Though any sporting event that pits Duke against North Carolina is traditionally considered a rivalry, in wrestling the matchup is more like a feud between a younger and older brother.
From 1972 to 2003, the Tar Heels won 31 consecutive matches against the Blue Devils. In 2004, Duke finally showed signs of an improved program with a 21-13 victory on their way to a first-place regular-season finish in the ACC.
This year, the Blue Devils want to show that they are no longer the little brother by defeating the Tar Heels tonight at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“They would not consider this to be a rivalry,” Duke head coach Clar Anderson said of North Carolina. “They think they are building to be a top-10 program in the country and that we can’t be competition. Well, we want to make this a rivalry.”
Duke will face tougher competition against UNC this year than it did last season. The Tar Heels have bolstered their lineup with the nation’s 17th-best recruiting class and have prepared themselves by facing top competition, including No. 7 Nebraska, No. 11 Missouri and No. 23 Navy. Duke, meanwhile, lost two of last season’s top wrestlers to injury and academic ineligibility and has faced much weaker competition over the course of the season.
Duke and North Carolina have competed in the same tournament twice this season, and each time the Tar Heels have placed higher. At Dec. 17’s Beast of the East, UNC finished second as a team, while Duke placed eighth. At the Southern Scuffle, Dec. 29 and 30, UNC took ninth to Duke’s 20th-place finish.
“It can be tough psychologically to face a team that has consistently placed higher than you,” Anderson said. “I just hope that our guys can have the confidence to know that they can win and that they can compete against this team.”
North Carolina is favored in almost all of the 10 weight classes. One of the night’s key individual matches will take place in the 133-pound weight class, where Duke’s Bryan Gibson will face No. 9 Evan Sola, a former All-American who returned to the team after redshirting last season. Gibson will need to win or at least keep the match close for Duke to have a chance.
“I just have to go out there and wrestle like I would against anyone else,” Gibson said. “I am just going to wrestle a full seven minutes, stay mentally and physically on the mat, and hopefully I can break the man.”
The Tar Heels, who were one of the pre-season favorites to win the ACC, lost a tough bout with N.C. State Jan. 28. They need a win against Duke in order to keep their ACC Championship hopes alive. Duke, meanwhile, is an obvious underdog, and a win would be simply be a step forward for a program trying to make a name for itself.
“This match is incredibly important for the ACC standings,” Anderson said. “They are kind of reeling after a sour loss, so hopefully we can use that to help us.”
Duke has been dealing with injuries and sickness for most of the season, both of which will likely play a role again tonight. Two wrestlers, 149-pounder Wesley Kuser and 184-pound captain Frank Cornely, sat out of Duke’s three matches last Saturday with the flu, and 125-pounder Kellan McKeon wrestled sick. But all three should be in the lineup tonight and Anderson is not using the team’s bad luck as an excuse.
“We’ve been through a tough stretch,” Anderson said. “Hopefully this just makes us tougher, having to deal with the adversity.”
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