The wrestling team finished up its fall season of tournaments with an 11th-place showing at the Billy Sheridan Invitational in Lehigh, Penn., on Saturday.
Having finished in the middle of the pack at its other two tournaments this fall, placing 11th out of 12 teams was a disappointment for the Blue Devils.
"We didn't have a real good tournament--we had a bad tournament as a matter of fact," head coach Bill Harvey said. "We wrestled kind of poorly. We're a young team--we make a lot of mistakes."
Duke lost a class of seven seniors after last year, and it boasts just two seniors this year. The youth of this team, as well as the strength of the tournament field, contributed to the Blue Devils' poor showing.
"We were kind of disappointed in the outcome this year, even though we knew the tournament was tough this year," Harvey said. "We knew we were a younger team, but you still go in there with high expectations."
The Invitational was Duke's third in three weeks, and the Blue Devils need to gain experience from the tournaments, since dual meets begin as soon as the spring semester begins.
"[The tournaments] have been a tremendous help," Harvey said. "It lets us focus in on where we have to go and what we have to do... [For example], you take a class, and you're not quite sure where you stand in that class until you have an exam. These matches are like exams. You find out what you're doing and where you're going and how far you can go."
Junior Dan Covatta finished with a good showing at the tourney, however, coming in third in the 142-lb. class.
"He had a good tournament, except for the one loss to [Lehigh's Chris] Ayres," Harvey said of Covatta. "Ayres won the tournament, so he lost to the eventual champion."
Covatta notched two wins over wrestlers from Rider College and Bloomsburg before squaring off with Ayres in the semifinals. Covatta also scored another victory in the consolation round to claim the third-place victory.
Senior Scott Frinzi, one of only two seniors on this year's youthful team, wrestled in the 150-lb. class despite suffering from a hand injury.
"[Frinzi] didn't do a real good job because every time he tried to squeeze his hand, it hurt him," Harvey said. "But he still won his first match 17-3."
Frinzi finished in sixth place in his weight class, an accomplishment Harvey said was strong since the senior was hampered by injury.
"That was a pretty good tournament--he's wrestling with [25 percent] use of that hand," Harvey said.
Despite the poor showing at the Billy Sheridan Invitational, Harvey feels that his wrestlers are only improving, and they should continue to improve as they head into dual matches in the spring.
"We've got a lot of freshmen and a lot of sophomores," Harvey said. "We're really proud of the kids. They're wrestling not great, but they're working hard to wrestle better. We think that's a good sign."
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