Bencomo, Guardado Win to Lead Duke at No. 23 Virginia Tech

Saturday, January 21

Blacksburg, Va.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Bencomo, Guardado Win to Lead Duke at No. 23 Virginia Tech

1/21/2012 8:38:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Duke wrestlers A.J. Guardado and Diego Bencomo both picked ACC victories tonight at Virginia Tech to lead the Blue Devils in a setback to the 23rd-ranked Hokies. Virginia Tech won the bout 30-6 to remain unbeaten in ACC competition.

At 149 pounds, redshirt junior Guardado and Nick Brascetta were embroiled in a close bout with the two exchanging escapes in the first two periods to stand tied at one heading into the final period. Both wrestlers defended last minute shots in the session to force overtime. In overtime, Guardado registered the first takedown of the match to post the 3-1 decision with 25 seconds remaining in the match. The win was his second ACC victory and 13th of the season.

Bencomo, competing at 184 pounds, controlled his match against John Dickson. The Phoenix native scored first with a takedown with 30 seconds remaining in the first period. Bencomo and Dickson continued to trade takedowns and escapes for the remainder of the match as the redshirt junior posted the 6-3 decision.

The match started at 197 pounds with sophomore Brian Self taking on Nick Vetterlein. Self battled throughout the seven minutes, falling in a 7-3 decision. Vetterlein posted a pair of takedowns in the first period to lead 4-2 after three minutes. Trailing by three heading into the final stanza, Self pulled within two, but a late takedown by Vetterlein gave him the decision.

Redshirt freshman Brandon Gambucci had an outstanding effort against top-ranked Devin Carter at 133 pounds. The Mansfield, Ohio native grabbed a 4-0 lead with a pair of takedowns in the first period. Gambucci maintained his lead with a pair of escapes to lead 6-4 heading into the final session. Carter, however, was able to quickly take control in the third period to earn the fall 20 seconds into the period.

Fresh off of his first ACC career victory, freshman Tanner Hough had a hard-fought bout against No. 20 Zach Neibert. The Hokies' 141-pounder took a large early lead, but the Duke rookie continued to fight, losing in a 9-3 decision.

The Blue Devils continued to battle at as redshirt freshman Immanuel Kerr-Brown and sophomore Ryan Harding fought to the final whistle at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively. Kerr-Brown fell behind early, but fought back in the final period with six points to pull within three points before Cameron Hurd added three more for the 13-7 decision. Harding's match was a similar story as the second-year wrestler opened the third period with three unanswered points to make it a two-point bout. The flurry of action from Harding in the final period came up just short in the 8-5 setback to Matt Stephens.

At 174 pounds, freshman Randy Roden continued the trend of Blue Devils suffering narrow setbacks. Roden scored the final two periods of the match, but could not overcome the 6-2 deficit early on in a 6-4 decision.

Duke is back in action Jan. 26 at Campbell. The Blue Devils and Camels square off at 7 p.m.

No. 23 Virginia Tech 30, Duke 6

197 - Nick Vetterlein (VT) dec. Brian Self (Duke), 7-3 (0-3)

285 - Chris Penny (VT) dec. Andrew Fulk (Duke), 8-2 (0-6)

125 - Erik Spjut won by forfeit, (0-12)

133 - No. 1 Devin Carter (VT) pinned Brandon Gambucci (Duke), 5:40 (0-18)

141 - Zach Neibert (VT) dec. Tanner Hough (Duke), 9-3 (0-21)

149 - A.J. Guardado (Duke) dec. Nick Brascetta (VT), 3-1 (3-21)

157 - Cameron Hurd (VT) dec. Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke), 13-7 (3-24)

165 - Matt Stephens (VT) dec. Ryan Harding (Duke), 8-5 (3-27)

174 - Chris Moon (VT) dec. Randy Roden (Duke), 6-4 (3-30)

184 - Diego Bencomo (Duke) dec. John Dickson (VT), 6-3 (6-30)