"Super team effort," said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. "We won five matches, but it really felt like everyone contributed and wrestled hard."
The night began with VMI redshirt-senior John Pope taking on George Mason's Zach Huxford at 125 lbs. Pope led 6-2 after the first period with two takedown points, while Huxford earned his pair on escapes. Pope continued his momentum in the match, shutting out Huxford the rest of the way to take the match 13-2 and earn his first major-decision of the season and give VMI the early 4-0 lead.
At 133 lbs., VMI's Luke Todd and George Mason's John Delgado squared off. After a scoreless first period, Delgado earned an escape point :17 seconds into the second period to take the 1-0 lead. Todd answered nearly a minute later with a pair of takedown points at the 1:16 mark, but Delgado evened the score at 2-2 with an escape prior to the end of the period. After a back and forth first 1:30, Todd used a reversal with 1:14 remaining to take a 4-2 lead and hung on for the victory, improving to 5-7 on the season and extend the VMI lead to 7-0 heading into 141 lbs.
At 141 lbs., David Yost took on George Mason's Denny Herndon in one of the nights more entertaining matchups. After a scoreless first period, Herndon took a 2-0 lead on a pair of escape points at the 1:48 mark, but Yost cut the lead in half only five seconds later with an escape. Yost tied the match :28 seconds in, 2-2, but Herndon earned an escape point to take the match at the 1:37 mark to take the match 3-2 and cut the VMI lead to 7-3.
Ryan Goodsell took on Donald Takagi at 149 lbs. With the bout tied at 1-1 heading into the third period, Goodsell earned an escape point :10 seconds into the third to take a 2-1 advantage. However, Takagi earned a pair of takedown points with 7 seconds left to take a 3-2 lead, and add a riding point to take the match 4-2 and bring the VMI lead to a narrow 7-6 lead.
After GMU's Jaaziah Bethea defeated VMI's Nick Emison by a 15-4 major decision to give the Patriots a 10-7 lead, VMI's Ted Gottwald took on George Mason's Aaron Keeton at 165 lbs. Keeton took a 2-1 lead in the first period, and never looked back, earning a 6-3 win by decision to stretch the George Mason lead to 13-7.
The Keydets put an end to their four-match skid as Matt Brock took on George Mason's James Kaden at 174 lbs. After the first two periods went scoreless, Brock won the third frame 4-1 and took the match by that score to bring the VMI deficit to 13-10 with three matches remaining.
Keydet sophomore John Dommert started off with a bang at 184 lbs. against GMU's Greg Scott, taking a 5-0 lead less than a minute into the match on a takedown and three near fall points.
Dommert added two points a minute into the second period on a reversal to carry a 7-0 lead into the final period. The Keydet 184 pounder went on to tack on two reversal points as well as a riding point to take the match 10-0 and earn his first major of the season, giving the Keydets a slim 14-13 lead heading 197 lbs.
The 197 pound matchup proved crucial, as VMI freshman took on James Webb of GMU, who was bumping up from 184 lbs. Webb earned an escape point with :40 seconds left in the second period to lead 1-0 heading into the third. Gill would earn an escape point only three seconds into the third period to tie the match at 1-1 heading into sudden-victory overtime.
After the first sudden-victory period went scoreless, Webb earned a pair of reversal points with :28 seconds left to take a 3-1 lead into the third overtime. Gill earned an escape point with five seconds left, but it wasn't enough as Webb took the match 3-2 and give George Mason the 16-14 lead with one match, heavyweight, remaining.
No. 13 Josh Wine squared off against Hunter Manspile of GMU, a match that Wine won 6-0 in last season's edition of the all-time series. The deciding match of the night began with a scoreless first and second period. Wine took the early 1-0 lead in the third, earning an escape point from the bottom position. Shortly later at the 5:35 mark, Wine recorded the pinfall, throwing Manspile to his back to earn his first pin of the season and give the Keydets the 20-16 victory.
"We lost some heartbreakers at 141 and 149, and it was disappointing to come up short, but we fought hard. We got out there at 174 and 184 and we really made something happen. Chris Gill fought hard a 197 lbs. He hasn't wrestled many matches yet, but I thought he really showed a lot of heart out there. Of course, Josh has a lot of power and took care of things at heavyweight, so it was a great team win for us."
The Keydets will next time the mat on Fri., Jan. 28 as they host The Citadel at 7:30 p.m. from Cocke Hall. The match will also serve as the programs alumni match, where all former VMI wrestlers are encouraged to return to Post. Admission is $5 for adults, and free to all students.
Results:
Wt Winning Wrestler (School) WinType Losing Wrestler (School) Score
125 Johnathan Pope (VMI) MD Zach Huxford (George Mason ) 13 - 2
133 Luke Todd (VMI) DEC John Delgado (George Mason ) 4 - 2
141 Denny Herndon (George Mason)DEC David Yost (VMI) 3 - 2
149 Donald Takagi (George Mason ) DEC Ryan Goodsell (VMI) 4 - 2
157 Jaaziah Bethea (George Mason)MD Nicholas Emison (VMI) 15 - 4
165 Aaron Keeton (George Mason ) DEC Edward Gottwald (VMI) 6 - 3
174 Matthew Brock (VMI) DEC James Kaden (George Mason ) 4 - 1
184 John Dommert (VMI) MD Greg Scott (George Mason ) 10 - 0
197 Webb, James (George Mason ) DEC Christopher Gill (VMI) 3 - 2
285 Joshua Wine (VMI) FALL Hunter Manspile (George Mason )(5:35)
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