With the ACC championship on the horizon, the Blue Devils had a chance to build some positive momentum and give themselves a chance to notch their first ACC win of the season Saturday night.
But as has been the case all season, Duke failed to string together the tough bouts it needed.
No. 24 Pittsburgh used two early pins and a major heavyweight upset to dominate the Blue Devils 28-9 at Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh. Although senior Connor Bass ended a recent losing streak at 174 pounds, Duke star Jacob Kasper saw a 20-bout winning streak at heavyweight come to an end as his team suffered another lopsided ACC loss.
From the start, the Blue Devils (4-10, 0-5 in the ACC) looked overmatched. At 149 pounds, senior Xaviel Ramos was unable to notch his first bout victory in league action, dropping an 11-9 decision to Mike Racciato. The Pittsburgh competitor broke a 5-5 tie in the third period with two key takedowns to give the Panthers (11-5, 2-3) an early 3-0 lead.
Things only got worse from there for Duke, which saw two quick pins at 157 pounds and 165 pounds change the complexion of the match.
First, redshirt junior Jake Faust got pinned in 2:34 by Taleb Rahmani to give Pittsburgh six points, then the Panthers added six more when TeShan Campbell took down redshirt senior Michael Wright in less than two minutes.
With his team suddenly down 15-0, Bass responded at 174 pounds by earning a 4-1 decision against Donovan McAfee after falling out of the national rankings. The senior used an escape and a takedown following a scoreless opening period to earn the victory.
Junior Alec Schenk then added another three points to Duke's team score with a 3-1 decision following a late takedown in overtime in a hard-fought rematch of his ACC championship bout with Zach Bruce.
But after intermission, it was all Panthers once again.
Junior Luke Farinaro dropped a 5-0 decision at 197 pounds that made it 18-6 Pittsburgh, then No. 18 Ryan Solomon upset Kasper, the fourth-ranked heavyweight in the nation, with a 4-3 decision following a last-second reversal.
Kasper was briefly on top in the third period before seeing his impressive winning streak snapped, and the redshirt junior will now look to regroup before the postseason.
The Panthers then added to the rout when LJ Bentley notched a 4-3 decision against junior Thayer Atkins at 125 pounds and eighth-ranked Dom Forys notched the only major decision of the night—a four-point, 14-3 rout of redshirt junior Cole Baumgartner at 133 pounds.
Although redshirt sophomore Zach Finesilver controlled the final bout of the regular season with a 6-1 decision at 141 pounds against Nick Zanetta thanks to a pair of takedowns and an escape, the Blue Devils still found themselves on the wrong end of another ACC blowout.
Duke will look to regroup before traveling to Raleigh for the ACC championship beginning March 4.
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