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Blue Devils Top Gardner-Webb, 25-12, In Final Dual Meet Of The Season
2/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 25, 2004
The Duke University wrestling team finished the dual meet season with a 25-12 win over Gardner-Webb on Wednesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The win improves the Blue Devils record to 9-7 on the year, while Gardner-Webb falls to 6-20 overall.
The meet opened at 165-lbs. with Michael Mitchell spotting Duke to a 4-0 with a 12-4 major decision over Gardner-Webb's Michael Ard. Mitchell jumped on top early and held a 6-2 lead with 1:41 in riding time heading into the second period. The Midwest City, Okla., native stayed on the attack for the remainder of the match to register his 88th career win, moving into a sixth place tie with Tommy Hoang in the Duke record books.
In a closely contested battle at 174-lbs., Gardner-Webb's Erik Wince improved to 25-5 on the season with a 5-3 decision over Levi Craig. Craig held a 2-1 lead after one period before Wince rode him out in the second to accumulate 1:49 riding time advantage. Wince scored a quick escape and added a takedown in the third before holding off a late charge by Craig.
In the next match of the evening, Duke's Frank Cornely won for the fifth consecutive time, pinning John Loff at 2:36. The win improved Cornely's record to 21-12 on the season and extended the Blue Devil lead to 10-3. The pin was the fourth of the year for the Pennsauken, N.J., native.
At 197-lbs., the Blue Devils scored three more points as Tim Marcantonio recorded a 7-1 decision over Brent Blackwell. The Berkeley Heights, N.J., native registered an escape and takedown in the second period to take a 3-0 lead heading into the final two minutes of action. Blackwell earned one point with an escape to close to within 3-1, before Marcantonio added another takedown with just over minute left in the match. Marcantonio also received a stalling point as well as a point for riding time in the match.
Duke's Roy Williams and Gardner-Webb's Titus Phile fought to a 1-1 tie through three periods to send the heavyweight match into overtime. The two wrestlers went through a scoreless overtime to send the match to two 30-second periods. Phile registered an escape in eight seconds after beginning the first 30-second period in the down position. In the second 30-second stanza, Williams escaped in four seconds to send the match into another one minute overtime period. In the third overtime, Phile scored a takedown with 30 seconds remaining for a 4-2 win and to narrow the Gardner-Webb deficit to 13-6.
Duke rebounded at 125-lbs. as Christian Smith registered his team leading ninth pin of the season. The Chesapeake, Va., native jumped on top 7-0 in the second period before pinning Jonathan Neal at the 4:48 mark. With the win Smith moves to 28-12 on the season with his win total tied for the seventh most in a single-season at Duke.
At 133-lbs., junior Adam Benitez continued his winning ways, earning his 11th consecutive victory with a 6-5 decision over Josh Pniewski. With the match tied 2-2 heading into the final two minutes, Benitez scored an escape and a takedown to move ahead 5-2 with just over a minute remaining. Pniewski scored an escape and a takedown to tie the match at 5-5, but an escape by Benitez with eight seconds remaining secured the win for the Blue Devils.
Gardner-Webb added a win at 141-lbs. as Justin Lansley topped Bryan Gibson, 5-4. With Gibson leading 3-2 in the third, Lansley registered an escape and takedown before holding off Gibson.
At 149-lbs., Gardner-Webb's Daniel Elliott posted an 8-3 decision over Andy Soliman to close the gap to 22-12 with one match to go. Soliman took a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period, but Elliott controlled the action in the remaining two periods, to collect his 20th win of the season.
Duke's Antwone Floyd posted a 10-4 decision over Adam Glaser at 149-lbs. to give the Blue Devils a 25-12 victory. Floyd scored two takedowns and an escape in the first two periods to jump ahead 5-2 with two minutes remaining. In the third period, Glaser scored an escape but not until after Floyd had accumulated 1:06 in riding time. Floyd added a throw takedown and two near fall points to help secure his 15th win of the season.
The Blue Devils return to action Saturday, March 6, when they head to Charlottesville, Va., for the 2004 ACC Championships.
Duke 25, Gardner-Webb 12 WT RESULT SCORE 165 Michael Mitchell (Duke) major dec. Michael Ard, 12-4 4-0 174 Erik Wince dec. Levi Craig (Duke), 5-3 4-3 184 Frank Cornely (Duke) win by fall John Loff, 2:36 10-3 197 Tim Marcantonio (Duke) dec. Brent Blackwell, 7-1 13-3 HWT Titus Phile dec. Roy Williams (Duke), 4-2 (3ot) 13-6 125 Christian Smith (Duke) win by fall Jonathan Neal, 4:48 19-6 133 Adam Benitez (Duke) dec. Josh Pniewski, 6-5 22-6 141 Justin Lansley dec. Bryan Gibson (Duke), 5-4 22-9 149 Daniel Elliott dec. Andy Soliman (Duke), 8-3 22-12 157 Antwone Floyd (Duke) dec. Adam Glaser, 10-4 25-12
Connor Barket Post ACC Championship
Monday, March 10
Season Opener Video
Friday, November 01
Duke Athletics: A Tour of Campus
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Welcome to Duke
Saturday, October 19
