In the early days of the new year, the Blue Devils have already left their mark by making history with their first individual Southern Scuffle title in program history.
The breakthrough win came from redshirt junior heavyweight Jacob Kasper, whose first-place finish powered Duke to a 13th-place showing at the 23-team event in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 17th-ranked heavyweight in the country, Kasper upset the sixth-, eighth- and 11th-ranked wrestlers in his weight class to capture the prestigious title.
Senior Connor Bass and junior Mitch Finesilver also contributed to the Blue Devils' second-best finish at the event in team history, with Bass taking sixth at 174 pounds and Finesilver seventh at 157 pounds.
But it was Kasper who stole the show, improving to 4-0 against ranked opponents this season to carry a great deal of momentum into dual season. Despite entering the season unranked, Kasper has shown he has what it takes to be one of the nation's best heavyweights.
“I know what I’ve put in,” Kasper said. “Rankings don’t mean too much so I wasn’t too worried about it. I deserved it. I earned it.”
The fifth seed in the event, Kasper cruised through his opening match 9-0 before taking on Northern Iowa's JJ Everard in the second round. Thanks to a timely escape and bonus point from riding time, Kasper prevailed 2-0 to move on to the quarterfinals against eighth-ranked Denzel Dejournette of West Virginia.
After Kasper opened the matchup with a 6-0 advantage, Dejournette battled back to tie it 6-6 and went ahead by earning one point for an escape. But Kasper once again stayed consistent, prevailing 9-7 after a reversal and another riding-time bonus.
Following the upset to advance to the second day of the event, the Lexington, Ohio, native then took on No. 11 Austin Schafer in the event’s semifinals. Kasper took all of the drama out of the semifinal tilt, dominating the Oklahoma State junior 10-3 to punch his ticket to the championship bout.
The final match had Kasper pitted against his toughest opponent of his season—sixth-ranked Michael Kroells of Minnesota. The bout stayed close, but Kasper maintained a constant lead throughout the first two periods and sealed the deal 5-3 in the final period to get his name in the Duke record books.
“He did a lot of the extra stuff that it takes to be great and he got stronger,” head coach Glen Lanham said.
Bass and Finesilver joining Kasper with podium finishes marked the first time in program history that the Blue Devils had three such finishes at the Southern Scuffle.
“Having three place winners at the Southern Scuffle is a good measuring stick for our program,” Lanham said. “But we need to keep making strides.”
Finesilver placed for the second year in a row after taking fifth last year. He started the event with a 16-0 technical fall before a 13-4 major decision against North Carolina’s Joey Moon propelled him into the quarterfinals. After a tough 3-2 loss to No. 3 Joe Smith of Oklahoma State, Finesilver moved to the consolation bracket.
Up against an unranked opponent in Stanford’s Paul Fox, the Greenwood Village, Colo., native prevailed 5-3, but Finesilver could not overcome 10th-ranked Jake Short in the next round, suffering a 3-2 loss. Finesilver rebounded by winning the seventh-place match 7-3 to make his way onto the podium.
Bass had a similar journey, advancing to the quarterfinals before falling 11-5 to Ethan Ramos, the eighth-ranked competitor at 174 pounds. The Yorkville, Ill., native won his first consolation bracket bout 4-2 to set up a dramatic bout with No. 17 Jadaen Bernstein of Navy.
After falling behind 5-1, Bass found his footing in the second period to pull within 5-4 before the bout went into overtime. In the extra session, Bass was aggressive from the beginning, notching a takedown to pull the upset.
Bass’ Cinderella run then came to a swift end, as Ryan Preisch bounced him from the consolation semifinal with a technical fall and No. 3 Casey Kent of Pennsylvania dominated him 12-2 in the fifth-place match.
Although he did not make the podium, redshirt junior Cole Baumgartner was the Blue Devils’ fourth competitor to advance to the event’s second day by faring well at 133 pounds. The Missouri transfer went 3-1 on the first day before falling to seventh-ranked Colby Smith of Appalachian State.
Even though the Duke quartet impressed, the other Blue Devils have room to improve to give Duke’s lineup more balance moving forward. The Blue Devils will open their dual slate Sunday against Hofstra and LIU Post in Brookville, N.Y., and look to build on a productive start to the calendar year.
“Some guys have made adjustments in their ability to attack but you have other guys that are still not pulling the trigger,” Lanham said. “It serves as a good way to show what they need to improve on…. This is a change in our program, a positive one. No matter what, we’re going to continue to make strides and be a good program.”
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