The VMI Keydets wrestling

VMI Keydets wrestling

The VMI Keydets wrestling team represents the Virginia Military Institute of Lexington, Virginia. The squad is coached by John Trudgeon. VMI is a member of the Big South Conference in other sports, but the Keydets wrestle as part of the Southern Conference since the Big South does not sponsor...

team represents the Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute

The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...

 of Lexington

Lexington, Virginia

Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 7,042 in 2010. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.It is home to...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. The squad is coached by John Trudgeon. VMI is a member of the Big South Conference

Big South Conference

The Big South Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. The conference's football teams are part of the Football Championship Subdivision...

 in other sports, but the Keydets wrestle as part of the Southern Conference

Southern Conference

The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...

 since the Big South does not sponsor collegiate wrestling

Collegiate wrestling

Collegiate wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the collegiate and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling emerged from the folk wrestling styles practised in the early history of the United States...

. John Trudgeon is a graduate of the College of William and Mary

College of William and Mary

The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...

. He has coached the Keydets since 1985. Coach Trudgeon is assisted by Chris Skrtetkowicz and Jon Kemmerer. The VMI wrestling team has had two wrestlers reach All-America

All-America

An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...

n status. Charlie Branch finished in fourth place at 142 lbs in the 1994 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship

NCAA Wrestling Team Championship

The NCAA Wrestling Team Championship was first officially awarded in 1929 and began to be continuously awarded on an annual basis in 1934 except during World War II 1943-1945. In 1928 and from 1931 to 1933, there was only an unofficial title. Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State, won the 1928, 1931...

s. He would go on to serve as the head coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles wrestling team. Leslie Apedoe, a native of Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

, placed sixth as a heavyweight in the 1999 tournament.