The Blue Devils did not just avenge last year's one-point loss to Campbell last night in Cameron Indoor Stadium, they wanted everyone watching to forget it even happened. Fresh off their first ACC victory in six seasons, Duke (9-7) trampled Campbell 29-6, winning eight of 10 matches against the Camels for the Blue Devils' ninth dual meet victory in its last 10.
"We lost to this team last year by a one-point technical call," head coach Clar Anderson said. "So I really lit a fire under them, but there's no doubt that they had confidence from the win over Maryland.... It's starting to come together."
Although the final team score was a blowout, Campbell (4-14) held the match close, with five bouts decided by two points or less. One hundred eighty four-pound senior Tom Cass started for the Blue Devils, taking Campbell's Josh Hocum down four times for an 11-3 major decision, giving Duke a 4-0 lead that it would not relinquish. The Blue Devils won their first five matches en route to a 16-0 advantage. Andrew Herbert, wrestling at 197 pounds, and heavyweight Roy Williams followed Cass with decisions to give the Blue Devils momentum heading back down to the lightweights.
After Duke won at both 125 and 133 pounds, the Camels finally got onto the scoreboard at 141 pounds when Adam Bricker scored a 10-3 decision over the Blue Devils' Adam Benitez. Bricker scored a pair of takedowns in the first two periods, notching in the first of two Campbell victories on the night.
Freshman Brandon Foose quickly turned momentum back to the Blue Devils, however, when he dominated the Camels' Elliot Berger, pinning him with a near-side cradle at 4:49 for his team-leading fourth pin of the season.
"Coming off the big match with Maryland and the match with Duquesne, we just wanted to keep it rolling," Foose said of Duke's effort. " In the room, everyone's starting to feel a little bit better. The atmosphere [at practice] is completely different - It's definitely positive and I think it's really helping out."
165-pound junior Michael Mitchell put an exclamation point on Duke's win, with a brutalizing 12-2 major decision over Adam Rees. The win was Mitchell's team-leading 27th. Mitchell hit nearly identical low single-leg takedowns near the edge of the mat in the first period, amassing 1:34 of riding time in the opening frame.
Rees was completely overwhelmed from the start, and gave up three more takedowns as Mitchell dominated him for all seven minutes.
Cass gave a rare comment, with a one-word assessment of Mitchell's performance: "Phenomenal."
Duke travels to Virginia on Saturday to tackle James Madison University and the University of Virginia at two separate locations. The Wahoos face NC State earlier in the afternoon so both teams will wrestle two matches.
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