Blue Devils Capture 3 Hokie Open Titles

Sunday, November 8

Blacksburg, Va.

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Duke University

Hokie Open

No. 23 Blue Devils Host No. 3 NC State Wednesday

Blue Devils Capture 3 Hokie Open Titles

11/8/2015 4:48:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

BLACKSBURG, Va. –The Duke University wrestling squad brought home three titles and seven top-six finishes at the Hokie Open for a successful start to the 2015-16 season. Connor Bass, Jake Faust and Conner Hartmann each earned top honors for the Blue Devils.

Third-ranked Hartmann cruised through his 197-pound bracket en route to his second consecutive Hokie Open title. Hartmann started the day with a first-period fall and added a 16-0 technical fall in the quarterfinal match. After an injury default pushed the redshirt senior into the title match, Hartmann outscored Chattanooga's Scotty Boykin 10-2 for the crown.

Wrestling at 157 pounds, Bass scored a big 6-4 decision over No. 20 Markus Schiedel of Columbia to stay in the winner's bracket. He added another decision to advance to the semifinal and completed his run through the bracket with a dominant 19-1 tech fall victory over Chad Pyke of NC State.

Faust, lining up at 165 pounds again this season, started the day with a fall over Mike Ciavarro of Virginia Tech. Consecutive decisions for the redshirt junior pushed Faust into a matchup with fourth-ranked Jim Wilson of Stanford. A sixth-place finisher a year ago a the Hokie Open, Faust launched himself to the top of the podium with a 6-2 decision over No. 4 Wilson. The victory was the second victory over a ranked opponent in his career and marked the highest-ranked win in his career.

Sophomore Thayer Atkins took fourth for the Blue Devils at 125 pounds after falling into the consolation bracket with a loss to No. 6 Joey Dance of Virginia Tech. In the consolation final, Atkins dropped a tough 2-0 decision to North Carolina's Tyrone Klump to take fourth overall.

In his first action in a Duke singlet, redshirt freshman Zach Finesilver grabbed fifth place at 141 pounds. Teammate Evan Botwin took sixth with an injury default in the fifth-place match with Finesilver.

Finesilver opened the day with a tech fall before top-ranked Evan Henderson of North Carolina cruised to a 14-1 major decision. He rebounded with convincing wins in the consolation bracket to meet up with Botwin in the fifth-place final. The Colorado native had two technical falls and a major decision for the day.

Also taking fifth was senior Trey Adamson at 184 pounds. Adamson started the day with a victory and rebounded in a big way in the consolation bracket by posting a fall and a technical fall en route to the fifth-place match where he pinned Peter Galli of Stanford.

Redshirt senior Randy Roden also had a strong showing for the Blue Devils at 174 pounds. After dropping his opening bout, Roden broke off four straight victories before losing in the fifth-place match to Stanford's Keaton Subjeck. The sixth-place finish at the Hokie Open was the highest for Roden in his career as a Blue Devil.

Freshman Araad Sarrami made his debut in collegiate wrestling, competing unattached. Sarrami lost his opening match before bouncing back with a few wins to take sixth overall at heavyweight.

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