Mullen Captures Title at Davidson Open

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Davidson Open

Mullen Captures Title at Davidson Open

12/3/2011 8:14:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

DAVIDSON, N.C.-Duke University senior Chris Mullen had a career performance at the Davidson Open to lead the Blue Devils wrestling team to eight overall top four finishes. Mullen captured the title at 141 pounds, the first of his career.

Redshirt freshman Brandon Gambucci also brought home a title at 133 pounds. Peter Terrezza took third in the 125-pound division and Immanuel Kerr-Brown grabbed third place at 157 pounds. Ryan Harding rounded out the top-four finishes, earning fourth at 165 pounds. Wrestling unattached, freshman Marcus Cain won the 149-pound bracket, while AJ Guardado took second to Cain. Andrew DeHart finished second at 157 pounds and Trey Adamson was the runner-up at 174 pounds.

Mullen opened the tournament with a first-period fall against Limestone's Tanner Yates. The Duke senior continued to roll, edging his next three opponents by a combined seven points to earn a spot in the title bout. Up against Melchisedac LaVergne of Anderson College in the finals, Mullen posted the 9-4 decision to earn his first career title.

Gambucci captured his first title of the season with a convincing performance in the 133-pound bracket. After cruising to the 9-2 decision in the opening match the Mansfield, Ohio native posted a technical fall to advance to the semifinal. He continued his outstanding day with a 4-0 decision over Jordan O'Donnell of Virginia Tech. Gambucci posted his 14th victory of the year in the title match, beating Appalachian State's Brett Boston, 7-2.

It was all Duke in the 149-pound bracket as two Blue Devils advanced to the final. Both Cain and Guardado, competing unattached, coasted to the title match to face each other. Cain was dominant as he registered two major decisions and a technical fall in the first four matched. Guardado had a different path to the finals, outlasting three of his four opponents in narrow decisions.

Wrestling up a weight class, Kerr-Brown won his opening three bouts before falling to teammate DeHart in the semifinals. The Rome, Ga., native bounced back in the consolation back with consecutive victories to take third place. He defeated John Blakely of Appalachian State for the second time of the day in the consolation championship.

DeHart, competing unattached, placed for the first time this season with a runner-up showing. He posted consecutive falls and a major decision in his first three matches before taking down Kerr-Brown to earn a place in the title contest. The rookie battled hard, but fell to Virginia Tech's Chad Strube by a 5-1 decision.

At 165 pounds, Harding turned in his best tournament of the season, going 6-2 en route to fourth place. After dropping his second contest, the sophomore rallied in the consolation bracket to earn a place in the consolation title bout. In his run to the third-place match, Harding posted two narrow decisions before getting edged by Tennessee-Chattanooga's John Lampe, 8-5 in the final match of the day.

Adamson rounded out Duke's unattached wrestlers to place at 174 pounds. The rookie battled through four matches, including a pair of hard-fought decisions, to advance to the championship bout. Again, Adamson found himself in a close match. After finishing the match even at 3-3, Adamson was unable to emerge victorious in overtime, falling 4-3 to Collin Hedash of Appalachian State.

Duke next competes, Jan. 2 in the Southern Scuffle.