Hitting the mats Saturday after 10 days without competition, Duke's second longest competitive dry spell of the season could have been enough to allow some dust to settle on the team.
But on Saturday in Murray Hill, Pa., the Blue Devils were nothing but spotless as they cleaned house at the quad-meet.
The last time Duke wrestled it dropped a tough meet 26-15 against N.C. State-arguably its best opponent yet. The Blue Devils didn't let defeat keep them down.
Duke went 3-0 in the meet against Duquesne, York and The Apprentice School, defeating all three schools handily. The Blue Devils faced off in 30 total matches on Saturday and took 21 of them, securing seven wins against each foe.
Sophomores Addison Nuding and Aaron Glover did especially well for Duke, finishing as the only members of the team with perfect 3-0 records for the day. In Duke's final match against Duquesne, Nuding squeaked out a hard-earned victory in a triple-overtime 2-1 win. Glover, on the other hand, displayed absolute domination throughout the day, cruising to victory in all of his matches by an average of nearly five points.
The Apprentice School Builders fielded a squad which had previously rolled over a formidable Davidson team 35-13 this season. But they couldn't handle the Blue Devils' grapplers over the weekend, losing 27-11. Duke fared just as well against York, ranked No.14 among Division III programs, and Division I Duquesne, posting 25-10 and 24-13 victories, respectively.
The Blue Devils' nearly flawless performance in Pennsylvania gives them a needed boost of confidence as they enter into an extended stint of matches at home. Later this week Duke goes head-to-head against Campbell and The Citadel, followed by matches against ACC adversaries Maryland and North Carolina later in the month.
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