Completed Event: Wrestling versus NCAA Championship on March 20, 2025 , , NTS
/
Final
Wrestling
vs NCAA Championship
Wrestling Opens New Year at Southern Scuffle
12/31/2015 6:00:00 AM | Wrestling
DURHAM, N.C.—The Duke wrestling team will ring in the New Year at the 2016 Defense Soap and Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle Friday at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Widely considered the top in-season tournament, the Scuffle will take place Jan. 1-2 at the McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga.
Seeing the Action Live
Tickets for the 2016 Southern Scuffle are on sale now. Daily admission is $30 for reserved seats, $20 for general admission and $10 for youth general admission. All-session passes are $55 for reserved, $35 for general admission and $15 for youth. Tickets can be purchased online on GoMocs.com or by calling the UTC Ticket Office at (423) 266-MOCS (6627).
How to Follow the Action
Fans unable to make it to Chattanooga can watch the matches at FloWrestling with a FloPro subscription. Live scoring of every match will be provided free of charge at TrackWrestling.com. Duke fans can also follow along on Twitter for live updates throughout the day. Action gets underway at 9 am.
The 2016 Southern Scuffle Field
Nine of the top 25 teams in the latest USA Today/NWCA national poll will be in attendance, including No. 1 Penn State and seventh-ranked Oklahoma State. Other top 25 teams making the annual trip to the Scenic City are Lehigh (10), Cornell (14), North Carolina (15), Michigan (13), Minnesota (23), Pittsburgh (20) and West Virginia (25). All totaled, there are 85 wrestlers who were ranked in their class in the preseason who are schedule to compete.
|
Team |
NWCA Rank |
InterMat Rank |
|
Appalachian State |
|
|
|
Army |
|
|
|
Boise State |
|
|
|
Cal Poly |
|
|
|
Campbell |
|
|
|
Central Michigan |
|
|
|
Chattanooga |
|
|
|
The Citadel |
|
|
|
Cleveland State |
|
|
|
Cornell |
4 |
14 |
|
Drexel |
|
|
|
Duke |
|
24 |
|
Edinboro |
|
|
|
Gardner-Webb |
|
|
|
Lehigh |
10 |
14 |
|
Michigan |
13 |
9 |
|
Michigan State |
|
|
|
Minnesota |
23 |
15 |
|
Navy |
|
|
|
North Carolina |
15 |
19 |
|
Northern Colorado |
|
|
|
Oklahoma State |
7 |
2 |
|
Penn |
|
|
|
Penn State |
1 |
1 |
|
Pittsburgh |
20 |
|
|
Stanford |
|
22 |
|
Utah Valley |
|
|
|
Virginia |
|
25 |
|
West Virginia |
|
|
|
Wyoming |
25 |
|
Blue Devil Entries
Duke will send 14 wrestlers to compete in the 2016 Southern Scuffle. The Blue Devils will be represented across nine of the weight classes. Rookie Brandon Leynaud will be making his debut in a Duke singlet at 133 pounds, while Conner Hartmann looks to bring home the Scuffle title at 197 after finishing second a year ago.
|
Weight |
Wrestler |
|
133 |
|
|
133 |
|
|
141 |
|
|
141 |
|
|
149 |
|
|
157 |
|
|
165 |
|
|
174 |
|
|
174 |
|
|
174 |
|
|
184 |
|
|
184 |
|
|
197 |
|
|
285 |
Power Packed 197 Bracket
Duke senior Conner Hartmann, ranked third nationally, will have some stiff competition in the 197-pound bracket. Seven of the nation's top 25 wrestlers will be in attendance in Chattanooga, including the country's No. 1 in Morgan McIntosh of Penn State. Fifth-ranked Brett Pfarr from Minnesota, No. 8 Jacob Smith of West Virginia and No. 10 Zach Nye from Virginia round out the top 10 wrestlers who will battle for the Southern Scuffle crown. Hartmann took second in last year's Southern Scuffle, falling to No. 1 J'Den Cox in the title match.
Brandon Leynaud to Make Debut
Rookie 133-pounder Brandon Leynaud is set to make his debut in a Duke singlet at the Southern Scuffle. The Lexington, Ohio native is 4-4 overall after wrestling unattached at the Hokie Open and Wolfpack Open. Leynaud came to Duke after posting a 161-36 record at Lexington.
Faust and Hartmann Among Preseeds
Conner Hartmann and Jake Faust both earned top 10 preseeds in their respective weight classes for the Scuffle. At 197 pounds, Hartmann comes in at the No. 2 spot behind top-ranked Morgan McIntosh of Penn State. Faust, at 165 pounds, is tabbed the No. 5 seed in the preseeding list. He already owns a win over No. 2 seed Jim Wilson of Stanford. Brackets will be released later Thursday afternoon.
Finesilvers Look to Continue Winning Ways
Twins Mitch and Zach Finesilver head into the Southern Scuffle after strong starts to the year. Mitch is 8-3 overall and has won five of his past six matches, while Zach is 10-4 at 141. Both posted gutsy dual wins at Appalachian State before the holiday break. This is the first Southern Scuffle for the brothers.
Southern Scuffle Kicks Off Busy January for Blue Devils
The Blue Devils have a busy month ahead of them with nine duals on the horizon following the Southern Scuffle. Duke makes its home debut Jan. 6 against No. 3 NC State. The Blue Devils hit the road for the next three weeks, heading to the Pitt Duals to take on ACC foe and No. 20 Pittsburgh, Harvard and Edinboro Jan. 9. The following week, the Blue Devils make the long trip west to Northern California for duals with Stanford and Cal Poly Jan. 16-17. The month closes at Virginia Jan. 22 and against American and Columbia Jan. 31.
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
174
/ Wrestling
149
/ Wrestling
141
/ Wrestling
157
/ Wrestling
149
/ Wrestling
125
/ Wrestling
141
/ Wrestling
197
/ Wrestling
133
/ Wrestling
197
/ Wrestling
141
/ Wrestling
165
/ Wrestling
184
/ Wrestling
HWT
/ WrestlingConnor Barket Post ACC Championship
Monday, March 10
Season Opener Video
Friday, November 01
Duke Athletics: A Tour of Campus
Saturday, October 19
Welcome to Duke
Saturday, October 19
