LEXINGTON, Va. — Bellarmine wrestling was again short-handed and came up short at the Virginia Military Institute on Friday night by a final score of 29-10.
Bellarmine (1-13) had to forfeit at the 133 and 141 slots, putting them in an early hole. Despite some strong efforts, they were not able to recover, and VMI (2-6) captured its first SoCon victory.
"We are not victims of our circumstances," Knights Head Coach Ned Shuck said. "We certainly did not respond tonight the way we needed to in order to get the win."
Despite the two early forfeits, the Knights did have an immediate scoring jolt from Jack Parker, who won his third straight match. Parker topped Cam Chicella 22-8 for his third win by major decision this season. The Knights trailed 12-4 after the following two weight classes and pulled within five after a Mitch Collica 5-3 win by decision against Luke Hart. The Keydets then won a pair of key bouts at 157 and 165. The other Knights wrestler to pick up a win was Eric Beck who topped Jon Hoover 3-0.
"Our mentality doesn't waiver with the loss," Shuck added. "But we will constantly be adjusting our training to continue improving our performance individually and as a team. Go Knights!"
Bellarmine briefly pauses SoCon action to next compete in the Greyhound Open hosted by the University of Indianapolis on Feb. 6.
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VMI 29 - Bellarmine 10
125: Jack Parker (BU) over Cam Chicella (VMI) (MD 22-8)
133: Patrick Maglathlin (VMI) over (BU) (For.)
141: Frederick Junko (VMI) over (BU) (For.)
149: Mitch Collica (BU) over Luke Hart (VMI) (Dec 5-3)
157: Seth Fillers (VMI) over Cole Nance (BU) (Dec 11-7)
165: Blake Showers (VMI) over Devan Hendricks (BU) (Dec 6-3)
174: Eric Beck (BU) over Jon Hoover (VMI) (Dec 3-0)
184: Maxwell Gourley (VMI) over Sam Schroeder (BU) (Dec 6-2)
197: Tyler Mousaw (VMI) over Bryant Wilkinson (BU) (MD 15-2)
285: Josh Evans (VMI) over Charlie Cadell (BU) (MD 11-3)
Extra matches:
174: Joel Diaz (VMI) over Josh Craig (BU) Maj. Dec. 12-4
197: Isaac Dolph (VMI) vs. Darian Huff (BU) Tech Fall 17-0 4:46
