Barone, Degli Obizzi And Nuding Pick Up Titles At Davidson Open

Saturday, December 1

Davidson, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Davidson Open

Wrestling Hosts North Carolina In Carlyle Cup On Wednesday

Barone, Degli Obizzi And Nuding Pick Up Titles At Davidson Open

12/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

DAVIDSON, N.C. ? In the final meet of the first segment of their season, the Duke wrestling team had a strong showing at the Davidson Open on Saturday. Seven wrestlers placed in the top four, and three of those seven won outright titles in their weight classes. To add to the strong showings, redshirt sophomore John Barone broke the record for the fastest fall in the program's history with an 11-second pin at 184 pounds.

Barone continued his stellar season at 184 pounds at Davidson, going 4-0 with three pins and one major decision on his way to his second championship of the season. He is 19-1 on the year with six falls and a 54-17 career record at Duke. That mark translates to a .761 winning percentage, which ranks ninth on the all-time Duke list. In Barone's first bout, he broke an 18-year-old school record when he pinned Mike Walsh of Limestone College in a mere 11 seconds.

Redshirt sophomore Wade Van Sickle had a solid day, picking up his third top-three finish of 2007 when he placed second with three wins on Saturday as a heavyweight. Van Sickle is 17-5 this season with three falls and a career 39-29 record as a Blue Devil.

“Guys that have been competing well all semester continued to make strides,” said head coach Clar Anderson. “John Barone continued to dominate his competition from start to finish. We will be counting on him for bonus points as we enter next semester's dual season, while he pushes for individual national recognition. Wade Van Sickle also stepped it up today, not only competing well in the championship bout, but translating specific technique and strategy that we've been working with him on in the practice room to today's competition.”

Senior captain Kellan McKeon placed for the second time this season with a fourth-place showing at Davidson. He won his first three matches, lost to the eventual tournament champion, then battled back for a win in the consolation round and wound up taking fourth. McKeon is 15-6 in 2007 with three pins.

At 141 pounds, freshman A.J. Guardado had the best day so far in his Blue Devil career with a fourth-place finish. He picked up one fall in going 3-2 on the day for his first top-five finish at Duke.

Redshirt sophomore Michael Degli Obizzi continued his domination at 149 pounds this year, winning the Davidson Open with three major decisions, one pin and one decision. It was his second tournament title already this year, as he won the UNC Pembroke Open on Nov. 10. Degli Obizzi is now 15-4 this year and 37-26 in his career at Duke.

“A few key guys overcame nagging injuries to give good showings,” said Anderson. “Michael Degli Obizzi showed a lot of grit in dominating his opponents and winning at 149 pounds. Kellan McKeon has been slowed a bit this semester but looked impressive before bowing out late in the consolation rounds because of an injury. Our upcoming long break will be a good chance for a lot of these wrestlers to recover and come back 100% for ACC competition.”

Junior Addison Nuding and redshirt junior Aaron Glover both wrestled so well at 165 pounds that they found themselves facing off against each other in the championship match. Nuding edged out Glover with a 4-1 decision in a hard-fought match. Nuding is 13-4 this year and 35-31 in his Duke career. Glover, seeing his first action this season, went 4-1 on the day and improved his overall career mark to 39-37.

“We really saw some depth in our 165 pound weight class.” said Anderson. “Addison Nuding and Aaron Glover met each other in the championship match, after disposing of the rest of the competition. Freshman Willy Mello has been showing lots of improvement as well, improving dramatically each week that he competes.

“Today reaffirmed a lot of things that we saw all semester. We have a lot of guys who love to compete and our hard work in the practice room is paying off with success in competition and better conditioning. Our upperclassmen are coming into their own up and down the lineup, and our younger wrestlers are making the transition to wrestling well at the collegiate level.”

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. Duke will return at the prestigious Southern Scuffle tournament in Greensboro, N.C., on Dec. 29 and 30.

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