Blue Devils Fall To No. 21 Maryland On The Road, 33-5

Saturday, January 26

College Park, Md.

4:00 p.m.

Duke University

Maryland

Wrestling Kicks Off Season In Pair of Events On Saturday

Blue Devils Fall To No. 21 Maryland On The Road, 33-5

1/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

COLLEGE PARK, Md. ? Duke knew it would face a stiff test when it traveled to No. 21 Maryland on Saturday afternoon. It proved to be just as tough of a dual meet as they imagined as the Terrapins defeated the Blue Devils 33-5 at Comcast Pavilion in College Park, Md.

The contest marked the fourth of eight consecutive duals on the road for Duke. The Blue Devils are 2-2 on the road swing so far with a 6-7 overall record this season and a 0-3 mark in the ACC. Maryland improved to 11-3 this year and is 3-0 at the top of the ACC.

Duke lost five of the first six matches by a total of seven points. By that point, the Blue Devils were down an insurmountable 21-0.

Duke senior captain Kellan McKeon started off the night at 125 pounds and lost a tough 5-4 decision to Brendan Byrne.

The Terrapins Steven Bell barely defeated redshirt senior captain Bryan Gibson at 133 pounds, winning a 6-4 decision.

Freshman 141-pounder A.J. Guardado dropped Duke's second one-point decision, 5-4, to Jon Kohler and sophomore Voris Tejada also lost by one point, 2-1, at 157 pounds to Brian Letters.

In the 165-pound match, junior Addison Nuding found himself in an overtime bout with Mike McGill. McGill prevailed, 8-6, in extra time. Prior to the match, Nuding had won six in a row, and has still won 13 of his last 16 contests.

Redshirt sophomore captain John Barone continued his domination in what is turning out to be one of the most impressive seasons ever for a Duke grappler. His 18-2 technical fall over Maryland's Bradley Nielson at 6:05 of the match was the only victory of the afternoon for the Blue Devils. Barone is now 28-4 with 11 falls and a 12-1 ledger in duals. In the most recent NCAA statistics, Barone's 28 wins tie him for seventh in Division I. His 63-20 overall mark as a Blue Devil is good for ninth place on Duke's all-time winning percentage list with a .759 clip. Barone is tied for 10th on Duke's single season wins list and is already tied for 21st on the career wins list. He needs seven more victories to eclipse the single season wins record, and there are nine more regular season dual meets and the ACC Tournament to go. Literally every Duke record is under assault this year by the native of Shirley, N.Y.

Next up for Duke will be the all day Campbell Duals on Saturday, Feb. 9. The Blue Devils will wrestle Belmont Abbey at 11 a.m., UNC Pembroke at 1 p.m., and Campbell at 3 p.m. Duke finally returns home to Cameron Indoor Stadium after eight straight road dual meets on Sunday, Feb. 10 when they take on ACC foe Virginia at 6 p.m.

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