Keydet Wrestlers Open Season with Victories

The Keydet wrestling team began its season in early November with top finishes by several members of the team, including members of the Rat Mass of 2022+3.

VMI Wrestling Has Seven Place-Winners at SE Open

The VMI wrestling team showed its depth Nov. 5, with seven place-winners at the Southeast Open, hosted by Roanoke College at the Cregger Center.

Tyler Mousaw ’24 finished fifth at 197 pounds in the open division, scoring two pins and a major decision victory. Six other Keydets placed in the freshman/sophomore bracket.

Open Division Notes:

• Zach Brown ’23 had two wins at 184 pounds, including a pin.
• Freddy Junko ’24, 141 pounds, also scored two wins.

Freshman/Sophomore Bracket Notes:

• Braxton Lewis ’26 won three matches with a pin to take third at 165 pounds.
• Ray Cmil III ’26 scored three victories to place third at 141 pounds.
• Josh Evans ’25 also posted three wins to finish third at 285 pounds.
• Luke Hart ’25 was fourth at 165 with two victories.
• Dyson Dunham ’26 (133) and River Carroll ’25 (174) earned four wins apiece and finished sixth in their respective weight classes.
• Ryan Vigil ’26 posted a technical fall and two major decisions at 149 pounds.

VMI Wrestling Rolls to 53-0 win over SVU to open 2022–23 season

Behind five pins on the night, the VMI wrestling team rolled to a 53-0 victory over Southern Virginia University Nov. 4 in the opening match of the 2022–23 season.

The Keydets also had two technical fall victories and one major decision win in Cormack Hall.

Match Highlights:

• Brown pinned his SVU foe in just 33 seconds at 197 pounds.
• Dunham (133), Lewis (165), Mousaw (197), and Evans (285) also recorded pins.
• Junko and Vigil both won by technical fall, 17-2.
• Josh Yost ’23 had a major decision victory at 157, and Jon Hoover ’23 won 10-3 at 174.

125: Austin Zehring ’26 (VMI) over (SVU) (For.)
133: Dunham (VMI) over Jaden Nelson (SVU) (Fall 4:21)
141: Junko (VMI) over Preston Holt (SVU) (TF 17-2 5:49)
149: Vigil (VMI) over Elijah Blackwell (SVU) (TF 17-2 7:00)
157: Yost (VMI) over Weston Hirschi (SVU) (MD 15-5)
165: Lewis (VMI) over Morgan Peterson (SVU) (Fall 4:37)
174: Hoover (VMI) over Tyson Hoopes (SVU) (Dec 10-3)
184: Brown (VMI) over Loyal Holm (SVU) (Fall 0:33)
197: Mousaw (VMI) over Jaden Markus (SVU) (Fall 4:17)
285: Evans (VMI) over Igor Lakicevic (SVU) (Fall 4:43)

VMI Wrestling Picked Seventh in SoCon Preseason Poll

The VMI wrestling team was picked seventh in the Southern Conference in a poll of the league’s coaches released by the league office Oct. 20. Campbell University, Appalachian State, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga took the top three places.

Campbell, which finished with 100.5 points in last year’s SoCon tournament to clinch the title over 2021–22 preseason SoCon favorite Appalachian State, earned 59 points in the 2022–23 preseason poll and finished with four first-place votes. The Camels went 6-1 in conference matchups last season and held an 11-5 record overall.

The Keydets began the season Friday, Nov. 4, with a home match against Southern Virginia University at 7 p.m. in Cormack Hall. The Southern Conference Wrestling Championship will take place March 4, 2023, at Appalachian State’s Holmes Convocation Center, in Boone, North Carolina.

2022-23 SoCon Wrestling Preseason Coaches’ Poll

School (First-place votes)

1. Campbell (4) 59
2. Appalachian State (2) 57
3. Chattanooga (3) 55
4. Gardner-Webb 41
5. The Citadel 32
6. Davidson 30
7. VMI 22
8. Bellarmine 14 and Presbyterian 14 (tied)

The Keydets’ next home meet will take place Sunday, Dec. 4, against Franklin and Marshall College. The meet begins at 11 a.m.

Editor’s Note: This article was first published on vmikeydets.com.