North Carolina
Baker, Niesenbaum post wins as Duke wrestling drops ACC opener to North Carolina
Duke couldn’t break the Tobacco Highway curse Friday night time.
Coming off of a lopsided 35-4 defeat by the hands of Central Michigan the night time earlier than, Duke misplaced to archnemesis North Carolina 37-6 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Though the Blue Devils fought laborious in opposition to the Tar Heels, who began six grapplers ranked within the high 25 of their respective weight lessons, Duke misplaced the primary eight matches in a row.
“Total, the hassle was good,” stated head coach Glen Lanham. “The rating clearly seems to be lopsided, however I assumed the hassle from some weights had been fairly good.”
The grind lastly paid off for the Blue Devils (3-6, 0-1 within the ACC), as Vincent Baker received an thrilling bout at 197 kilos in opposition to Max Shaw. Along with his aggressive method, Baker was in a position to tire Shaw and rack up greater than a minute of using time. Tied 2-2 going into the ultimate spherical, Baker simply needed to preserve Shaw from escaping to seal the victory.
“My motto is ‘simply combat,’” stated Baker, reflecting on the third spherical. “Preserve it going via the match.”
Baker actually battled, maintaining Shaw inside his grasp by rolling him backward a number of instances. As the ultimate seconds ticked away, Cameron Indoor, filled with Okay-Ville tenters sheltering from the outside, roared to life to induce its grappler to victory.
“The gang was exploding,” Baker stated. “It felt like a basketball recreation!”
The gang was then handled to a particular encore from senior captain Jonah Niesenbaum. The one Blue Satan to win in opposition to Central Michigan, Niesenbaum fought laborious in opposition to Brandon Whitman of North Carolina (5-6, 1-0), forcing time beyond regulation with a third-round escape. After Whitman instantly grabbed maintain of Niesenbaum’s leg, it appeared that the No. 22-ranked Blue Satan was doomed to be upset. Nevertheless, Niesenbaum stored rotating his hips round Whitman and making use of stress, forcing the Tar Heel to fold, a lot to the delight of the group.
“[Niesenbaum’s win] is nice for the group as a result of they’ll go away with these two of their pocket,” stated Lanham. “They’ll bear in mind these two.”
It was powerful going for Duke early, with 141-pound grappler Jarred Papcsy, 149-pound Patrick Rowland, 165-pound Gabe Dinette and 174-pound Gaetano Console shedding abbreviated matches by way of main selections. Preston Decker, wrestling at 157 kilos, received caught off guard by a single-leg takedown from No. 4-ranked Austin O’Connor and ended his night time pinned to the ground. Blue Satan junior Luke Chakonis began his night time promisingly at 184 kilos, aggressively charging No. 14-ranked Gavin Kane. Nevertheless, Kane was in a position to elude Chakonis and are available away with the victory.
“I imply, for those who have a look at [Chakonis’ match], we received in on the leg 5, six instances,” stated Lanham. “We simply received to complete now.”
Duke shuffled its lineup at 125 kilos, as Logan Agin moved as much as 133 kilos for the primary time this season. The transfer suited Agin, and he appeared poised for an upset within the third spherical of his match in opposition to Jace Palmer. Up 5-3 after escaping from backside, he wanted to keep away from hemorrhaging factors for the ultimate couple of minutes, however two large takedowns by Palmer left Agin out of luck, and the Blue Satan junior dropped the match 7-6.
“It’s good for [Agin] to simply think about wrestling,” Lanham stated of the choice to maneuver Agin up. “At 125, he was battling the dimensions greater than his opponent.”
Though the Blue Devils forfeited 125 kilos Friday, the transfer opens the door for freshman Ethan Grimminger from Orange, Calif., to see the mat and achieve NCAA wrestling expertise.
“We’re gonna pull Ethan out of redshirt,” stated Lanham. “He’s a younger man stepping up.”
Duke, with 10 wrestlers wholesome for the primary time this calendar yr, now enters a troublesome week of competitors, with away meets at ranked Appalachian State and ACC powerhouse N.C. State.
“Don’t lay down,” Lanham stated of his message to his workforce earlier than this upcoming stretch. “Don’t be afraid to win. Don’t be afraid to upset somebody.”
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