LEXINGTON, Va. - Joe Antonelli led three SIUE wrestlers with falls Saturday as SIUE collected its first Southern Conference victory of the season at VMI 39-7.

SIUE improved to 1-7 for the season and 1-1 in SoCon action. VMI fell to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in the SoCon.

"We definitely saw some better things today," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "To see Joe come out and get a pin, that really started the momentum for us. Everybody was excited about it. You could see it on their faces when he came off the mat."

Earlier in the day, SIUE dropped a 21-15 decision to George Mason.

Four SIUE wrestlers were double winners overall. Jake McKiernan, Jake Tindle, Jake Residori and Clayton Bass each won twice, including a 1:02 pin by McKiernan over VMI's Thomas Shea-Roop at heavyweight.

"We wrestled well against VMI," said Spates. "We did today what we have been talking about all season. We wrestled strong and wrestled smart. We minimized our mistakes. We were attacking. We weren't satisfied with getting a takedown. We were putting them on their back trying to score."

Antonelli provided the fastest pin of the day for the Cougars in 53 seconds over VMI's Michael Hulcher at 133 pounds. Trevor Feagans added a pin at 141 pounds in 4:18 over VMI's John Reed.

Spates said he hopes this will provide some momentum for the rest of the season.

"Winning is contagious, and pinning is contagious," added Spates. "We hope to build on this and continue to get better.

SIUE 39 VMI 7

125 - Freddie Rodriguez (SIUE) wins by forfeit
133 - Joe Antonelli (SIUE) over Michael Hulcher (VMI) (Fall 0:53)
141 - Trevor Feagans (SIUE) over John Reed (VMI) (Fall 4:18)
149 - John Fahy (SIUE) over Stevan Smith (VMI) (TF 16-1 5:30)
157 - Neal Richards (VMI) over Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) (MD 15-7)
165 - Clayton Bass (SIUE) over Cade Kiely (VMI) (Dec 5-1)
174 - Jake Residori (SIUE) over Shabaka Johns (VMI) (Dec 7-0)
184 - Christopher Beck (VMI) over Jacob Godinez (SIUE) (Dec 3-1)
197 - Jake Tindle (SIUE) over Taylor Thomas (VMI) (MD 14-0)
285 - Jake McKiernan (SIUE) over Thomas Shea-Roop (VMI) (Fall 1:02) 

George Mason 21, SIUE 15

125 - Ibrahim Bunduka (GMU) dec. Freddie Rodriguez (SIUE), 21-15
133 – Lio Quezada (GMU) dec. Joe Antonelli (SIUE), 7-4
141 - Tejon Anthony (GMU) dec. Trevor Feagans (SIUE), 7-2
149 - Sahid Kargbo  (GMU) dec. John Fahy (SIUE), 5-2
157 - Matthew Raines (GMU) pinned Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE), 6:07
165 - Clayton Bass (SIUE) dec. Daniel Mika (GMU), 5-0
174 - Jake Residori (SIUE) inj. default Patrick Davis (GMU), 2:09
184 - Austin Harrison (GMU) dec. Jacob Godinez (SIUE), 3-0
197 - Jake Tindle (SIUE) dec. Matt Meadows (GMU), 5-2
285 - Jake McKiernan (SIUE) dec. Matthew Voss (GMU), 6-1