Wrestling Southern Conference

VMI Wrestling Defeats Virginia, 20-12 (Jan. 16)

LEXINGTON, VA -- The VMI wrestling team (5-3) defeated in-state rival Virginia (1-4), 20-12 in front of a raucous crowd of 584 at Cocke Hall on Tuesday night. The win was VMI's first over Virginia since Dec. 4, 1996.

The teams split the first four matches. Senior Brian Toney (Boones Mill, Va./ Franklin County) and freshman Juan Sanchez (Alexandria, Va./ Hayfield) won matches for the Keydets at 197 and 125 lbs. respectively. Sanchez took a 7-6 decision in overtime. UVA's wins came from Senior heavyweight Ryan Painter and sophomore 133-pounder Joe Alexander.

VMI took the lead (10-6) that they would not relinquish when freshman 141-pounder Mark DiSalvo (Dayton, Ohio/ Dayton Carroll) scored a major decision over Steve Keleher, 15-2. The lead was extended to 13-6 when Keydet freshman 149-pounder Mike Parsons (Lakeville, Ohio/ Loudonville) defeated freshman Paul Dunstan, 7-1.

Cavalier junior Don Carlos-Clauss cut the lead to four (13-9) by defeating VMI's freshman Jason Kontopedes (Beaverdam, Va./ Boys Ranch (Texas)), 11-6. However, the lead was pushed back to seven (16-9) when Keydet junior Adam Britt (Mechanicsville, Va./ Atlee) defended his No. 15 national ranking (Intermat) and Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week honor by taking down freshman Will Durkee, 13-6.

Seventeenth-ranked junior Matt Erwin (South Vienna, Ohio/ St. Paris Graham) clinched the match for the Keydets when he scored a major decision over UVA junior Brian Muir, 8-0. The win pushed the lead to 20-9 as the Keydets rolled to the eight-point win.

"This was a big win for our program," said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. "We let two matches (Maryland and N.C. State get away from us earlier in the year and we needed to get this one. Up and down the lineup, our kids wrestled hard tonight."

Both teams will be in action again on Saturday at the Virginia Intercollegiate Championships, hosted by UVA in Charlottesville. The tournament begins at 11 am.