Duke Posts Strong Showing at Mountaineer Invitational

Saturday, November 9

Boone, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Mountaineer Invitational

Duke Posts Strong Showing at Mountaineer Invitational

11/10/2019 2:13:00 AM | Wrestling

BOONE, N.C. – Duke wrestling saw seven athletes finish in the top three during Saturday's Mountaineer Invitational.

Leading the way was Josh Finesilver, who claimed first place after running through the open division at 149 pounds. The junior beat Isaac Byers of host Appalachian State by way of an 18-3 technical fall win at 3:25. He then took down teammate Brandon LaRue in the semifinals thanks to a 7-3 decision before facing the Mountaineers' Cody Bond in the finals. The Greenwood Village, Colo., native defeated Bond in a 12-6 decision to claim the top spot.

LaRue finished third in that division after beating Grant Lundy of UT-Chattanooga by a 13-0 major decision in the third-place bout.

Wade Unger continues to impress as he took home second place in the 149-invitational division after nearly toping App State's Jonathan Millner in the finals. Despite dropping a 15-11 decision to Millner, Unger did record victories over Logan Meek of Oregon State (Tech Fall, 17-2 in 5:22), Seth Hogue of West Virginia (Fall, 11-8 in 6:10), and Alec Opsal of Air Force (10-1 decision in 3:08).

Drake Doolittle also claimed second for Duke but in the 125-open division. The rookie fell to Kent State's Jake Ferri by a 19-6 major decision in the finals but did post wins over Zach Shupp from Central Michigan (6-4 decision) and Caleb Smith of App State (6-4 decision).

Two additional Duke wrestlers took home second place with Bryson Neace claiming the spot in the 141 division and Kai Blake at 184. Both wrestled in the open division. Neace posted a7-4 victory over App State's Blake Baker, while Blake registered a 7-3 decision over the Mountaineer's Garrett Church.

Closing out the Blue Devil wrestlers in the top three on Saturday was Vincent Baker. The rookie finished third after recording an 8-5 decision over Ramon Rodriquez of App State and a 6-2 fall win in 2:47 over JT Trautman III of Gardner Webb.

Redshirt sophomore Benjamin Anderson notched a win over Air Force's Harlan Steffensmeier, 6-5, before dropping a 7-4 decision to Central Michigan's Tracy Hubbard in the semifinals of the 165-invitational division. Anderson finished sixth overall.

Finally, Mason Eaglin defeated West Virginia's Tucker Nadeau, 7-2, and Gardner Webb's Samuel Mora, 9-3, before dropping the consolation round semifinals of the 174-invitational division to West Virginia's Scott Joll.

Duke will have a little time off before the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, Pa., on Nov. 24th.