Barket Places Fifth at ACC Championship for Second Year in a Row

Sunday, March 8

Blacksburg, VA

Duke University

ACC Championships

Photo by: Sommer Thomas / Duke Athletics

Barket Places Fifth at ACC Championship for Second Year in a Row

3/8/2026 7:49:00 PM | Wrestling

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BLACKSBURG, Va. — Duke wrestling redshirt junior Connor Barket turned in a fifth-place finish for the second year in a row at the ACC Championship Sunday as the Blue Devils competed inside Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg.

Barket along with freshman Mikey Boulanger and redshirt freshman Dylan Ross collected wins Sunday.

HOW IT HAPPENED - QUARTERFINALS

The Blue Devils dropped all 10 matches in the quarterfinals.
Duke redshirt freshman Dylan Ross opened the day against sixth-ranked Collin Gaj of Virginia Tech at 149 pounds. Ross and Gaj went scoreless through the first two periods. Gaj went ahead, 1-0, to start the third period and added a late takedown to earn the decision, 5-0.
At 174 pounds, Duke's 20th-ranked Aidan Wallace dropped a 2-1 decision to sixth-seeded Collin Carrigan of North Carolina. The two wrestlers had a scoreless first period and then Wallace took a 1-0 lead with an escape in the second. Carrigan registered a reversal late in the third period to go ahead, 2-1, and hung on for the win.
Seeded fourth overall at heavyweight, Duke's 20th-ranked Connor Barket trailed his entire match to sixth-seeded and 31st-ranked Brenan Morgan of Virginia and lost an 11-3 major decision. Barket trailed, 4-1, heading into the third period and Morgan scored seven points to net the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED – CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS

Dylan Ross registered Duke's first win on the day in the consolation quarterfinals as he collected a 2-1 decision against Nate Askew of North Carolina at 149 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Ross totaled two points in the second. Askew collected an escape to open the third, but Ross was able to hold on for his first ACC Championship victory, 2-1.
After falling by an 11-3 major decision in the regular season NC State's Luca Felix, Duke's Mikey Boulanger had a chance for redemption. Boulanger totaled the Blue Devils first takedown of the 2026 championship as he led, 3-0, after the first against Felix. Boulanger continued to add on the score with two more takedowns in the match and won by an 11-0 major decision at 157 pounds. The win was Boulanger's first in the ACC Championship and ninth of the season.
Looking to rebound after dropping a quarterfinal match to a lower seed, Duke's third-seeded Aidan Wallace faced Collin Guffey of Stanford. Wallace totaled a 5-1 decision on the road against Guffey earlier this season, but dropped a 4-1 decision Sunday to end his run. After a scoreless first period, Wallace took a 1-0 lead in the second. In the third, Guffey posted an escape to even the match, 1-1, but in overtime Guffey netted a takedown to win, 4-1, at 174 pounds.
Junior David Hussey opened strong against Griffin Gammell of Virginia with a 3-0 lead and led 5-2 after a reversal in the second. Gammell collected a takedown late in the second to take a 6-5 lead and held on for a 7-5 decision.

HOW IT HAPPENED – CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS

First up was Dylan Ross against 22nd-ranked Kade Brown of Pittsburgh at 149 pounds. The first period was scoreless and then Ross took a 1-0 lead with an escape to open the second. Brown registered a pair of takedowns to go ahead, 6-2. Ross was then hit in the head and with 1:15 remaining and went into concussion protocol. He returned but after another takedown, he had to take an injury default trailing 10-2.
Mikey Boulanger had his run come to an end as he was pinned in the first period against 32nd-ranked Laird Root of North Carolina.
Connor Barket took on 18th-ranked Jimmy Mullen of Virginia Tech. Mullen collected a takedown to go ahead, 3-0, late in the first period. Barket got on the board with an escape to start the second. Mullen went ahead, 6-1, with another takedown in the second and held a 9-2 lead with two minutes remaining. Barket ended up dropping a 14-2 major decision.

