Last year it took a dramatic comeback from a 14-0 deficit for Duke wrestling to defeat Virginia. This time the Blue Devils grabbed a 12-3 lead after four matches and held on to beat the Cavaliers 19-15.
“This was a great win for these guys,” head coach Clar Anderson said. “When we beat them last year it was an upset, but to beat them a second time in a row is really great.”
Steve Smith got Duke (9-4, 2-2 in the ACC) off to a strong start in the 165-pound weight class, earning a 10-6 win over Jim Hartey to put Duke on top 3-0. When Virginia freshman Rocco Caponi upset Duke senior captain Levi Craig 5-4 at 174 pounds, momentum seemed to switch in favor of the Cavaliers. Craig scored a takedown as time was winding down to take a 4-3 lead, but Caponi earned a reversal just seconds later to grab the win.
A decision by Frank Cornely put Duke back on top 6-3. In the next match, 197-pounder Mark Thompson seemed to put the match out of reach for Virginia (4-11, 0-4), pinning Scott Smith in the first minute. The win put Duke up 12-3.
“That was a tremendous boost for us,” Anderson said. “That pin really put us at a point where we thought we were going to win.”
But the Cavaliers did not go away. They won matches at heavyweight, 125 and 133 pounds to level the team score even at 12. At 133 pounds, UVa’s Byron Dunlap used three back points in the third period to upset Bryan Gibson and give the Cavaliers a shot.
Back-to-back wins by Wes Kuser and Antwone Floyd then sealed the win for the Blue Devils. Less than two weeks ago, the 141-pound Kuser had lost two straight matches and seemed to be in a slump. He has now won four in a row, including an 11-3 major decision over Virginia’s Chet Naylor that put Duke up 16-12.
But it was Floyd’s match against Paul Dunstan that clinched the Duke victory. Virginia’s Dunstan was favored over the Duke sophomore, but Floyd kept the match close and send it to overtime at 2-2. After a scoreless overtime period, Dunstan earned an escape to lead 3-2 through one tiebreaker. In the second tiebreaker, Floyd scored a reversal and used a cradle to put Dunstan on his back and win 6-3.
“[Dunstan] may have been favored in that match, but we knew Antwone was going to win,” Anderson said. “He is so athletic and when he wrestles as well as he can, he is the best in the ACC.”
Duke has now won four matches in a row after dropping two straight. A victory over N.C. State Wednesday night would give the Blue Devils their second-straight winning conference record and lock up third place in the conference.
“We’re hoping to use this momentum to our advantage against a very good N.C. State team,” Anderson said.
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