LEXINGTON, Va.- The VMI wrestling program announced its 2011-12 schedule Wednesday, June 29. The slate includes five home matches, as well as six highly competitive tournaments.
"We have five home duals scheduled in the Cocke Hall Thunderdome including old conference foes Davidson and Chattanooga and new conference foes Campbell and Gardner-Webb. Franklin and Marshall will also visit VMI to finish out our home schedule," said VMI head coach John "Rocky" Trudgeon.
The year will commence on Sat., Nov. 5 with the Rat Rumble Open in the Thunderdome. The following day, the Keydet squad will travel to the Hokie Open at the Salem Civic Center on Nov. 6. VMI will close out the month of November with trips to the Wolfpack Open in Raleigh, N.C. on Nov. 13, and will participate in the Keystone Open in Philadelphia in an event hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.
The dual season begins Fri., Dec. 2, as the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats venture to Lexington to take on Keydets at 7:30 p.m. The following week, on Fri., Dec. 7, the Keydets will host one of the newest members of the Southern Conference, as the Campbell Camels will battle the Keydets at the Thunderdome, also beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Following an extended break, VMI will return to competition on Thurs., Dec. 29 as the Keydets will travel to Lock Haven, Pa. to take part in the Mat Town Invitational, hosted by Lock Haven University. On Jan. 7, the squad will trek to the Pitt Duals hosted by the University of Pittsburgh where participating teams include Eastern Michigan, Princeton, Columbia, and the host institution, Pittsburgh.
"The addition of Mat Town and the Pitt Duals will enable us to compete against many teams that we typically do not see until the NCAA's," said Trudgeon.
Following the Pitt Duals, VMI welcomes Davidson to Lexington for a SoCon dual on Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Two days later on Jan. 14, the Keydets will head to Fairfax, Va., for a tri-meet with George Mason and Cleveland State University.
The Keydets return home on Fri., Jan. 20, hosting the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs in the Thunderdome at 7:30 p.m. Following the home dual, VMI will hit the road for the next month, traveling to The Citadel on Sat., Jan. 22 for a 2 p.m. dual, followed by a trip to Millersville, Pa., to take on Millersville at 7 p.m. on Thurs., Jan. 26.
On Feb. 4, the squad will head west to Colorado Springs, Colo., to participate in the traditional All-Academy Championships, hosted by the United States Air Force Academy. Following All-Academies, the Keydets take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers in Boone, N.C. at 6:30 p.m. in their final road dual of the season on Feb. 10, and close out the road slate two days later on Feb. 12 in a tri-meet in Raleigh, N.C. featuring the NC State Wolfpack and Indiana Hoosiers, who ended last season ranked No. 25 in the nation by InterMat.
The Keydets close out the home and regular-season portion of the schedule on Mon., Feb. 20 on Senior Night, as Chattanooga travels to Lexington to square off against the Keydets at 7:30 p.m.
"This year, seven Southern Conference teams will battle it out for the championships with an additional team SIU-Edwardsville jumping on board during the 2012-13 season due to the addition of several teams in the SoCon. We hope this will lead to a bigger, better and more highly represented SoCon team and individual qualifiers at future NCAA Championships," said Trudgeon.
The SoCon season concludes on Sat., March 3 a the Southern Conference Championships hosted by Chattanooga, with the 2011 NCAA Championships taking place March 15-17 in St. Louis.