Maryland Takes Duke Down Despite Strong Effort From Lowerweights

Saturday, January 27

Durham, N.C.

6 p.m.

Duke University

Maryland

Maryland Takes Duke Down Despite Strong Effort From Lowerweights

1/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Maryland (14-5, 3-0 ACC) handed Duke (7-5, 0-2 ACC) their fifth dual meet loss of the season, 27-13 on Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils took a 13-3 lead halfway through the meet but were unable to hold it against Maryland's strong upperweight wrestlers. It was the second victory on the day for the Terrapins, as they defeated N.C. State in Raleigh 23-20 earlier in the afternoon.

The meet started off at 133 pounds, where freshman Spencer Jasper dominated Maryland's Jon Kohler from the start. Jasper went on the offensive, took an early lead, and came close to pinning Kohler on his way to a 15-5 major decision.

At 141 pounds, junior Wes Kuser jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period against Jeff Oldham and then staged off a furious comeback to win 10-7. That put Duke up 7-0 after two matches.

Senior Daniel Shvartsman continued his success of late, extending his winning streak to five matches by defeating Andrew Schlaffer 7-6. Shvartsman fell behind early before coming back to win the match on a take down with 26 seconds remaining.

Next up for Duke was freshman Jared Sernoffsky at 157 pounds, who battled in a close match with Mike McGill. With 11 seconds left, McGill scored a takedown, breaking a 2-2 tie and thus defeating Sernoffsky 5-2.

Redshirt freshman Benjamin Wales made his dual meet debut as a Blue Devil and scored a decision over Maryland's Clint Stout 7-3. Wales was impressive throughout, maintaining a lead for the duration of the 165-pound match. With five of ten matches complete, Duke led Maryland 13-3, but it would not last long.

The Terps won the next four matches handily, including two pins, a technical fall, and a major decision. Nationally ranked Mike Letts at 174 (No. 11) and Hudson Taylor at 197 (No. 19) proved to be too much for Duke's Mathew Koelling and Patrick Keenum, respectively. Josh Haines pinned redshirt freshman John Barone only 50 seconds into their 184 pound bout and Jerry Afari tallied a major decision over heavyweight redshirt freshman Mike Tunick, 15-4.

The last match would proved to be a thrilling one, as junior Kellan McKeon dueled it out with James Knox into two overtime periods at 125 pounds. McKeon was behind late in the match when he came back to tie it 4-4 at the end of regulation. McKeon and Knox remained tied after the first overtime, but in the second overtime Knox was able to gain the sudden death point needed to win based on a riding time advantage over McKeon. Maryland had already won the meet by that point, and finished with a 27-13 victory over Duke.

Shvartsman continues to move up on the Blue Devils' career wins list. He currently ranks 10th with 81 career victories. Shvartsman is four wins behind Jake Cecere in 9th place, and 24 wins behind all-time leader Bradd Weber. Redshirt junior Bryan Gibson ranks 15th with 63 victories.

Duke will wrap up their three-meet homestand on Jan. 31 against archrival North Carolina, in a meet that will be held at Chapel Hill High School at 7 p.m.

Maryland 27, Duke 13
January 27, 2007 / Cameron Indoor Stadium
125: James Knox (Maryland) dec. Kellan McKeon (Duke), 6-5 (2 OT)
133: Spencer Jasper (Duke) maj. dec. Jon Kohler (Maryland), 15-5
141: Wes Kuser (Duke) dec. Jeff Oldham (Maryland), 10-7
149: Daniel Shvartsman (Duke) dec. Andrew Schlaffer (Maryland), 7-6
157: Mike McGill (Maryland) dec. Jared Sernoffsky (Duke), 5-2
165: Benjamin Wales (Duke) dec. Clint Stout (Maryland), 7-3
174: Mike Letts (Maryland) tech. fall Mathew Koelling (Duke), 16-0, 5:00
184: Josh Haines (Maryland) pins John Barone (Duke), 00:50
197: Hudson Taylor (Maryland) pins Patrick Keenum (Duke), 3:52
HWT: Jerry Afari (Maryland) maj. dec. Mike Tunick (Duke), 15-4