Five Blue Devils Place At UPenn Invitational, Barone Takes Third At 174 Pounds

Sunday, November 19

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Duke University

UPENN Invitational

Five Blue Devils Place At UPenn Invitational, Barone Takes Third At 174 Pounds

11/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. ? Duke (2-1) placed sixth out of ten competing teams at the UPenn Invitational on Sunday, making it the highest finish the Blue Devils have ever had at the meet. Five Duke wrestlers placed in the top six of their weight classes, with redshirt freshman John Barone leading the way with a third place finish at the 174 pound weight class. This was Duke's sixth meet of the season, and did not count towards their record because it was an open meet with multiple teams competing in a tournament format.

Barone only lost to eventual tournament champion Doug Umbehauer of Rider University on the way to his team-best third place finish. He tied for the tournament high with two pins, and is now 11-1 on the year.

Redshirt junior captain Bryan Gibson took home fourth place in the 133 pound weight class, which was the deepest class in the tournament. Gibson missed out on third place by one point, as he lost an 8-7 decision to Columbia's Matt Delorenzo, the number one seed in the tournament at 133 pounds.

Freshman Voris Tejada had a strong showing, finishing in fifth place at 133 pounds. Tejada lost twice in one point decisions to top-seeded Mike Kessler of Rider University, and then defeated fifth-seeded Damien Sweitlik of American University to clinch fifth place.

Redshirt sophomore Dan Fox also placed fifth, in the 184 pound weight class, and junior captain Kellan McKeon finished sixth as a 125 pound competitor. McKeon won three close matches after losing a close contest with eventual champion and number one seed Matt Eveleth of the University of Pennsylvania.

Junior Wes Kuser (141 lbs.), sophomore Addison Nuding (157 lbs.), redshirt freshman Ben Wales (157 lbs.), freshman Mat Koelling (165 lbs.), redshirt sophomore Aaron Glover (165 lbs.), redshirt sophomore Dan Tulley (184 lbs.), and Patrick Keenum (197 lbs.) all competed in the meet as well.

“We should have done even better at the tournament,” said Coach Clar Anderson. “Dan Tulley, Wes Kuser, and Addison Nuding all had challenging draws. They competed very well, but came up a little short. All three were capable of placing and I thought they would. Both Tulley and Kuser placed last year. They will use this to motivate themselves for our next competition in December.”

Duke's next events are two open meets the first weekend of December. On Sat., Dec. 2, Blue Devil wrestlers will travel to Davidson, N.C. to compete in the all-day Davidson Open. Duke will also make the trip to the Penn State Open in State College, Pa., on Sun., Dec. 3.

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