Hartmann Captures ACC Title; 4 Earn NCAA Bids

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Hartmann Captures ACC Title; 4 Earn NCAA Bids

3/8/2015 9:07:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

PITTSBURGH, Pa. –Redshirt junior Conner Hartmann captured the ACC Championship at 197 pounds to headline a strong showing by the Blue Devils at the 2015 ACC Wrestling Championship. Four Duke wrestlers punched their tickets to the NCAA Championship in St. Louis with the automatic bids.

Joining Hartmann at the NCAA Championship with automaticberths are Mitch Finesilver (133), Marcus Cain (149) and Jacob Kasper (184). Immanuel Kerr-Brown will hope for an at-large berth in the 157-pound division. He was rated 13th in the RPI heading into the championships. Cain, Finesilver and Kasper all will be making their debuts.

“I felt like we had a good performance,” said head coach Glen Lanham. “I felt the guys wrestled well. We had some big matches that we won. I think we left a couple national spots out there, but overall it was a good performance. We wrestled tough and we proved that we're a program that's definitely on the rise.”

Hartmann is the 22nd Blue Devil to capture Duke's 30th ACC title and the first to do so since 2010. Hartmann, Finesilver and Kasper each earned three All-ACC honors, the most since 2005. Duke has placed three on the All-ACC squad just three other times. Duke finished fourth overall with 44 points. The finish is the highest since a third-place showing in 2004, while the 44 points are the most since 2005.

The four qualifiers are the most since Duke sent four to the championship in 2004. Duke has never sent more than four wrestlers to the NCAA Championship as it awaits word on Kerr-Brown.

Hartmann, the top seed at 197, was tested in his semifinal match by Michael Boykin of NC State. The Port Orchard, Wash., native scored a late takedown in the final period to pick up the 4-3 decision to secure the NCAA bid and a meeting with Zach Nye for the title.

In the title bout, Nye and Hartmann were even at 3-3 heading into the final period. The redshirt junior escaped within seconds for the 4-3 advantage and continued to try to score. Nye took a shot, but in a flurry of wrestling, Hartmann took advantage and scored the takedown for the 6-3 lead. Nye answered quickly with the reversal, but it was not enough as Hartmann's arm was raised as the winner.

Finesilver, seeded sixth, upset the No. 3 and No. 2 seeds en route to his runner-up finish. He started the day with a second consecutive victory over Kevin Norstrem of Virginia Tech and then followed that with a gutsy third period of action to beat UNC's Troy Heilmann.

In the final against 14th-ranked George DiCamillo, the rookie battled tough but was unable to come away with the win. He is the third true freshman in Duke history to earn a bid to the NCAA Championship and first under Lanham.

“[Finesilver] did an outstanding job,” Lanham said. “He's got a huge upside. He's a competitor and he brings a lot to the table and his work ethic is unbelievable. An outstanding performance by him.”

At 184 pounds, Kasper upended third seed Nicky Hall 6-4 in the semifinal to wrap up one of the two ACC bids at that weight. The sophomore built an early lead on Hall and held off a late charge to set up a rematch with Max Thomusseit of Pittsburgh.

Thomusseit, the No. 1 seed, grabbed an early advantage before Kasper scored a takedown at the end of the first period to bring it within two. However, he couldn't get any closer as 14th-ranked Thomusseit climbed the top spot on the podium.

Cain advanced to the semifinals before losing to top-seeded Mikey Racciato to land in the consolation semifinals. The veteran 149-pounder, after easing past Sam Speno 10-0, saved his most exciting match for last to secure the final berth.

Trailing 2-1 after the first period to No. 2 seed Sal Mastriani of Virginia Tech, Cain escaped but nearly gotten taken down by Mastriani. He scrambled well, caught Mastriani and scored the fall just 20 seconds into the period for the third-place finish and a spot in the NCAA Championship.

“I leapt out of my seat at the end of that match,” Lanham said. “He's put in so much work and to see him go to nationals as a senior was huge. I was very pleased with his performance. When he put him on his back and got the fall for us that put us in the situation that we could place ahead of UNC.”

The at-large berths will be announced Wednesday March 11 on NCAA.com.

