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Duke Ready for Madison Square Garden Debut
12/20/2014 8:36:00 AM | Wrestling
Live Scoring
DURHAM, N.C.—The Big Apple and Madison Square Garden “The World's Most Famous Arena” await the arrival of the Duke University wrestling team for the third annual Grapple at the Garden Sunday, Dec. 21. The Blue Devils will dual three other teams – Northern Iowa, George Mason, Maryland – in the major wrestling event prior to the holiday break.
About the Grapple at the Garden
Duke one of an unprecedented 24 college and university wrestling programs to participate in the third annual Grapple at the Garden Presented by Suplay.com this coming weekend. Tickets, priced at $20.00, $35.00 and $55.00, are currently on sale and can be purchased online at www.thegarden.com, all Ticketmaster locations and the Madison Square Garden box office. A feature match between Kyle Dake and Arsen Julfalakyan is also scheduled to take place.
Duke's Sunday Slate
Duke is schedule to go up against Northern Iowa at 8 a.m., George Mason at 10 a.m., and Maryland at 12 p.m. The Blue Devils' first match will be on Mat 6 and the second and third on Mat 5. Duke and the Northern Iowa Panthers will be meeting for the first time, while the Blue Devils will see the Patriots for the eighth time and first since 1995. Duke is 5-2 against George Mason overall. Maryland, the Big Ten Newcomers and Duke will dual for the 70th time in the programs' histories and for the ninth time as non ACC foes – the two teams wrestled eight times from 1940-1952.
Conner Hartmann Back in Duke Blue
Redshirt junior and 2013 All-American Conner Hartmann will be in the Duke lineup for the first time of the 2013-14 season Sunday. Hartmann competed unattached this fall, going 8-0 overall and winning both the Hokie Open and Wolfpack Open. Ranked fifth nationally at 197 pounds, Hartmann looks to build off of his spectacular finish to his sophomore campaign in which he took fifth at NCAA Championships.
Duke in the Polls
A trio of Blue Devils has been mainstays in the top 20 Inter Mat rankings over the past month. Hartmann tops the list at No. 5 in the 197-pound division, while both Marcus Cain and Immanuel Kerr-Brown are 17th at 149 and 157, respectively. The trio combined sports a 26-4 overall record and three tournament titles.
Scouting Duke
The Blue Devils are back on the mat for the first time since a 19-18 win over Shorter University Dec. 6. Duke is 1-1 in duals with the loss coming against then-No. 9 Nebraska. Marcus Cain leads all Duke wrestlers with 10 wins, while Immanuel Kerr-Brown is 8-2 overall at 157. Hartmann returns to the lineup to anchor 197, while a pair of freshmen – Thayer Atkins and Bailey Jack – is starting at 125 and 133, respectively. Overall, Duke's lineup features three NCAA qualifiers, four true freshmen and sophomores combined and one redshirt sophomore.
|
Duke Probable Lineup |
|
|
125 |
|
|
133 |
|
|
141 |
|
|
149 |
|
|
157 |
|
|
165 |
|
|
174 |
Alex Belaia |
|
184 |
|
|
197 |
|
|
285 |
|
Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa arrives in New York City with a 2-1 victory and three wrestlers ranked in the top 20 by Intermat. The Panthers' Dylan Peters at 125 tops the list in the sixth spot, while Cooper Moore (165) is 11th and Blaize Campbell (HWT) is 15th. Peters is 10-1 overall, while Cabell is 11-4 and Cooper is 12-3. UNI's loss came at the hands of Big Ten's Purdue, 21-15 late in November.
|
Northern Iowa Probable Lineup |
|
|
125 |
Dylan Peters |
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133 |
Leighton Gaul |
|
141 |
Jake Hodges or Tyler Willers |
|
149 |
Gunnar Wolfensperger |
|
157 |
Jarrett Jensen |
|
165 |
Cooper Moore |
|
174 |
Kyle Lux or Curt Maas |
|
184 |
Cody Caldwell |
|
197 |
Basil Minto |
|
285 |
Blaize Cabell |
Scouting George Mason
George Mason is 4-2 overall with two of those wins coming against Division I programs. The Patriots have losses against Navy and Virginia, but defeated Maryland 17-16 in College Park, Md. Jake Kettler tops the team with a 10-2 overall record and 6-0 mark in duals at heavyweight. Greg Flournoy is just behind him with nine wins and a 4-2 dual record. George Mason has not competed since Dec. 6 in a 28-10 victory over Franklin & Marshall.
Scouting Maryland
The Terrapins are off to a 4-5 start overall with three of the setbacks coming to top 20 Big Ten squads. Geoff Alexander (133) is the lone Maryland wrestler in the rankings. The 133-pounder is 5-1 overall on the year with two of those coming in conference. Shyheim Brown is 10-2 overall and 5-1 in duals at 141.
|
Maryland Probable Lineup |
|
|
125 |
Josh Polacek or Michael Beck |
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133 |
Geoffrey Alexander |
|
141 |
Shyheim Brown or Frank Goodwin |
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149 |
Ben Dorsay |
|
157 |
Lou Mascola or Justin Alexander |
|
165 |
Tyler Manion or TJ Guidice |
|
174 |
Josh Snook or Sean O'Malley |
|
184 |
Tony Gardner |
|
197 |
Rob Fitzgerald |
|
285 |
Sean Twigg or Ryan Kail |
Up Next for Duke
The Blue Devils will take a break for the holidays before heading to the prestigious Southern Scuffle Jan. 1-2 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Duke's ACC slate begins just after that with a dual at NC State Jan. 7. The Blue Devils five duals in a 10-day span with three of those coming at the Pitt Duals Jan. 11.
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
125
/ Wrestling
149
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149
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125
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197
/ Wrestling
141
/ Wrestling
133
/ Wrestling
184
/ Wrestling
149
/ Wrestling
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