Duke Places Seven at Wolfpack Open

Sunday, November 22

Raleigh, N.C.

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Duke University

Wolfpack Open

Duke Places Seven at Wolfpack Open

11/22/2015 8:19:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

Overall Results

RALEIGH, N.C.—Redshirt freshman Zach Finesilver took home runner-up honors at 141 pounds to lead a solid showing by the 25th-ranked Duke wrestling team at the annual Wolfpack Open Sunday. Seven Blue Devils overall finished in the top six with four coming in in the top three.

Xaviel Ramos (133), Mitch Finesilver (149) and Brendan Walsh (285) all took third overall, while Thayer Atkins (125) and Jacob Kasper (285) grabbed fourth. Connor Bass took sixth at 157 pounds. Third-ranked Conner Hartmann and 16th-ranked Jake Faust did not compete for the Blue Devils.

Zach, in just his second tournament in a Duke singlet, cruised through the championship bracket to the title bout. The Colorado native picked up two falls, including one in the first period, during his run to the championship match. The 141-pounder scored a 7-2 decision over No. 3 seed Tyler Scotton of American before falling to second-seeded Mike Pongracz of Chattanooga 9-2 to take second. Zach is 9-4 overall on the year.

Ramos stepped onto the podium for the first time in his Duke career, taking third at 133 pounds. The junior started the day with two wins, including a major decision in the quarterfinal over Gardner-Webb's Garett Hancock, before dropping a hard-fought 6-2 decision in the semifinal. Ramos bounced back in the consolation final with a 10-1 major decision over Tyler Ziegler of Gardner-Webb.

In his second tournament at 149 pounds, Mitch recorded a trio of victories, two of which came as major decisions, before matching up against North Carolina's Joseph Moon in the quarterfinal. Mitch battled his way to a 5-3 decision over Moon for a spot in the semifinal. Looking for his first tournament title of the year, Zach's twin brother came up short 14-7 in the semifinal. Mitch rebounded with a narrow 3-2 decision over Troy Heilmann of North Carolina.

Two Blue Devils, wrestling unattached, wrestled their ways to the semifinals at heavyweight. Brendan Walsh recorded consecutive 5-2 decisions to set up the ultimate test against top-ranked Nick Gwiazdowski in the semifinal. Jacob Kasper went 3-0 with a major decision, a decision and fall before losing to No. 15 Jared Johnson of Chattanooga. The semifinal losses by Walsh and Kasper set the duo up for a third-place battle, which they opted to not wrestle.

Atkins was outstanding for the Blue Devils with convincing victories in his first two outings. The sophomore 125-pounder edged Steven Simpson of Old Dominion in the quarterfinals, but was unable to duplicate that in the semifinals with a 4-3 setback to North Carolina's Cody Karstetter. Alex Madrigal handed Atkins his second loss of the day, 8-2, to take home third-place honors.

Bass, coming off of his title at the Hokie Open, moved into the quarterfinals with a pair of victories. Up against David Geoghegan in the round of eight, Bass used a great third period to force overtime at 7-7. Geoghegan scored midway through the sudden victory overtime session to put Bass into the consolation bracket. He rallied with two more single-point victories, but couldn't finish the evening with a victory, falling to North Carolina's Brian Hamann in the fifth-place match.

The Blue Devils, taking a brief break to close out the semester, open dual action at Appalachian State Dec. 15. The first bout is set to go off at 6:30 p.m.

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