UNCG began the night with two easy wins. Sophomore Mitchell Johnson (7-10, 2-1 SoCon) took the 125-pound round with a VMI forfeit. Senior Jeff Hedges (14-9, 3-0 SoCon) nabbed his fourth win in a row with an 18-2 major decision over VMI's 133-pounder, Ryan Goodsell (7-13, 0-1 SoCon).
The Spartans went into the 141-pound round with an 11-point lead, but the Keydets' Tyler Anthony (13-7, 1-0 SoCon) put up three with a 7-1 decision over senior Ben Wilmore (2-8, 1-2 SoCon).
In the 149-pound bout, junior Marcus Hannah (8-4, 2-1 SoCon) pushed the Spartan's lead up to 11 with an impressive 8-6 overtime victory against David Metzler (15-11, 0-1 SoCon). With less than 10 seconds left in regulation, Hannah scored a takedown to tie the match at 6-6 and send it into an extra time. Shortly after the whistle, Hannah scored another takedown for the win, 8-6.
Freshman Andrew Saunders (9-9, 1-0 SoCon) recorded his third fall victory as a Spartan with a 5:40 pin over VMI's Vince Cole (3-13, 0-1 SoCon) in the 157-pound bout. The Keydets came back with a fall of their own as Jayme Gordon (7-8, 1-0 SoCon) pinned sophomore Byron Sigmon (9-9, 2-1 SoCon) in 1:14. The victory at the 165-pound bout brought the team scores to UNCG 20, VMI 9.
VMI continued to breathe down the Spartans' back with a close win in the 174-pound weight class. Dustin McCabe 11-12, 1-0 SoCon) nabbed the win with a 5-2 decision over freshman Mikal McKee (9-10, 1-2 SoCon).
With UNCG at a 20-12 advantage, sophomore Nick Clark (3-9, 1-2 SoCon) tallied his first major decision of the season with a 17-4 victory over the Keydets' Curtis Moore (8-10, 0-1 SoCon) in the 184-pound weight class.
At 197-pounds, senior Daren Burns (23-3, 3-0 SoCon) tabbed his 95th career victory and his seventh fall of the season as he pinned VMI's Ronnie Ellsworth (3-12, 0-1 SoCon) in two minutes, 33 seconds. Junior Ryan Hsu (14-8, 3-0 SoCon) closed out the evening's matches with a 3-2 decision over Leon Barrow (7-5, 0-1 SoCon) to bring the final score to UNCG 33, VMI 12.
The Spartans are now 4-4 on the season with a 2-1 conference dual record. With the loss, VMI drops its first Southern Conference dual and falls to 4-3 overall, 0-1 in the conference.
UNCG continues their home stand with a UNCG/Davidson/Virginia triangular on Sunday, January 20 at Fleming Gymnasium. UNCG will take on the Wildcats at 1pm and will follow-up with a 5pm match-up against the Cavaliers.
For more news on UNCG wrestling, ticket prices, a complete season schedule, and all other Spartan athletic information log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com.
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