LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee wrestling team opened its season by competing in the VMI Keydet Invitational on Sunday at VMI's Cocke Hall in Lexington, Va.

The Generals were led by junior Michael Bennett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) who finished second in the 197-pound weight class. He opened the day with a 7-0 win against Davidson's Brandon Zeigler and moved on to defeat Charles Johnson (The Citadel), 8-3. He fell in the final to Virginia's Dan Clark.

Junior Joe Mueller (San Diego, Calif./Mount Carmel) compiled a 2-1 mark for the day as he finished third in the 184-pound flight. After dropping his opening match to eventual winner John Dickerson (The Citadel), Mueller rebounded with a 12-8 win over Brent Blackwell (Gardner-Webb) and a 7-1 decision against VMI's Ben Chovanec.

Competing in the 141-pound division, senior John Polena (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) picked up one win, 13-8, over Adam Gisser (Gardner-Webb) before falling to a pair of Keydets, Chris Seta (11-3) and Chris Smith (12-6).

W&L will be back on the mat on Saturday when it competes in the McDaniel Invitational. The action gets underway at 10:00 am.

-- GENERALS --