The wrestling team emerging from break has a different look to it than the one that went into it.
Injuries and new additions have forced the team to shuffle its lineup at times, and those Blue Devils who changed weight classes and stepped into the starting lineup gained experience for the dual meet season.
Duke wrestled in two national tournaments in December that drew some of the top teams in the country. The Beast of the East Tournament featured No. 22 Northwestern and ACC rival North Carolina, while No. 7 Minnesota, No. 11 Cornell, No. 19 Edinboro and No. 20 Navy led the competition at the Southern Scuffle Tournament. The Blue Devils placed eighth at the Beast of the East and 20th in the Southern Scuffle, both times competing without a full lineup.
'Individually, I am proud of what our guys accomplished against some tough competition,' head coach Clar Anderson said. 'As a team, it was hard to compete at a high level when we were missing so many key wrestlers. But I think the experience was important, and I am hoping that our team rises to that level of competition.'
Although the team results suffered from the injuries, Duke"s top wrestlers stood out with impressive performances over the past month. Steve Smith, who has been hampered by some nagging injuries of his own, placed fourth in the 165-pound weight class at the Beast of the East. At 174 pounds, Levi Craig also placed fourth in the first of the two tournaments and won three matches at the Southern Scuffle. Sophomore Bryan Gibson and junior Mark Thompson, both first-year starters, also showed promise, Anderson said, but neither placed.
'I am really proud of the way our guys are coming along,' Anderson said. 'Bryan Gibson was injured for a while but he is starting to look very strong. Steve Smith, if he can stay healthy, will have a great season. Right now, if we can get a full team, I think we have some good potential.'
No matter who else returns from injury, the Blue Devils will have to compete without one of their top wrestlers for the rest of the season. Christian Smith, the defending ACC Champion at 125 pounds, tore a ligament in his shoulder during the fall and will remain off the mat until next season.
Freshman Kellan McKeon will forego his redshirt year to compete for Duke in Smith"s place. McKeon is a two-time North Carolina state champion but is now competing at a higher weight class than he did in high school. Anderson would have liked to give McKeon a year to adjust to the higher weight class, but Smith"s injury forced him into the starting lineup.
'Kellan has done a great job filling in for Christian so far,' Anderson said. 'It hasn"t really shown yet in terms of wins and losses, but he is coming along very well.'
Although the loss of Smith will be difficult to overcome, the return of Frank Cornely should help the Blue Devils. Cornely is the defending ACC Champion at 184 pounds and spent the first part of the season at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. He rejoined the Duke team Dec. 17 and placed fifth at the Beast of the East.
'Getting Frank back has really helped us,' Anderson said. 'He is a leader in practice and he has brought back some new moves from his time away.'
Facing less formidable competition than in the two tournaments, Duke began its ACC season with a 23-18 victory over Maryland Saturday. The Blue Devils beat Campbell 47-0 and also lost to North Dakota State 18-12 Saturday.
The next challenge comes at ACC-newcomer Virginia Tech Saturday, a team Anderson believes will be a conference powerhouse. The Duke coach hopes that the stiff tournament competition will help his team in conference play.
'I really think that the week of practice before our Maryland match was a turning point in the season,' Anderson said. 'We had seen top competition the week before, and these guys really raised their level of focus and intensity and beat a good team. We"ll see how that carries over against Virginia Tech.'
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.