Wrestling Holds Off VMI For 19-18 Victory

Wednesday, January 28

Lexington, Va.

7:30 p.m.

Duke University

VMI

Barone Named Student-Athlete Of The Week

Wrestling Holds Off VMI For 19-18 Victory

1/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

LEXINGTON, Va.?The Duke University wrestling team got back on the winning track with a thrilling 19-18 victory at VMI tonight at the Thunderdome. The Blue Devils held off the charging Keydets for the non-conference win.

Duke improves to 6-3 in dual matches, while VMI falls to 0-7 on the season. Riddled with injuries, the Blue Devils had three wrestlers who bumped up two weight classes to compete.

“We had three guys who bumped up two weight classes for us because of injuries and they represented us well,” head coach Clar Anderson said. “Nick Adamo had a fabulous match and held off a much bigger opponent to give us the win. Addison Nuding added extra points for us and Jack Anderson also had a great match. Overall I'm very pleased with our team performance this evening.”

The match started at 149 pounds, but it came down to the 141-pound match in the end. After the Blue Devils built their lead to 16-7, the Keydets battled back to make it a 16-14 contest with two duals remaining.

With just a two-point advantage heading into the 133-pound match between Jack Anderson and Michael Bowman, the Blue Devils were in search of a win to try and put the match out of the Keydets' reach. Bowman took a 2-0 lead early in the match and stretched that to 4-0 before Anderson scored to make it 4-2. The rookie 133-pounder continued his comeback and outscored Bowman 5-2 in the final minutes to set up a thrilling final dual at 141 pounds.

Duke's Nick Adamo hit the mats for the first time since Nov. 22 against VMI's Luke Todd at 141 pounds. Wrestling up a pair of weight classes, Adamo battled hard and hung tough against the much bigger Todd. The Keydets needed a fall to capture the victory, but Adamo stayed strong throughout the seven minutes to hold Todd to an18-5 major decision victory.

Rookie Dan Adamo started the match going up against Joseph Munno at 149 pounds. Looking to move his win streak to three matches, Adamo was unable to get past Munno as he dropped a 14-7 decision.

VMI added four more points to the scoreboard when Mike Long captured a major decision over Mike Bell at 157 pounds. Normally wrestling at 149 pounds, Bell has bumped up to 157 pounds in dual matches. He fell behind early and Long continued to add on the points to capture an 18-7 major decision win.

Duke senior Addison Nuding responded in convincing fashion, getting the Blue Devils their first win in the 165-pound match. Coming off a big win against Maryland, Nuding continued to excel as he went in front of James Gordon 5-2. He piled on the points and breezed to the 12-2 major decision victory to pull the Blue Devils within three at 7-4.

Voris Tejada tied the score for the Blue Devils with a 10-3 decision victory over Andrew Szymborski at 174 pounds. Tejada gained an early 2-1 advantage and stretched it to 7-2 before Szymborski scored his third point to make it 7-3. The Duke junior added three more points to secure the seven-point victory for the Blue Devils.

Junior John Barone turned in dominating performance at 184 pounds against Thomas Kendzia to capture his 99th career victory. He needed just 1:18 to record his fourth fall of the year and his 28th win on the season. Sporting a 28-5 overall record on the year, two more wins will make Barone just the third wrestler in Duke history to have 100 career victories.

The win streak stretched to four matches when the Blue Devils added three more points to the team total with a victory from Dan Tulley over Ronald Ellsworth. Tulley blanked Ellsworth on his way to the 4-0 decision that gave Duke a 16-7 lead in the match. He currently stands at 15-8 overall on the season and pushed his dual match record to 3-2.

VMI's Josh Wine stopped Duke's win streak and got the Keydets back on the scoreboard with a narrow 3-1 decision over Robert Holbrook at heavyweight. They added four more points to their tally in the 125-pound match between Jonathan Pope and Peter Terrezza. Pope grabbed an early advantage and never looked back to securing the 12-3 major decision that set up the exciting finish.

The Blue Devils return to action on Jan. 31 at the Gardner Webb Duals in Boiling Springs, N.C.

125 John Pope (VMI) MD Peter Terrezza (Duke ) 12 - 3
133 Jack Anderson (Duke ) DEC Michael Bowman (VMI) 6 - 7
141 Luke Todd (VMI) MD Nick Adamo (Duke ) 18 - 5
149 Joe Munno (VMI) DEC Daniel Adamo (Duke ) 14 - 7
157 Mike Long (VMI) MD Mike Bell (Duke ) 18 - 7
165 Addison Nuding (Duke ) MD Jayme Gordon (VMI) 2 - 12
174 Voris Tejada (Duke ) DEC Andrew Szymborski (VMI) 3 - 10
184 John Barone (Duke ) FALL Tommy Kendzia (VMI) 1:18
197 Dan Tulley (Duke ) DEC Ronald Ellsworth (VMI) 0 - 4
285 Josh Wine (VMI) DEC Robert Holbrook (Duke ) 3 - 1