LEXINGTON, Va.- The George Mason wrestling team defeated VMI 27-12, in non-conference action, Wednesday. The dual was held in the Thunderdome in Lexington, Va.
Beginning with the 165 weight class, VMI took an early 3-0 lead with Mark Darr's 6-5 decision win over Ty Knepp. In the next weight class, VMI extended their lead to 9-0 when John Dommert pinned Corey Smith one minute and eleven seconds into their match.
Ryan Hembury put the first points on the board for Mason with his 11-2 major decision win over Jonathan Jones in the 184 weight class. Following Hembury's victory, Matt Meadows brought the Patriots within five with a decision win at 197 and Jake Kettler gave Mason the lead for the first time of the dual when he pinned Michael LaPrade one minute and forty seconds into his match at 285. Mason now led the dual 13-9.
The Patriots would not relinquish their lead for the remainder of the dual. Zachary Isenhour and Sahid Kargbo each won their matches by decision at 133 and 141, respectively. Zeb Stewart added three points for VMI with a 6-1 decision win over Greg Flournoy at 149. Jaaziah Bethea added the final four points for the Patriots with his 14-6 major decision win over Edward Gottwald for a final score of 27-12.
Mason returns to the mat February 2nd for a dual with Bucknell at 12:00 p.m. and a 7:00 p.m. against Franklin & Marshall the same evening.
George Mason 27, VMI 12
165 - Mark Darr (VMI) dec. Ty Knepp (GMU) (6-5)(3-0, VMI)
174 - John Dommert (VMI) fall. Corey Smith (GMU) (1:11)(9-0, VMI)
184 - Ryan Hembury (GMU) maj. dec. Jonathan Jones (VMI) (11-2)(9-4, VMI)
197 - Matt Meadows (GMU) dec. Urayoan Garcia (VMI) (3-2) (9-7, VMI)
285 - Jake Kettler (GMU) fall. Michael LePrade (VMI) (1:40)(13-9, GMU)
125 - Rich Lavorato (GMU) maj. dec. Armando Herrera (VMI) (13-2) (17-9, GMU)
133 - Zach Isenhour (GMU) dec. Andriy Onufriyaneko (VMI) (4-3) (20-9, GMU)
141 - Sahid Kargbo (GMU) dec. Ryan Goodsell (VMI) (9-6) (23-9, GMU)
149 - Zeb Stewart (VMI) dec. Greg Flournoy (GMU) (6-1) (23-12, GMU)
157 - Jaaziah Bethea (GMU) maj. dec. Ted Gottwald (VMI) (14-6) (27-12, GMU)