2015 ACC Championships Results for Duke
125 - Thayer Atkins (9-18) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Dom Forys (Pittsburgh) 16-7 won by major decision over Thayer Atkins (Duke) 9-18 (MD 14-4)
    Cons. Round 1 - Thayer Atkins (Duke) 9-18 received a bye () (Bye)
    Cons. Semi - Joe DeAngelo (NC State) 1-2 won by tech fall over Thayer Atkins (Duke) 9-18 (TF-1.5 6:47 (21-5))

133 - Mitch Finesilver (14-10) placed 2nd and scored 9.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Mitch Finesilver (Duke) 14-10 won by decision over Kevin Norstrem (Virginia Tech) 18-14 (Dec 4-3)
    Semifinal - Mitch Finesilver (Duke) 14-10 won by decision over Troy Heilmann (North Carolina) 2-1 (Dec 5-3)
    1st Place Match - George DiCamillo (Virginia) 2-0 won by decision over Mitch Finesilver (Duke) 14-10 (Dec 12-6)

141 - Evan Botwin (16-13) placed 6th and scored 0.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Joseph Spisak (Virginia) 3-1 won by decision over Evan Botwin (Duke) 16-13 (Dec 3-1)
    Cons. Round 1 - Evan Botwin (Duke) 16-13 received a bye () (Bye)
    Cons. Semi - Kevin Jack (NC State) 2-2 won by tech fall over Evan Botwin (Duke) 16-13 (TF-1.5 7:00 (15-0))

149 - Marcus Cain (21-7) placed 3rd and scored 8.50 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Marcus Cain (Duke) 21-7 won by decision over TJ Miller (Virginia) 1-2 (Dec 8-3)
    Semifinal - Mike Racciato (Pittsburgh) 15-8 won by decision over Marcus Cain (Duke) 21-7 (Dec 16-9)
    Cons. Semi - Marcus Cain (Duke) 21-7 won by major decision over Sam Speno (NC State) 0-2 (MD 10-0)
    3rd Place Match - Marcus Cain (Duke) 21-7 won by fall over TJ Miller (Virginia) 1-2 (Fall 3:20)

157 - Immanuel Kerr-Brown (22-10) placed 4th and scored 2.50 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke) 22-10 received a bye () (Bye)
    Semifinal - Andrew Atkinson (Virginia) 2-1 won by decision over Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke) 22-10 (Dec 8-5)
    Cons. Semi - Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke) 22-10 won by decision over Christopher Mears (North Carolina) 0-2 (Dec 6-4)
    3rd Place Match - Ronnie Garbinsky (Pittsburgh) 12-9 won by decision over Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke) 22-10 (Dec 5-1)

165 - Jake Faust (12-7) placed 4th and scored 3.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Max Rohskopf (NC State) 1-2 won by decision over Jake Faust (Duke) 12-7 (Dec 3-0)
    Cons. Round 1 - Jake Faust (Duke) 12-7 received a bye () (Bye)
    Cons. Semi - Jake Faust (Duke) 12-7 won by decision over Chad Strube (Virginia Tech) 9-10 (Dec 4-3)
    3rd Place Match - Troy Reaghard (Pittsburgh) 11-7 won by decision over Jake Faust (Duke) 12-7 (Dec 6-2)

174 - Trey Adamson (13-8) placed 6th and scored 0.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech) 22-5 won by major decision over Trey Adamson (Duke) 13-8 (MD 16-3)
    Cons. Round 1 - Trey Adamson (Duke) 13-8 received a bye () (Bye)
    Cons. Semi - John Staudenmayer (North Carolina) 2-2 won by major decision over Trey Adamson (Duke) 13-8 (MD 12-3)
    5th Place Match - Pete Renda (NC State) 1-2 won by decision over Trey Adamson (Duke) 13-8 (Dec 6-0)

184 - Jacob Kasper (23-10) placed 2nd and scored 9.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Jacob Kasper (Duke) 23-10 received a bye () (Bye)
    Semifinal - Jacob Kasper (Duke) 23-10 won by decision over Nicky Hall (NC State) 1-2 (Dec 6-4)
    1st Place Match - Max Thomusseit (Pittsburgh) 20-1 won by major decision over Jacob Kasper (Duke) 23-10 (MD 14-6)

197 - Conner Hartmann (25-1) placed 1st and scored 12.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Conner Hartmann (Duke) 25-1 received a bye () (Bye)
    Semifinal - Conner Hartmann (Duke) 25-1 won by decision over Michael Boykin (NC State) 1-2 (Dec 4-3)
    1st Place Match - Conner Hartmann (Duke) 25-1 won by decision over Zach Nye (Virginia) 1-1 (Dec 6-5)

285 - Brendan Walsh (9-16) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Ryan Solomon (Pittsburgh) 13-8 won by decision over Brendan Walsh (Duke) 9-16 (Dec 6-4)
    Cons. Round 1 - Brendan Walsh (Duke) 9-16 received a bye () (Bye)
    Cons. Semi - Patrick Gillen (Virginia) 2-2 won by decision over Brendan Walsh (Duke) 9-16 (Dec 6-1)