Duke wrestling downs Columbia and American with healthy roster

With election season in full swing, the Blue Devils hit the campaign trail to the nation’s capital and scored two key midseason victories inside the Beltway.

Duke took Washington by storm Sunday, defeating Columbia 19-16 and American 23-13 at Bender Arena on the Eagles’ campus. After competing shorthanded for six consecutive duals, the Blue Devils were back at full strength, displaying a full arsenal of weapons in their lineup.

“The days of us sneaking up on teams and teams overlooking us and all that other stuff, that’s in the past,” Duke head coach Glen Lanham said. “Everyone is going to come out and wrestle us hard. I like it, that’s what we should expect, to get everybody’s A-game.”

In his return at 125 pounds, sophomore Thayer Atkins provided Duke (4-5) an early spark on the mats to kick off the duals. After a scoreless first period in his opening bout, second and third period takedowns kept the Dallas native on top and allowed him to ride out a 5-1 victory, his seventh of the season.

Although Atkins dropped his second matchup against American’s No. 8 David Terao 11-6, the decision defeat only cost the Blue Devils three team points—a much more favorable result for Duke than the forfeits and 6-0 holes it faced while the sophomore recovered from a concussion.

“It’s unbelievable for us when you can go out there and know that you have a fighting chance, not looking at giving up six points and then depending on a true freshman at [133 pounds] to come back and wrestle hard to try to get the team boosted,” Lanham said.

The Blue Devils’ 125-pounder got the scoring going early against Columbia (8-4), but the team fell behind after the 174-pound match, 13-10. With three weights remaining, Duke had to score to topple the Lions—and two redshirt seniors did just that.

Trey Adamson evened the score at 13 with a hard-fought 3-1 decision against Mike Fetchet at 184 pounds. At 197 pounds, No. 5 Conner Hartmann recorded a first period fall at the 2:35 mark. The pin was his fifth of the year and third consecutive in dual competition.

Hartmann’s six points put Duke up 19-13 with the heavyweights on deck, and though redshirt senior Brendan Walsh could not grab a win, a 3-1 decision defeat was not enough for the Lions to roar back.

“We had some guys really overall wrestle pretty hard for us today,” Lanham said. “[Conner]’s going out there, he’s staying physically and mentally focused. He’s pressing his offense when he gets to a certain position—he’s relentless with it and we’re definitely seeing him mature into an elite, dominant wrestler in the weight class.”

In the second dual against the Eagles (4-5), the Finesilver twins kept the Blue Devils close in the first half of the lineup, delivering the only two victories prior to intermission. After scoring an 8-0 major decision in his first bout, Zach Finesilver captured a 5-1 victory against Tyler Scotton to put Duke on the board at 141 pounds.

At 149 pounds, brother Mitch Finesilver recorded his second decision victory of the day to bring the Blue Devils within one point. With the win, the 12th-ranked grappler remained undefeated in dual competition, became the first Duke grappler to reach 20 wins this season and avenged two early-season losses at the Hokie Open against Columbia and American.

“You know what the best thing is about [the Finesilvers]? They’re going to wrestle hard no matter what, and that’s what we do,” Lanham said. “They’re going to wrestle to the very end. For us to see those two go out there and compete—they train hard in the [practice] room—and it just carries over to the mat.”

Despite the early Finesilver wins, the Blue Devils fell behind 13-6 after No. 18 Jake Faust dropped his second dual of the day at 165 pounds. But Duke rallied in the final four weight classes.

Redshirt junior Brian Dorsey dominated Michael Eckhart for a 16-1 technical fall at 174 pounds, Adamson recorded his second victory of the day to give his team the 14-13 lead and Hartmann sent his opponent off 50 seconds into the match with an injury default for six more team points.

With the dual clinched after Hartmann’s win, Walsh returned to the mat for a tense finale. After a 1-1 draw took the bout into overtime, the Garnet Valley, Pa., native finished strong in sudden death and scored a 4-3 double-overtime decision with a late reversal to give the Blue Devils the double-digit victory.

“Brendan kept wrestling the whole time and he knew it was either going to be the reversal or do-or-die,” Lanham said. “The other thing that I like is that the dual was sealed, but the guys still responded to his victory like he won the dual for us, and that was good to see. No one said, ‘Hey, we got this dual. Let’s put it in neutral and coast.’ The guys really got on Brendan and cheered him on.”

After navigating early season woes, Duke now rides a three-dual winning streak into a midweek matchup against Gardner-Webb. The Blue Devils will host the Runnin’ Bulldogs Wednesday at 7 p.m. and will honor their seven seniors prior to the match.