Fifth-Place Matches

Freshman Mikey Boulanger had his run come to a close in his first ACCs as he dropped 14-3 major decision to 12th-ranked Dylan Evans of Pittsburgh at 157 pounds.
Redshirt junior Connor Barket closed the evening with a 4-2 decision against Luke Duthie of Stanford at heavyweight. The duo had a scoreless first period and then Barket totaled an escape to start second for the first point of the bout. Barket registered a takedown to go ahead, 4-0, and led 4-1 heading into the final two minutes. He allowed a point for stalling and won the match, 4-2.

NOTES

Both Dylan Ross and Mikey Boulanger each netted their first career ACC Championship wins.
Ross concluded his season with a 16-12 ledger and went 4-2 in ACC regular season play.
Boulanger finished his true freshman campaign with a 9-14 record.
Aidan Wallace is now 26-6 record on the season.
Connor Barket moved to 21-7 on the year. His 21 wins is now tied for sixth on Duke's single-season record charts at heavyweight.
Duke's ranked duo of Wallace and Barket will wait to see if they receive at-large invitations to the NCAA Championship.

WHAT IS NEXT

Duke next awaits the NCAA Championship selections, which will be released March 11 at 8 p.m., live on NCAA.com.

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

ACC Championship

Quarterfinals
125: #9 Nico Provo (STAN) def. Spencer von Savoye (DU) tech fall, 17-2
133: #8 Tyler Knox (STAN) def. Riley Rowan (DU) tech fall, 16-1
141: #11 Luke Simcox (UNC) def. Raymond Adams (DU) fall, 8-0 (5:59)
149: #6 Collin Gaj (VT) def. Dylan Ross (DU) decision, 5-0
157: #11 Ethen Miller (VT) def. Mikey Boulanger (DU) major decision, 13-3
165: #26 EJ Parco (STAN) def. Aurelius Dunbar (DU) major decision, 9-0
174: Collin Carrigan (UNC) def. #20 Aidan Wallace (DU) decision, 2-1
184: #31 Abraham Wojcikiewicz (STAN) def. David Hussey (DU) major decision, 9-0
197: #8 Mac Stout (PITT) def. Owen McGrory (DU) tech fall, 21-4 (4:29)
HWT: #31 Brenan Morgan (UVA) def. #20 Connor Barket (DU) major decision, 11-3

Consolation Quarterfinals
125: Keyveon Roller (UVA) def. Spencer von Savoye (DU) tech fall, 20-4
133: Marlon Yarbrough (UVA) def. Riley Rowan (DU) decision, 7-0
141: Gable Porter (UVA) vs. Raymond Adams (DU) major decision, 11-3
149: Dylan Ross (DU) def. Nate Askew (UNC) decision, 2-1
157: Mikey Boulanger (DU) def. Luca Felix (NCSU) major decision, 11-0
165: Michael Murphy (UVA) def. Aurelius Dunbar (DU) decision, 2-1
174: Collin Guffey (STAN) def. #20 Aidan Wallace (DU) decision SV, 4-1
184: Griffin Gammell (UVA) def. David Hussey (DU) decision, 7-5
197: Steven Burrell, Jr. (UVA) def. Owen McGrory (DU) fall, 9-2 (3:41)
285: #20 Connor Barket (DU) received a bye

Consolation Semifinals
149: #22 Kade Brown (PITT) def. Dylan Ross (DU) injury default, 10-2
157: #32 Laird Root (UNC) def. Mikey Boulanger (DU) fall, 3-0 (0:53)
285: #18 Jimmy Mullen (VT) def. #20 Connor Barket (DU) major decision, 14-2

Fifth-Place Matches
157: #12 Dylan Evans (PITT) def. Mikey Boulanger (DU) major decision, 14-3
285: Connor Barket (DU) def. Luke Duthie (STAN) decision, 4-2