The Blue Devils have struggled mightily in the middle weight classes throughout the season, and entered their home finale against North Carolina hoping to turn their fortunes around and earn an ACC victory.
But in what was expected to be a tight meet, Duke found itself searching for answers at the end of another frustrating night on the mat.
Despite a strong start thanks to junior Thayer Atkins and redshirt junior Cole Baumgartner, the Blue Devils fell 25-15 to rival North Carolina Wednesday evening at Card Gym. After knocking off the Tar Heels for the first time since 2004 last season on the road, Duke lost control of Wednesday's matchup by losing five straight bouts following wins by Atkins and Baumgartner.
A 5-4 decision by Joey Moon against Blue Devil redshirt junior captain Jake Faust put the Tar Heels up 10-8 at intermission, and North Carolina never looked back from there.
“I thought it was going to be a five-five split and then come down to points,” Duke head coach Glen Lanham said. “It was definitely disappointing to have our captain go out and not wrestle like he's capable. That took the air out of it. It was tough to coach after that…. We don’t quit, but obviously that hurt you.”
The Blue Devils (4-8, 0-4 in the ACC) came out strong, with Atkins using an escape and two takedowns in the second period to grab a 6-2 lead against James Szymanski. Although Szymanski notched two escapes in the final period, Atkins came away with a 6-5 decision to put Duke on top 3-0.
Like Atkins, Baumgartner fell behind when Nicolas Lirette earned a quick takedown to start the 133-pound bout. But from there, Baumgartner took control, racking up near-fall points, takedowns and escapes to dominate with an 18-2 technical fall that put his team ahead 8-0.
“Thayer wrestles really tough,” Lanham said. “He has had an awesome season. That's a really tough kid and that kid had some good wins…. Cole [also] wrestled lights out. That's a tough kid and Cole went out and dominated him. He was strong in every position, on his feet, especially on the mat.”
But as has been the case for Lanham's team all year, things began to unravel in the middle weight classes.
The Tar Heels (7-6, 2-3) got on the board with a 5-2 decision at 141 pounds when No. 7 Joey Ward kept redshirt Zach Finesilver from grabbing much momentum after two takedowns. North Carolina then pulled within one when Troy Heilmann earned a bonus point with a 17-6 major decision against Duke senior Xaviel Ramos at 149 pounds.
With the score 8-7, the battle turned when Faust could not pull out a tight win after heading to the final period tied 4-4 with Joey Moon. Moon used a quick escape at the start of the third to take the lead, then Faust could not secure a late takedown despite having control of one of Moon's legs, resulting in a deflating 5-4 loss for the home team heading into intermission.
After intermission, things went from bad to worse for the Blue Devils at 165 pounds when redshirt senior Michael Wright crumbled against Devin Kane, giving North Carolina a six-point pin. The Tar Heels capped off their five-bout winning streak when sixth-ranked Ethan Ramos edged out No. 17 Connor Bass at 174 pounds to put the visitors up 19-8.
Although junior Alec Schenk dominated Elijah Kerr-Brown—the brother of former Duke standout Immanuel Kerr-Brown—at 184 pounds 10-0 for a major decision, classmate Luke Farinaro was no match for Danny Chaid at 197 pounds. Chaid pinned Farinaro to seal the win for North Carolina, leaving the Blue Devils' best wrestler in Jacob Kasper with little to fight for in the night's final matchup.
Despite the low stakes, Kasper, the fourth-ranked competitor in the nation, fought through one of his worst performances of the season to push past Cory Daniel with a 3-1 decision. Kasper failed to get an early advantage and was even in danger of getting pinned at one point before posting a late takedown in the third period to keep is 20-bout winning streak alive.
“You need those tight matches,” Lanham said. “It lets [Kasper] know there are guys out there who could wrestle and beat you if you let them.”
Duke will close out the regular season next Saturday at Pittsburgh before gearing up for the ACC championship.
“It's now the home stretch, and it isn’t so much coaching anymore,” Lanham said. “It's these guys believing in what they've been taught all season long, and now implementing it.”
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