After coming home with a pair of titles at the Southeast Open last week, the Blue Devils will look to continue their strong start to the season in their first dual meet of the season.
But they will have to do it without one of their best wrestlers.
Duke will open its dual schedule Saturday at the Mountaineer Duals, hosted by Appalachian State in Boone, N.C., with bouts against No. 15 Oregon State and Belmont Abbey. The Blue Devils will face the Beavers Saturday at noon before taking on the Crusaders for the first time in program history 2 p.m.
“We know that they have some really solid guys," Duke head coach Glen Lanham said of Oregon State. "Its definitely going to be a tough dual for us but also a great measuring stick for where we are as a team right now.”
Duke will be missing Mitch Finesilver in the 149-pound weight class—the junior will be competing in the annual Bill Farrell Memorial International Open in New York. The tournament will serve as the U.S. Non-Olympic Weight World Team Trials Qualifier this year and give Finesilver a chance to represent his country in the Non-Olympic World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in December.
With Finesilver's absence and the graduation of three-time All-American Connor Hartman this offseason, the Blue Devils will be looking for some of its other wrestlers to fill the void.
Senior Connor Bass and redshirt junior Jacob Kasper are two candidates to step up for Duke. Both had little difficulty adjusting to their new weight classes and came away with first-place finishes in at the Southeast Open last week.
After competing at 157 pounds last year, Bass took home the title at 174 pounds and Kasper made the jump from 184 pounds to heavyweight this offseason.
“Kasper’s up two weight classes and Bass is also up two weight classes,” Lanham said. “It’s a testimony to the great summer they had just lifting and conditioning. I was really pleased with the way those two guys wrestled.”
Duke will need a replacement in the 149-pound weight class and will likely look to Joey Abbate to fill the spot. Along with Bass and Kasper, redshirt sophomore Zach Finesilver is expected to lead the Blue Devils at 141 pounds.
One of the main things Lanham is hoping to see from his team this weekend is a faster start after some struggled early on in matches during their season-opening tournament.
“We didn’t win the first and second period, but the third period we did,” Lanham said. “I just want our guys to get after it earlier. That’s something we look to improve on and that we’ve talked about throughout the week.”
The Blue Devils' opening bout of the weekend will be difficult with Oregon State's collection of nationally ranked wrestlers. The Beavers have a deep roster that could pose trouble for Duke at every weight class. Senior Joey Palmer is ranked No. 12 nationally in the 133-pound weight class, along with sophomore Corey Griego, who is 12th in the 184-pound weight class, and junior Cody Crawford, who is 18th in the 197-pound weight class.
Kasper will likely be Duke's only ranked competitor in action this week, as he is ranked 15th nationally among heavyweights.
One silver lining for the Blue Devils is that Oregon State will likely be without junior star Ronnie Bresser at 125 pounds and All-American heavyweight Amarveer Dhesi last season. But with the Beavers still a deep team, the Blue Devils will look to come out strong with several more events coming up soon.
“We’re making sure our guys are becoming more offensive on their attacks,” Lanham said. “We definitely want to improve on that.”
Although Belmont Abbey—a Division II school—is a less heralded opponent for Duke, the Blue Devils are looking forward to using this weekend as a way to continue improving early in the season.
Following this weekend's dual, Duke will return to Cameron Indoor Stadium for its first home bout of the season Nov. 18 against Wisconsin.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.