Dudziak Wins Keystone Classic Title

Sunday, November 22

Philadelphia, Pa.

9:00 a.m.

Duke University

Keystone Classic

Seven Minutes on the Mat with Konrad Dudziak

Dudziak Wins Keystone Classic Title

11/22/2009 10:00:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.-Duke University redshirt senior Konrad Dudziak captured his second tournament title of the season and the Blue Devils placed six different wrestlers in the top five for a successful outing at the 2009 Keystone Classic hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.

Dudziak brought home top honors while redshirt senior John Barone and freshman Brent Jorge earned runner-up honors. Redshirt freshman Dak Adamson took third overall and senior Voris Tejada and redshirt freshman Diego Bencomo both earned fifth place in their weight divisions.

The nation's top-ranked heavyweight, Dudziak beat Andrew Wilson of Liberty by decision 6-0 in his opening match to advance to the semifinal against No. 4 seed Mingo Grant of American. The native of Bayonne, N.J., breezed through to the championship match, pinning Grant in 5:46. Dudziak added another win to his total as he dominated American's Blake Herrin in an 8-1 decision for first place.

Earning the top seed in the 149-pound division, Jorge was outstanding in his first two matches with a pair of falls to advance to the semifinal against fifth-seed Troy Hernandez of Pennsylvania. Jorge continued his unbeaten streak in the semifinal as he shut down fifth-seed Troy Hernandez of Penn in a 4-0 decision. Looking to remain perfect on the year, Jorge suffered his first loss of the year in a 9-3 setback to third-seed Frank Gayeski of Liberty.

The success at 149 pounds continued with Adamson putting forth a strong showing in his first competition as a Blue Devil. He needed just 50 seconds to take his opening match, pinning Mike Burnett of VMI. He went up against the third seed Frank Gayeski of Liberty in the quarterfinal and dropped a tough 7-4 decision to move down to the wrestleback draw. Adamson added another pin to his resume in his first match as he pinned VMI's James Hardey in 1:04. After a loss to Gayeski in the quarterfinal, Adamson rebounded to post four consecutive falls to take third place overall.

Competing up a weight class to 197 pounds, Barone didn't skip a beat. Seeded second overall he dropped Charles Fox of Princeton in a technical fall 16-0 in 4:27 in his first match to move into the semifinal round. He followed that with a pin in 3:53 against Larry Otsuka of Brown for a chance to wrestle for the title. Barone's run stopped there with top-seed Micah Burak of the host Quakers earned a fall to take the title.

Senior Voris Tejada was equally impressive at 174 pounds. Seeded fourth overall, he edged American's Phillip Barreiro by decision 6-3. In the quarterfinal, Tejada outlasted fifth-seed Andrew Szymborski in a 3-2 decision for a spot in the semifinal. A loss to the top seed Austin Trotman in the semifinal sent Tejada into the semifinal of the wrestleback bracket. Suffering a second straight setback, he rebounded with a 7-3 decision over sixth-seed Kyle Czarnecki for fifth place.

Competing at 184 pounds, redshirt freshman Diego Bencomo defeated fifth-seed David Ziegler of Liberty in the opening match to advance to the semifinal round. Top-seed Mike Cannon of American stopped Bencomo's streak, but the Blue Devil came back to win the fifth-place match against No. 5 seed David Ziegler.

The Blue Devils will host their first dual match of the season on Dec. 2 against Davidson College at 6:30 p.m., in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

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