Duke Drops Heartbreaker to Gardner-Webb

Wednesday, February 3

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Gardner-Webb

Duke Drops Heartbreaker to Gardner-Webb

2/3/2016 10:07:00 PM | Wrestling

WRES: Senior Night Celebration WRES Highlights: Gardner-Webb 19, Duke 18 WRES: Conner Hartmann Gardner-Webb Postmatch Interview Full Match Replay: Gardner-Webb 19, Duke 18 WRES: Glen Lanham Postmatch Interview WRES: Mitch Finesilver - Gardner-Webb Highlights Photos

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.—In a back-and-forth match that featured six lead changes over the course of the 10 matches, a late reversal from Gardner-Webb redshirt junior Boyce Cornwell lifted the Runnin' Bulldogs to the narrow 19-18 victory over the Blue Devils in non-conference wrestling action tonight. Duke led 18-16 heading into what proved to be a heart-stopping heavyweight match.

“This was a tight match and that was a scrappy team,” said head coach Glen Lanham. “Hats off to those guys. They're well coached and I felt like they came after us tonight in a lot of matches. We just have to make adjustments. It's all practice though.”

Gardner-Webb (6-5), trailing 12-10 after six bouts, picked up consecutive victories at 174 and 184 pounds to regain a 16-12 lead over the Blue Devils. The Bulldogs' lead was short-lived as Duke (4-6) redshirt senior Conner Hartmann put together his usual first-period fall to give the Blue Devils a crucial six points and 18-16 lead.

Hartmann, undefeated in duals and 19-1 overall on the year, scored an early takedown and then simply went to work on Terry James Henderson and pinned the junior with one minute left in the first period. The pin was Hartmann's sixth of the year and the fourth straight. He has pinned four of his six previous opponents with three of those coming in the first period. The win also pushed his career total to 87, launching him to 10th on the Duke all-time wins list.

Sporting the precarious two-point advantage heading into the final bout of the night, it was all up to the heavyweights. Duke redshirt senior Brendan Walsh, coming off of a thrilling overtime win Sunday, looked to add another to his win column to secure the team victory.

Walsh and Cornwell went scoreless through the first period that featured a lot of hand-fighting and grappling. Starting in the down position in the second, Walsh battled and finally escaped just over 30 seconds into the period for the 1-0 lead. Neither wrestler scored in the next 90 seconds, giving Walsh a 1-0 advantage heading into the final two minutes of regulation.

With the crowd and both benches on their feet, the intensity of the match increased precipitously as Walsh put together a pair of outstanding returns to build up 43 seconds of riding time with 45 seconds remaining in the match. Walsh needed 17 more seconds to get over a minute of riding time, but Cornwell was able to score a reversal with just over 30 seconds remaining to go ahead 2-1.

A stalemate call put the heavyweights back to the center of the mat with Walsh needing an escape in the final 18 seconds to tie the match. As the time ticked away, Walsh was able to get his feet and nearly escape, but came up just short as the buzzer sounded, giving Gardner-Webb the victory.

“I thought it was an escape, but sometimes you don't get the call,” Lanham said. “Walsh did a good job. He wrestled hard. He's turned the corner. He got himself into shape and wrestled.”

Also garnering crucial wins in the seesaw match for the Blue Devils were Zach Finesilver, No. 10 Mitch Finesilver and Jake Faust. Zach cruised past his opponent, getting a pin early in the second period for his 19th win of the year. Mitch, in typical fashion, worked his opponent and dominated him in the third period en route to the 11-4 decision.

Faust, however, provided thrilling action at 165 pounds. The redshirt junior nearly had his opponent Austin Trott pinned a couple times, but great work from the Gardner-Webb standout kept the match close. Knotted at 2-2 with Trott holding riding time, Faust had some ground to make up in the final 31 seconds of the match. With both wrestlers gassed, Faust battled his way to a reversal after Trott also was whistled for an interlocking hands penalty. The 5-2 decision was 12th of the year and pushed him to 6-4 in duals.

The Blue Devils will have one day off before taking on No. 18 Virginia Friday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m., in Charlottesville.

Gardner-Webb 19, Duke 18

125 – Cortez Starkes (GWU) dec. Thayer Atkins (Duke), 5-3 – Duke 0, GWU 3

133 – Tyler Ziegler (GWU) major dec. Brandon Leynaud (Duke), 13-4 – Duke 0, GWU 7

141 – Zach Finesilver (Duke) fall Ryan Hull (GWU), 3:51 – Duke 6, GWU 7

149 – No. 10 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec. Chris Vassar (GWU), 11-4 – Duke 9, GWU 7

157 – Ryan Mosley (GWU) dec. Connor Bass (Duke), 4-2, Duke 9, GWU 10

165 – Jake Faust (Duke) dec. Austin Trott (GWU), 5-2, Duke 12, GWU 10

174 – Brett Stein (GWU) dec. Brian Dorsey (Duke), 10-4, Duke 12, GWU 13

184 – Hunter Gamble (GWU) dec. Trey Adamson (Duke), 7-1, Duke 12, GWU 16

197 – Conner Hartmann (Duke) fall T James Henderson (GWU), 2:00, Duke 18, GWU 16

285 – Boyce Cornwell (GWU) dec. Brendan Walsh (Duke), 2-1 – Duke 18, GWU 19