Blue Devils Collect 22-12 Win Over VMI to Conclude 2024

Sunday, December 22

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

Duke University

VMI

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Collect 22-12 Win Over VMI to Conclude 2024

12/22/2024 4:12:00 PM | Wrestling

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DURHAM, N.C. — The Duke wrestling team collected its third straight victory on Sunday with a 22-12 victory over VMI inside Cameron Indoor Stadium to close 2024. The Blue Devils (4-6) won seven out 10 matches on the afternoon against the Keydets (4-6).

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Blue Devils opened the contest with a solid, 10-4, decision by freshman Riley Rowan against Cody Tanner. The win marked the first collegiate victory by Rowan. A product of Perry, Ohio, Rowan registered a takedown in the first period and led 6-3 heading into the final period. He posted a riding time point along with a takedown at the end to net the decision.
After sophomore Raymond Adams dropped a 4-2 decision to Dyson Dunham at 133, the match was even, 3-3.
At 141, Christian Colman trailed, 5-3, going into the final period, but totaled an escape and takedown to come away with a 7-6 decision against Phoenix Alyea.
Duke netted a second-straight win as SP O'Donnell never trailed en route to a 5-3 decision versus Raymond Cmil.
Eric Doran of VMI posted a 12-4 major decision against Duke's Logan Ferrero to cut into the Blue Devil lead, 9-7.
Duke sophomore Aidan Wallace continued his solid start to the 2024-25 season with a takedown in the first 17 seconds and went on to total a 9-4 decision versus Ryan Vigil.
With a 7-3 decision by Gaetano Console, the Blue Devils took a 15-7 lead with three matches remaining. Console, a tri-captain from Barrington Hills, N.J., led 3-2 heading into the third period, but totaled an escape and takedown to jump out to a 7-2 lead with over a minute remaining in the contest. It marked Console's second-straight win on the season.
Braxton Lewis of VMI then posted a 16-0 tech fall at 184 against David Hussey and Duke led 15-12 with two matches remaining.
At 197, Kwasi Bonsu went up against VMI's Rob Attwood. Bonsu, a product of Baldwin, N.Y., registered a takedown only 14 seconds into the match and led 3-0. Attwood totaled an escape and then a takedown as the first period was ending to lead 4-3. After an escape in the second period, Attwood led 5-3. Bonsu trailed 8-3 with 1:20 remaining, but he didn't quit. The sophomore registered an escape with 45 seconds left and trailed, 8-4, with 13 seconds left when a stoppage occurred. Bonsu came up big with a takedown with seven seconds on the clock and received a riding time point to take the key victory, 9-8. Duke led 18-12 going into the 285 contest.
Duke heavyweight Connor Barket closed the match with a 9-1 win over Josh Evans to round out the contest with a 22-12 victory for the Blue Devils.

NOTES

In just his second collegiate dual match, Riley Rowan posted his first victory as a Blue Devil at 125.
SP O'Donnell registered his fourth straight victory and moved to 6-5 on the season.
With his win, Aidan Wallace moved to 15-4 on the season and 10-2 in dual match play.
The dual match win by Kwasi Bonsu marked the second dual win of his collegiate career and first this season.
Connor Barket totaled his 11th-consecutive win and now owns a 15-2 ledger on the year. He is 9-2 in dual match play.

QUOTES

"I thought it was good. I mean our young guys are wrestling really tough, which was good for us to see. Then just winning matches at the end, like Kwasi [Bonsu] at 197 you know, he could have definitely lost that match and laid down. And I've seen him in the past do that, but this time, he went after it. I was just telling these guys, I'm in my 60s, man, make it a little easier on me here, go out there and wrestle that same type of pace the whole time, it's just a different match. So, I thought it was good. Good wins. We have work to do. We have the Scuffle coming up so we're excited about, but just elevating in another level of competition." -- Duke head coach Glen Lanham

WHAT IS NEXT

Duke will return to action at the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 4-5 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils wrestling, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWRES".

#GoDuke

Duke 22, VMI 12
125: Riley Rowan (Duke) def. Cody Tanner (VMI) 10-4 decision
133: Dyson Dunham (VMI) def. Raymond Adams (Duke) 4-2 decision
141: Christian Colman (Duke) def. Phoenix Alyea (VMI) 7-6 decision
149: SP O'Donnell (Duke) def. Raymond Cmil (VMI) 5-3 decision
157: Eric Doran (VMI) def. Logan Ferrero (Duke) 12-4 major decision
165: Aidan Wallace (Duke) def. Ryan Vigil (VMI) 9-4 decision
174: Gaetano Console (Duke) def. Luke Hart (VMI) 9-4 decision
184: Braxton Lewis (VMI) def. David Hussey (Duke) 16-0 tech fall 3:00
197: Kwasi Bonsu (Duke) def. Rob Attwood (VMI) 9-8 decision
285: Connor Barket (Duke) def. Josh Evans (VMI) 9-1 major decision

Extra: 125: Waylon Rogers (VMI) def. Ethan Grimminger (Duke) 9-3 decision