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Duke Set To Conclude First Segment Of Season At Davidson Open
11/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
DURHAM, N.C. ? The Duke wrestling team will make the in-state trip to Davidson, N.C., on Saturday for the Davidson Open. 16 Blue Devils from 10 weight classes will compete in the all day tournament. In their three tournaments in November, Duke took home four titles and had 19 top-five finishers. The Davidson Open marks the fifth of five weekends in a row of competition for the Blue Devils, who will take four weeks off in December after Saturday.
Senior captain Kellan McKeon will represent Duke at 125 pounds. McKeon is 11-4 this season with two falls and a third-place finish at the East Stroudsburg Open on Nov. 17. He went 4-1 in the Hoosier Duals last weekend.
The Blue Devils will send sophomore Chris Thumen onto the mat at 133 pounds. Thumen will look to win the first match in his Duke career.
Duke will utilize two 141-pound wrestlers in Davidson. Sophomore Spencer Jasper is 6-7 this season with three falls and a second-place finish at The Citadel Open on Nov. 4 in Charleston, S.C. Jasper's career record at Duke is 18-17. Freshman A.J. Guardado is 7-7 in his first season with one pin.
Two 149-pound wrestlers will hit the mats on Saturday, led by redshirt sophomore Michael Degli Obizzi, who is 10-4 this year, including an 8-1 mark in tournaments and the title at the UNC Pembroke Open on Nov. 10. Degli Obizzi now boasts a 32-26 record as a Blue Devil. Freshman Mike Bell, who is 7-8 in 2007, will also get the nod at 149 pounds.
At 157 pounds, sophomore Voris Tejada looks to continue his strong start after placing in the top five in all three of Duke's tournaments this season. Tejada is off to a 15-5 mark this year. His career .723 winning percentage (34-13) currently ranks 14th all-time at Duke.
Junior captain Addison Nuding and freshman Willy Mello will handle the responsibilities for the Blue Devils at 165 pounds. Nuding is 9-4 on the year with a second-place showing at Pembroke under his belt. He was 3-2 in duals at Indiana last Saturday. Mello captured The Citadel Open on Nov. 4 and is 6-3 this year with two pins.
Redshirt sophomore Ben Wales and redshirt junior Turner Rooney will both compete for Duke at 174 pounds. Wales won The Citadel Open in his debut at 174 and now holds an 9-6 record there this season with one fall. His overall record at Duke is 18-17. Rooney placed second at The Citadel, losing only to Wales at the meet, and has posted a 5-3 mark this year with one pin and a 19-15 all-time record.
Duke's most dominating wrestler at any weight this year is 184-pound redshirt sophomore John Barone, who swept through five matches in Pembroke on his way to the title and put up a 5-1 showing in East Stroudsburg on his way to being the runner-up. Barone's performances last Saturday in Bloomington, Ind., included three pins, one major decision and a 12-6 decision over the No. 8 nationally-ranked Marc Bennett of Indiana. His 15-second pin of Rob Nusekabel of the University of the Cumberlands was the third-fastest fall in Duke history. For his efforts, Barone was named the ACC”s wrestler of the week on Nov. 27. Barone is 15-1 in 2007 and 50-17overall as a Blue Devil, which is good for 10th place on Duke's all-time winning percentage list with a .746 clip.
At 197 pounds, a pair of Duke wrestlers will see action in Davidson. Redshirt junior Dan Fox is 6-7 in the early going this season with two pins. Redshirt freshman Robert Holbrook is 6-4 and earned a third-place finish at The Citadel Open.
At the heavyweight division will be redshirt sophomore Wade Van Sickle, who took second place at The Citadel and third place at UNC Pembroke and has a 14-4 record with two falls this season. He also went 4-1 in Bloomington against stiff competition on Nov. 24. Van Sickle is now 36-28 overall as a Blue Devil.
Duke will take three weekends away from meets before returning at the prestigious Southern Scuffle tournament in Greensboro, N.C., on Dec. 29 and 30.
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