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Final
Wrestling
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Blue Devils Drop Virginia On The Mats, 19-15
2/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 19, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - In front of a large crowd on Senior Night at Virginia, the Blue Devil wrestling team prevailed in a see-saw affair, defeating the Cavaliers, 19-15. The win was Duke's third in a row and second straight over Virginia. With the victory, Duke improved its overall record to 9-4 and evened its mark in ACC action at 2-2.
The dual meet started at 165 pounds. UVA sent out a backup, Jim Hartey, and Steve Smith was able to take advantage. After trading takedowns with Hartey in the first period, Smith picked up two second-period takedowns and pulled away for a 10-6 victory. UVA evened the score in the next match, one of the best of the night, as their freshman Rocco Caponi scored a last-second reversal to defeat Levi Craig, 5-4, in the 174-pound bout. Craig scored a take-down only seconds before to take the lead, but was unable to ride out Caponi for the win, suffering his first conference loss of the year.
Duke got the ball rolling again at 184 pounds, with Frank Cornely recovering from some early sluggishness to score the last four takedowns of the match and win, 10-8. Cornely picked up his third ACC victory of the year. Mark Thompson then scored the quickest victory of the night, pinning Scott Smith at the one-minute mark. The fall gave Duke a 12-3 lead, and would prove to be the only fall on the night.
UVA turned the tables with three close wins. At heavyweight, Nick Smith defeated Venroy July, 5-3, with three points for Smith coming on a stall call and third-period takedown. The match then went to the lighter weights, with UVA continuing to close the gap. Anthony Burke used an early takedown to build a lead and then held off Duke's Kellan McKeon to win, 4-1, at 125. In the next match, at 133, Byron Dunlap scored three third period near-fall points to win, 6-5, over Duke's Bryan Gibson, tying the match at 12-12.
Freshman Wes Kuser stepped on the mat next at 141 pounds and he delivered against Chet Naylor. Scoring a takedown and then two near-fall points, Kuser held the lead throughout the match and slowly added onto it, spending the last 30 seconds securing the all-important riding-time point to score an 11-3 major decision. At 149, Antwone Floyd followed in the closest and most exciting bout of the night. Wrestling Paul Dunstan, Floyd picked up a second-period takedown to take a brief 2-1 lead. Dunstan escaped to tie it, and Floyd just missed a last-second takedown to end the match in regulation. The first overtime was scoreless, and in the first half of the tiebreaker, Dunstan scored an escape to lead, 3-2. In the second half of the tiebreaker, Floyd scored a late reversal and took Dunstan to his back to win the match, 7-3. The win clinched the match for Duke as the Blue Devils took a 19-12 lead. Zach Weisberg closed the dual, wrestling senior Paul Bjorlo at 157 pounds. Weisberg fought hard throughout, but fell 7-1, ending the match at 19-15.
Duke's last regular-season match will be Wednesday at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh against N.C. State. The Blue Devils will be trying to secure their second consecutive winning conference record.
165 Steve Smith (Duke) def. Jim Hartey (UVa) 10-6 0-3
174 Rocco Caponi (UVa) def. Levi Craig (Duke) 5-4 3-3
184 Frank Cornely (Duke) def. Kyle Narkiewicz (UVa) 10-8 3-6
197 Mark Thompson (Duke) def. Scott Smith (UVa) Fall @ 1:00 3-12
HWT Nick Smith (UVa) def. Venroy July (Duke) 5-3 6-12
125 Anthony Burke (UVa) def. Kellan McKeon (Duke) 4-1 9-12
133 Byron Dunlap (UVa) def. Bryan Gibson (Duke) 6-5 12-12
141 Wes Kuser (Duke) def. Chet Naylor (UVa) 11-3 12-16
149 Antwone Floyd (Duke) def. Paul Dunstan (UVa) 6-3(OT) 12-19
157 Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Zach Weisberg (Duke) 7-1 15-19
Players Mentioned
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