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Blue Devils Dominate Campbell And Duquesne On Senior Night
2/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 15, 2005
DURHAM, N.C. - Duke's senior wrestlers competed in their final home event tonight and the four competitors went out in style, helping Duke to a 50-0 win over Campbell and then a 34-7 victory over Duquesne. Seniors Frank Cornely, Andrew Herbert, Steve Smith and Mark Thompson were a combined 6-0 on the evening and accounted for four of Duke's seven pins. The Blue Devils won 18 of 20 matches and never trailed in any of their 18 victories.
The Camels were trying to avenge a 47-0 loss to Duke earlier in the season, but it was not to be, as Smith got things going early. He scored a takedown and picked up three back points, but it did not matter because he recorded the pin only two minutes into the match. At 174, Levi Craig picked up a 7-3 decision, chipping away in his usual methodical style. Cornely then stepped to the mat and pinned Lantz Nixon in only 1:58, giving Duke a 15-0 lead.
Thompson scored an 11-4 win over Willy Johnson at 197 and was done for the evening, as Konrad Dudziak would wrestle against Duquesne. At heavyweight, Andrew Herbert pinned Pruitt Rainey for the second time this season, this win coming with only 14 seconds remaining in the match. After Campbell forfeited at 125, Bryan Gibson picked up a third-period pin at 133, defeating Caleb Lesnoff. Duke then took a pair of major decisions by Wes Kuser at 141 (12-0) and Daniel Shvartsman at 149 (10-2) to give Duke a 44-0 lead. Zach Weisberg finished things off with a pin of Broc Dickerson only 1:05 into the match.
The Blue Devils had a slightly tougher time with Duquesne, but still took the first four matches. Kellan McKeon, who has filled in admirably all season at 125 for ACC champion Christian Smith, scored a major decision over John Zappa, 12-2. Gibson duplicated that score against Keith Pavlekovsky at 133 and Duke was up 8-0. Kuser then pinned Bernie Lynch at 4:26 in the 141-pound bout.
At 149, Shvartsman, wrestling one class above his usual spot, won the night's closest match. He recorded two takedowns in the first period for a 4-2 lead, which he took into the third frame. His opponent, Dan Pauley, came back to tie it at 5-5 and the two headed for overtime. Shvartsman posted the first takedown in the extra period for the 7-5 win.
Duke took its first loss of the night at 157 when Weisberg fell to Rob Dempsey, but Smith put Duke right back on track, posting a major decision over Jon Denk, 11-3, which gave Duke a 21-4 lead. At 174, Craig clinched the match with a 4-0 decision over Mark Himes.
Cornely continued to spend very little time on the mat, pinning Jared Ricotta only 2:11 into the 184-pound bout. Dudziak, making his home debut, picked up a major decision at 197, winning, 12-3 and giving the Blue Devils a 34-4 margin. Venroy July lost a 7-3 decision at heavyweight to close out the evening.
Duke, which improved to 8-4 on the season, has guaranteed itself a winning record heading into the postseason. The Blue Devils are back to ACC action on Friday when they travel to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Duke 50, Campbell 0 165 Steve Smith (Duke) pinned Casey Galligan, 2:00 6-0 174 Levi Craig (Duke) dec. Brian Hocum, 7-3 9-0 184 Frank Cornely (Duke) pinned Lantz Nixon, 1:58 15-0 197 Mark Thompson (Duke) dec. Willy Johnson, 11-4 18-0 HWT Andrew Herbert (Duke) pinned Pruitt Rainey, 6:46 24-0 125 Kellan McKeon (Duke) won by FORFEIT 30-0 133 Bryan Gibson (Duke) pinned Caleb Lesnoff, 5:59 36-0 141 Wes Kuser (Duke) major dec. Elliot Berger, 12-0 40-0 149 Daniel Shvartsman (Duke) major dec. Billy Sheridan, 10-2 44-0 157 Zach Weisberg (Duke) pinned Broc Dickerson, 1:05 50-0Duke 34, Duquesne 7 125 Kellan McKeon (Duke) major dec. John Zappa, 12-2 4-0 133 Bryan Gibson (Duke) major dec. Keith Pavlekovsky, 12-2 8-0 141 Wes Kuser (Duke) pinned Bernie Lynch, 4:26 14-0 149 Daniel Shvartsman (Duke) dec. Dan Pauley, 7-5 (OT) 17-0 157 Rob Dempsey major dec. Zach Weisberg (Duke), 15-3 17-4 165 Steve Smith (Duke) major dec. Jon Denk, 11-3 21-4 174 Levi Craig (Duke) dec. Mark Himes, 4-0 24-4 184 Frank Cornely (Duke) pinned Jared Ricotta, 2:11 30-4 197 Konrad Dudziak (Duke) major dec. Tim Frank, 12-3 34-4 HWT Marc Allemang dec. Venroy July (Duke), 7-3 34-7
Duquesne 42, Campbell 3 165 Jon Denk (D) pinned Casey Galligan, 1:35 6-0 174 Mark Himes (D) major dec. Brian Hocum, 11-2 10-0 184 Lantz Nixon dec. Jared Ricotta, 11-4 10-3 197 Tim Frank (D) dec. Willy Johnson, 6-1 13-3 HWT Marc Allemang (D) pinned Pruitt Rainey, 1:21 19-3 125 Jon Zappa (D) won by FORFEIT 25-3 133 Keith Pavlekovsky (D) pinned Caleb Lesnoff, 6:09 31-3 141 Bernie Lynch (D) dec. Elliot Berger, 10-5 34-3 149 Dan Pauley (D) dec. Billy Sheridan, 10-4 37-3 157 Rob Dempsey (D) tech. fall Broc Dickerson, 18-3 42-3
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