couple of hours later, the Colorado native upset the nation's 24th-ranked 165-pounder and the SoCon's one seed from The Citadel with a sudden victory decision.
In the semifinals, Vigil used a last-minute third-period takedown to etch his name into the championship round with a 5-4 decision. With the wins, Vigil becomes the first Keydet since Neal Richards in 2020 to make it to the championship match, and will face No. 2 Anthony Conetta from Appalachian State.
141-pounder
Dyson Dunham scored a 14-3 major decision on the consolation side to advance to the consolation semifinals. Also alive for third place is 149-pounder
Phoenix Alyea, who used a second-period pin, followed by a technical fall to move on to tomorrow's semifinal.
Toby Schoffstall dominated his consolation quarterfinal bout, tallying a pin in the first two minutes to advance to the next stage.
The consolation semifinals begin at 10 a.m., with the consolation finals following at 1 p.m., and the championship starting at 3 p.m.
For more information, visit VMIKeydets.com or follow us on social media at VMI Athletics.
