When the Blue Devils fell behind 16-6 through seven of 10 bouts Wednesday evening, it looked like Duke was almost certainly on its way to a fourth straight disappointing loss.
But redshirt junior heavyweight Jacob Kasper flipped the momentum with a 57-second pin, sparking an improbable Blue Devil comeback that stopped Duke's season from going further off the rails.
No. 5 Kasper's pin of Will Hilliard earned six points, then junior Thayer Atkins and redshirt junior Cole Baumgartner got the Blue Devils three points apiece in the final two matchups of the night to deliver an 18-16 win at Old Dominion at the Ted Constant Center in Norfolk, Va. Atkins' 10-5 decision against Steven Simpson set the stage for Baumgartner's 2-0 decision against Alex Madrigal at 133 pounds to earn Duke's first win since Jan. 8.
The Blue Devils (3-5) got off to another strong start on the road, with sophomore Zach Finesilver notching a 4-1 decision against Kevin Budock at 141 pounds. Finesilver built a 2-0 lead in the first of three two-minute periods, then used a second-period reversal to stay in control and put his team up 3-0 overall.
Old Dominion (4-8) evened the match at 149 pounds when Michael Hayes bested senior Xaviel Ramos 9-2. Ramos nearly dropped a major decision, which would have given the Monarchs an extra point, but held on to keep the score level through two bouts.
Redshirt junior Jake Faust then put the road team back on top with a convincing 5-1 decision after a first-period takedown and third-period reversal.
But after falling behind 6-3, Old Dominion got strong performances from three top-15 competitors to take control.
At 165 pounds, 15th-ranked Seldon Wright earned a 10-2 major decision against rookie Garrett Neff to put the Monarchs back on top. Antonio Agee then bested Duke redshirt senior Michael Wright with a 4-1 decision at 174 pounds before intermission.
After the break, No. 9 Jack Dechow built on his team's 10-6 advantage by besting junior Alec Schenk with a 6-4 decision. Eleventh-ranked Kevin Beazley then took control against Blue Devil junior Luke Farinaro, cruising to a 6-1 decision that made the score 16-6 and seemingly sealed Duke's fate.
But Kasper's seventh pin of the year changed the complexion of the match, as the Lexington, Ohio, native put Hilliard on his back to extend his winning streak to 16 matches. Atkins then cruised to his 10-5 decision before Baumgartner avenged an early-season loss to Madrigal with the hard-fought 2-0 decision that sealed Duke's comeback win.
The Blue Devils are back in action at No. 5 Virginia Tech Sunday at 2 p.m.
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