LEXINGTON, Va. – The Citadel wrestling team took sole possession of third place in the Southern Conference standings on Thursday night following a 23-18 victory over VMI at The Thunderdome inside Cocke Hall.
 
The Citadel (6-5, 4-2 SoCon) assumed an early 3-0 lead to open the match when Marshall Haas posted a 5-3 decision over VMI's Urayoan Garcia in the 197 bout.
 
The Keydets (6-7, 3-3 SoCon) answered with a resounding win in the heavyweight match as Juan Adams collected six points with a fall at the 3:48 mark over Joseph Bexley.
 
Head coach Rob Hjerling's squad triumphed in the next five straight matches, beginning with a 4-0 decision by Joaquin Marquez in his victory over Dalton Henderson in the 125-pound classification.
 
That win was followed by Clarence Arrington's 3-1 victory over Hunter Starner in the 133 bout. The momentum gained steam when Tyler Buckiso posted a 4-2 decision over Emmitt Kelly in the 141-pound match that provided The Citadel with 12-6 advantage.
 
Matt Frisch pushed the lead to double figures for The Citadel when he earned a win by technical fall, at the 5:57 mark, over the Keydets' Jack Krall in the 149 showdown.
 
Sophomore Aaron Walker continued his dominance of SoCon opposition when he posted a win by fall against Jedediah Harris at 1:39. That victory provided the Bulldogs with a 23-6 edge with three matches remaining.
 
VMI halted the five-match winning streak for the Dogs with Shabaka Johns' 18-1 technical fall win over Andrew Lock at the 6:43 mark of the 165-pound match. Teammate Mark Darr continued the momentum swing with a 7-6 decision over Kenneth Radford, closing the team score to 23-14 heading into the 184-pound match.
 
The Keydets won the final match of the dual as Derek Thurman posted a 10-2 major decision against Kendall Hemmings.
 
The Citadel will now head to the All-Academy Championships, hosted by the Merchant Marine Academy, in Kings Point, N.Y. The competition begins on Saturday, Feb. 7.