Texas A&M equestrian walked away empty-handed at this year’s SEC Championship meet after a comeback by the Aggies fell just short.
After a disappointing loss against Georgia Friday, the Aggies (9-6, 3-5 SEC) hoped to rebound against the South Carolina Gamecocks (5-10, 1-7 SEC), whom the Aggies defeated in both of their meetings in the regular season. However, in the consolation match Saturday in Bishop, Georgia, the Gamecocks avenged their earlier losses with a 11-8 upset over A&M. In the championship match, the Auburn Tigers were able to top the Georgia Bulldogs and claim the 2016 SEC Championship.
After South Carolina and A&M lost in the first round, the Gamecocks indicated a change in character compared to the regular season grabbing their only SEC win of the season against the Aggies Saturday. In the Gamecocks’ first meet with Aggies in October, A&M was able to dominate both hunter seat and western halves of competition resulting in a 14-5 Aggie victory. The teams rematched in February where South Carolina nearly gained the upperhand but were defeated once more 10-9.
USC finally garnered a victory over the Aggies in Saturday’s matchup to contrast the Aggies’ dominant 9-4 record to close out the regular season. The Gamecocks were able to take advantage of A&M’s recent slump and push the Aggies’ losing streak to four. Reining and flat sunk early which led to a 6-1 USC lead, but a comeback by horsemanship and fences tied the score 6-6. The teams scored back-and-forth, but South Carolina eventually pulled away 11-8 to seal its first SEC win of the season.
In addition to the coupled losses from the SEC Championship, the Aggies were recently defeated in a gut wrenching tie-breaker to No. 1 Auburn and encountered a home upset to the SMU Mustangs to finish the regular season. The Aggies’ first loss of the SEC tournament was handed by the Georgia Bulldogs who have bullied A&M all season.
In both of their previous matchups, the Bulldogs outscored the Aggies 10-9. The No. 2 seeded Bulldogs were able to take charge in this meet and widened the victory margin to a 13-7 score that led them to the SEC Championship match Saturday afternoon. The Aggies first started the meet out ahead 4-2, but were quickly outmatched by the Bulldogs as the meet progressed.
The Aggies do have a chance to salvage their season as they have just over two weeks to prepare for the NCEA Championship in Waco on Apr. 14-16. This is the Aggies chance to right any wrongs from their lackluster month of March and redeem what was once a powerful start to the season.
