Barone Is Perfect At Hoosier Duals While Team Goes 1-4 On The Day

Saturday, November 24

Bloomington, Ind.

10:00 a.m.

Duke University

Oregon

Wrestling Closes Out 2008 At Southern Scuffle

Barone Is Perfect At Hoosier Duals While Team Goes 1-4 On The Day

11/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. ? The Duke wrestling team lost four its five dual meets on Saturday, but had great individual efforts by redshirt sophomore captain John Barone at 184 pounds, senior captain Kellan McKeon at 125 pounds and redshirt sophomore Wade Van Sickle at the heavyweight division. The trio combined to go 13-2 on the day with five falls. The Blue Devils were missing their 133-pound starter, Bryan Gibson, and both of their 157-pound regulars, Voris Tejada and Jared Sernoffsky.

“Our ending record today does not due justice in showing how close we were,” said head coach Clar Anderson. “We were close with Ohio University, Oregon, and the University of the Cumberlands right up until the last matches. A couple of extra points here and there and we walk away with a minimum of three wins. Overall, our guys did a good job this weekend. The competition was a good test for our guys to see where they need to be in order to achieve All-America status.”

Duke's first opponent on the day was Oregon. The Blue Devils were leading 17-16 going into the last two matches, but lost close decisions to fall to the Ducks, 22-17. Highlights included junior captain Addison Nuding and Barone picking up major decisions at 165 and185 pounds, respectively.

In its 12 p.m. dual, Duke went up against Ohio University. The Bobcats gave the Blue Devils a tough meet, winning 26-17. McKeon earned a technical fall, 17-1, at 125 pounds and Barone had his first of three pins on the day at 5:30 of his match.

The Blue Devils faced No. 17 Indiana next, losing 36-6. However, Nuding gave a great effort in losing a tough 5-1 decision to the Hoosiers' No. 4-nationally ranked Matt Coughlin at 165 pounds and Van Sickle won a double-overtime decision, 3-2, at the heavyweight class. One of the highlights of the day and entire season for Duke was Barone scoring a huge 12-6 upset over the eighth-ranked 184-pounder in the nation, Marc Bennett.

Against the University of the Cumberlands, Duke would come up just short, falling 23-21. McKeon, Barone and Van Sickle both picked up falls, but it was not enough to overcome the Patriots. Barone continued his dominating day as he pinned Rob Nusekabel in a mere 15 seconds. That time marked the third-fastest fall in Duke wrestling history, trailing only Folwell Dunbar in 1989 (12 seconds) and J.J. Koch in 2001 (14 seconds).

The Blue Devils would bounce back in their fifth dual, dismantling the Liberty Flames by a count of 27-13. McKeon, redshirt sophomore Michael Degli Obizzi (149 pounds), Nuding, redshirt sophomore Ben Wales (174 pounds) and redshirt freshman Robert Holbrook (197 pounds) all won decisions to aid in the victory. Barone wrapped the long day by pinning his opponent in 1:01.

“Chris Thumen did a great job stepping in at 133 this weekend,” said Anderson. “He fought hard every match and was able to put forth a good showing. Mike Bell wrestled up a weight at 157 and showed a fighting spirit throughout the day. Both Thumen and he faced stiff competition but were up for the challenge.”

Barone's performances in Bloomington included three pins, one major decision and the 12-6 decision over the No. 8 Marc Bennett. He is now 15-1 this season and 50-16 in his career. His .746 career winning percentage ranks 10th in school history.

“John had a great day today,” said Anderson. “He wrestled a smart, tough match to beat the eighth-ranked 184-pounder in the nation. This was a huge win and should help propel him into the upcoming tournaments. He also had three pins on the weekend and did a great job to help our team.”

McKeon went 4-1 on the day at 125 pounds. He is now 11-4 so far this season with two falls and a third-place finish at the East Stroudsburg Open on Nov. 17.

“Kellan was a hard-fought 4-1 on the day,” said Anderson. “He had a great match with the second-ranked 125-pounder from Indiana and was within reach right up until the end. He has been opening up even more on his feet and has made some good strides this year.”

Van Sickle now has a 14-4 record with two falls this season. He took second place at The Citadel Open on Nov. 4 and third place at UNC Pembroke on Nov. 10. Van Sickle is now 36-28 overall as a Blue Devil.

Nuding battled his way to a 3-2 mark at 165 pounds in Indiana. He is 9-4 on the year with a second-place showing at Pembroke under his belt.

The Blue Devils will compete in two tournaments on Saturday, Dec. 1--- the Nittany Lion Open in University Park, Pa., and the Davidson Open in Davidson, N.C. Duke will then take four weeks away from meets in December.

-d-u-k-e-