Following Wednesday night's win over Gardner-Webb, when the Blue Devils started off strong and never looked back, it was questionable if Duke would be able to keep that pace over the weekend.
Apparently it could.
On Saturday, the Blue Devils traveled to Davidson, using 16 different wrestlers to beat UNC-Greensboro 27-10 and the home team Wildcats 29-10. The two victories pushed Duke's record to 11-5 on the season.
Duke started off the afternoon in blistering fashion. First taking on Davidson, freshmen Evan Beard (125 pounds) and Adam Benitez (133) opened the match with the first of Duke's seven consecutive victories, amassing a 23-0 lead. Frank Cornely (174) and J.J. Koch (197) would both pin, as Duke would win eight of the nine contested bouts, dropping the Wildcats to 6-8 on the season.
Traditionally, Duke has had its hands full with UNC-G, losing the last several meetings with the Spartans.
"We always have trouble with Greensboro," Duke coach Clar Anderson said. "They always have a few tough guys."
Nonetheless, Duke started out strong against the Spartans as well. Sophomore Tommy Hoang (125) pinned UNC-G's Tony Stewart in 2:26, and senior Sean Meakim (133) followed suit with a 6-5 victory over Wade Cecil, making the team score 9-0.
Greensboro, now 4-6 on the season, closed the gap to 9-3 in the 141-pound bout, as the Spartans' Corey Williams edged out Duke's Harry Clarke by a 2-1 margin. However, the Blue Devils quickly stopped any thoughts about a Greensboro victory. Duke won five of the next six matches, securing their 11th victory of the season. Eleven victories is the most any Duke wrestling team has won since the 1990 campaign in which the Blue Devils went 11-5.
Looking to extend their win total, the Blue Devils must first take on their toughest task of the season thus far, a dual meet with North Carolina tomorrow night in Cameron. North Carolina, a perennial top-25 team, has one of its better teams in recent history as it showed when it upset then seventh-ranked Lehigh earlier this season. If the Blue Devils are to have a chance against the Tar Heels, they need to continue wrestling as they have been during this three-match winning streak. The schedule does not get any easier from here on in.
"We just need to keep training hard," 165-pound freshman Tim Marcantonio said. "We need to keep it close with these next few matches and keep our confidence up going into the ACC tournament."
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