Duke Splits Meets With VMI & Virginia Tech

Saturday, February 16

Durham, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Splits Meets With VMI & Virginia Tech

2/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? The Blue Devil wrestling squad competed in two home dual meets on Saturday, dropping a 22-18 match with Virginia Tech before coming away with a 22-12 victory over VMI in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The contests marked the second and third of three consecutive duals at home for Duke after having a stretch of seven straight on the road. The Blue Devils are now 10-9 overall this season and 0-5 in the ACC.

Both meets began at 141 pounds and Duke got behind each time. Against Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils rallied from a 9-0 deficit to take a 15-12 lead. The Hokies took two straight decisions before Duke was able to knot the score 18-18. For the second meet in a row, Duke was tied going into its final match and lost on a major decision.

In the VMI contest, the Blue Devils rattled off six consecutive victories after falling behind 3-0, and they never looked back after that 22-3 lead was taken.

Leading the way were three middleweight wrestlers with two wins each, accounting for six of Duke's 10 total wins.

At 174 pounds, redshirt sophomore Ben Wales had an impressive day, picking up two wins including a pin against Virginia Tech's A.J. Johnson to give the Blue Devils a 15-9 lead at the time. The native of Otsego, Mich., is now 19-13 this year with three pins and a 9-5 dual meet mark. Wales' career record is 28-24.

Another perfect day belonged to sophomore Voris Tejada, who picked up his fifth and sixth straight wins at 157 pounds. Tejada is 31-11 in 2007-08 with a 12-2 dual mark and a 50-19 career showing. He ranks 12th on Duke's career winning percentage list with a .738 mark.

At 165 pounds, junior captain Addison Nuding was the third member of the team to earn two victories on Saturday. His season record stands at 26-8 and 13-4 in dual meets. Nuding is 48-35 all-time at Duke.

Duke's four other victories came from senior captain Kellan McKeon at 125 pounds, a fall from redshirt sophomore Michael Degli Obizzi at 149, a major decision by redshirt sophomore captain John Barone at 184 and redshirt junior captain Dan Tulley at 197. All were against VMI except for McKeon's.

Barone tacked on another win in what is turning out to be one of the most impressive seasons ever for a Duke grappler. He is now 32-6 with 13 falls and a 16-3 ledger in duals. Barone's 67-22 overall mark as a Blue Devil is good for ninth place on Duke's all-time winning percentage list with a .753 clip. He is tied for third on Duke's single season wins list and is already 19th on the career wins list. He needs three more victories to eclipse the single season wins record with two 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.

Duke will next travel to Greensboro, N.C., to take on UNC Greensboro on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The regular season will wrap up at home in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 4:30 p.m., as the Blue Devils' three seniors will be honored prior to the meet.

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