Session I Update: Hartmann Advances for Duke

Hartmann Advances with Win in Session One

March 19, 2015

ST. LOUIS –Duke University redshirt junior Conner Hartmann captured a win in the opening round to lead the Blue Devils in session one of the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championship at Scottrade Center. Overall, Duke went 1-4 in the first round with second round action beginning Thursday evening at 7 p.m.

Hartmann, seeded 10th at 197 pounds, scored a takedown late in the first period for a 2-0 lead and cruised to his 27th win of the year with an 8-1 decision over Penn's Canaan Bethea to advance to the second round. He will wrestle No. 7 seed Abram Ayala of Princeton in the evening session for a chance to advance to the quarterfinal.

Redshirt senior Immanuel Kerr-Brown started the day for the Blue Devils, who sent a program-record five to the NCAA Championships, with a heart-breaking loss to Louis Mascola of Maryland. Falling behind 6-1 early, Kerr-Brown mounted a valiant comeback in the second and third periods before an interlocking hands call pushed Mascola to the 11-10 decision.

Trailing 7-4 after an option start in the third period, Kerr-Brown dominated Mascola in the third period to tie the match 10-10 before the penalty point was called against the Rome, Ga., native in the closing seconds. Kerr-Brown will wrestle Purdue's Doug Welch in the consolation bracket in the evening to earn a chance to move to the second day of wrestling.

At 133 pounds, Mitch Finesilver battled No. 2 seed Bradley Taylor of Wisconsin tough, but the Big Ten runner-up proved to be too much in a 23-8 technical fall. Finesilver moves down to the consolation bracket for a rematch with Troy Heilmann of North Carolina. The Duke rookie upset Heilmann in the ACC Championship semifinal to earn one of the automatic bids a few weeks ago.

Senior Marcus Cain and Jacob Kasper also put up good battles against seeded foes at 149 and 184 pounds, respectively. Cain, trailing No. 5 seed Christopher Villalonga of Cornell 4-0 late in the match, scored a reversal to make it 4-2 but didn't have enough time to get any closer in the setback. Cain will wrestle Chattanooga's Shawn Greevy in the consolation round.

Kasper, matched up against No. 4 seed Jack Dechow of Old Dominion, dropped just his 11th loss of the year in a 5-1 decision. He will wrestle against Nikko Reyes of Illinois for a chance to advance to day two. He recently took seventh at the Big Ten Championship as the No. 7 overall seed.

Action gets underway at Scottrade Center Thursday evening at 7 p.m., on ESPNU. All matches can be watched on ESPN3.

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