Wrestling Southern Conference

VMI Wrestling Opens Revamped Thunderdome With 35-6 Win Over George Mason

VMI WRESTLING OPENS REVAMPED THUNDERDOME
WITH 35-6 WIN OVER GEORGE MASON

Lexington, Va. -- The VMI Wrestling team (2-2) opened the revamped
"Thunderdome" (Cocke Hall) with a 35-6 victory over George Mason (1-3) on
Friday night. The 76-year-old building had its look changed in recent
months as six new sets of bleachers moved seating capacity to 580. The
recorded attendance was an overflow mark of 812.

VMI won eight of 10 matches, including the first six of the night. Keydet
157-pound senior Adam Britt (Mechanicsville, Va./ Atlee) gave VMI an early
5-0 lead by recording a 16-0 technical fall in 6:52 over GMU senior Richard
Appau. Britt is currently ranked No. 16 by Intermat.

The Keydets won the next three matches by decision. Sophomore Mike Parsons
(Loudonville, Ohio/ Lakeville) defeated sophomore J.C. Cuffee, 6-1 in the
165 lb. match. Senior Matt Erwin (South Vienna, Ohio/ Graham), ranked 18th
nationally won a 6-4 decision over sophomore P.J. Ross at the 174 lb. level.
Junior Jason Cox (Amherst, Va./ Amherst County) stretched the Keydet lead
to 14-0 with an 8-3 win over junior Nick Webster at 184 lbs.

VMI's junior David Walker (Chesapeake, Va./ Great Bridge) accepted a forfeit
at 197 lbs. to make the Keydet lead 20-0 and freshman Scott Buhman (Portage,
Ind./ Portage) made it 23-0 with an 8-2 win over junior Sandy Ailor.

The Patriots got on the board in the 125 lb. match as sophomore Aron
Suranofsky downed Keydet junior Juan Sanchez (Alexandria, Va./ Hayfield),
7-2.

VMI clinched the match with two consecutive pins by freshmen. Micah
Amrozowicz (Virginia Beach, Va./ Kellam) pinned Aron Suranofsky in 4:52 at
125 lbs. In the following match, Chris Seta (Reading, Ohio/ Reading) wowed
the crowd with a 2:35 pin over freshman Liam DeRenzis at 133 lbs. The pins
made the Keydet lead 35-3.

GMU capped the night with a win as junior Rob Becker (ranked 19th by
Intermat) defeated VMI sophomore Jason Kontopedes (Beaverdam, Va./ Boys
Ranch), 8-5.

"We wrestled well tonight," said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. "This should
get us going and give us a jump start for the weekend. I am very pleased
with our new setup at the Thunderdome. It is now one of the best venues in
the country."

Both teams will return to Cocke Hall on Sunday, as they compete in the
Virginia Intercollegiate State Wrestling Championships. Action begins at 11
a.m., with the championship and consolation finals starting at 6:30 p.m.

Complete match results below:

VMI 35, George Mason 6
Team Score
Weight Match Result VMI GMU
125 Aron Suranofsky (GMU) d. Juan Sanchez (VMI), 7-2 23 3
133 Micah Amrozowicz (VMI) pinned Liam DeRenzis (GMU), 4:32 29 3
141 Chris Seta (VMI) pinned Octavis Jones (GMU), 2:35 35 3
149 Rob Becker (GMU) d. Jason Kontopedes (VMI), 8-5 35 6
*157 Adam Britt (VMI) tech fall Richard Appau (GMU), 16-0, 6:52 5 0
165 Mike Parsons (VMI) d. J.C. Cuffee (GMU), 6-1 8 0
174 Matt Erwin (VMI) d. P.J. Ross (GMU), 6-4 11 0
184 Jason Cox (VMI) d. Nick Webster (GMU), 8-3 14 0
197 David Walker (VMI) wins by forfeit 20 0
285 Scott Buhman (VMI) d. Sandy Ailor (GMU), 8-2 23 0

* First match of the dual as determined by random draw