Barone And Dudziak Win Against For Grapplers At Navy Classic

Saturday, November 22

Annapolis, Md.

9 a.m.

Duke University

Navy Classic

Wrestling Back In Action At Two Events This Weekend

Barone And Dudziak Win Against For Grapplers At Navy Classic

11/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

ANNAPOLIS, Md.?For the third straight week Duke University junior John Barone and redshirt junior Konrad Dudziak brought home gold for the Blue Devils' wrestling team. The duo captured their third tournament titles with victories at the Navy Classic today at 184 pounds and heavyweight.

The wins push Duke's total tournament championships to eight on the season. As a team, the Blue Devils finished sixth of 12 teams in the tournament, which included ranked opponents Navy and West Virginia. The host Midshipmen won the event with 155.5 points, while Virginia Tech finished second 153.5.

Barone and Dudziak highlighted Duke's group of 11 athletes at the event. Ranked 19th in the nation at 184 pounds, Barone remained unbeaten on the year with four wins, including two by technical fall. Dudziak headed into the meet seeded second at 285 pounds and upset top-seeded and fifth ranked Scott Steele of Navy in the championship dual for the win.

The native of Shirley, N.Y., Barone came in as the No. 1 seed and received a first-round bye. He got past Rob Waltko of Bucknell by decision 9-3 in his opening match. He needed just 4:12 in the next contest to win by technical fall 20-4 over Jimmy Shulz and move into the where he met up with Virginia Tech's Kevin O'Connor. Barone registered his second consecutive technical fall, beating O'Connor 20-3. The final featured a matchup of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. Barone and Bucknell's David Thompson battled hard, but it was Barone triumphing, 7-3, for the victory.

Dudziak posted four victories on the day to push his overall record to 14-0 on the season. The native of Bayonne, N.J., he defeated Ivan Muller 10-5 in the first round and got past Khiry Reid of Campbell by technical fall 17-0 in 6:50 to earn a spot in the semifinals. He matched up against three-seeded Dustin Porter of Gardner Webb in the semifinal round. Dudziak outlasted and edged Porter, 3-2 to set up a championship tilt between the top two seeds in the bracket. In a close fought dual, Dudziak came through with the narrow 3-2 win over fifth-ranked and defending champion Steele.

Duke had a couple of other athletes who captured victories in the event. Sophomore Mike Bell won a pair of duals at 149 pounds, defeating Jay Tracy by default and Kurt Wentink by decision 12-2. Also competing in the 149-pound division, Dan Adamo registered two victories, defeating Justin Snyder by decision 12-2 and Josh Pascazi in overtime 9-7 after losing his opening dual to eventual sixth-place winner Corey Vernon.

Redshirt senior Turner Rooney also added two victories to his name, including a fall in 1:26. He beat Jonathan Velazquez by fall in his second dual of the day and Blake Salyer by decision 14-2 before being ousted by fourth-place finisher Anthony Trongone by fall.

The Blue Devils take a week off from action before competing on the weekend of Dec. 7.

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