PHILADELPHIA
– This Sunday, the Virginia Military Institute wrestling team heads to the City
of Brotherly Love to compete in the Keystone Classic, hosted by University of
Pennsylvania. Action in the championship round is set to begin at 9 a.m. at The
Palestra.
Fans
unable to make it to the Classic can follow the action through a live video
stream. The stream will begin roughly at noon on Sunday. Information in regards to the tournament can be found on the Keystone Classic tournament page.
This
year’s Classic will feature wrestlers from 15 different teams, including No. 13
Northwestern University, last year’s team champion at this event, and Big 10
power Indiana University. Also sending grapplers to Philadelphia will be American,
Brown, Harvard, Princeton, Cal Poly, Bloomsburg, Boston University, Rider, NC
State, Duke and fellow Southern Conference foe Appalachian State.
Managing
through injuries this weekend, in addition to the Institute’s Ring Figure
weekend, the Keydets will be sending 13 wrestlers to The Palestra, including
heavyweight Juan Adams, who has taken sixth place at VMI’s first two events
this season. Adams is currently the squad leader in wins, holding an 8-4 record
with a pair of pinfalls.
After
taking third at last weekend’s Wolfpack Open, 197-pounder Urayoan Garcia will
look to keep things rolling in Philadelphia this weekend. Garcia is currently
4-3 on the year, including one pin, which came in the second round of his first
match last weekend.
In the
125-pound division, VMI will look to Armando Herrera-Dos Reis and Andy Pitts,
both freshmen. Herrera-Dos Reis has competed at two events this year, The
Citadel Open and the Wolfpack Open, while Pitts has seen action in the latter.
The
Keydets will also be represented at 133 by another pair of rookies in Andriy Onufriyenko
and Brandon Goodwyn. Through two events so far this season, Onufriyenko is 5-4,
winning those five matches in a six-match span.
At 141
pounds, VMI will have experienced veteran Ryan Goodsell, a senior, along with a
pair of freshmen in Emmitt Kelly and Joe Boswell. The trio has combined for
nine wins this season, including five from Kelly, who has logged three major
decisions.
Zeb
Stewart will be VMI’s lone entry at 149 pounds. Stewart will look to get things
going at this weekend’s tournament, having only seen action at the Wolfpack
Open this year.
Another
rookie in Mark Darr will look to get back on track at 165 pounds as well. Darr
is 5-4 on the year, opening his VMI career with a fourth-place finish at The
Citadel Open, but struggled last weekend, winning just two matches. However,
those wins were a 9-0 major decision and an 8-1 victory.
The
Keydets will offer up a pair of experienced grapplers at 174 pounds. John
Dommert and Carry Joseph, a senior and sophomore, respectively, will look to
continue their successes this season. The two have combined for four wins already
in 2012-13.
