Duke Falls to The Citadel in Dual Match Opener

Tuesday, January 11

Durham, N.C.

6:00 p.m.

Duke University

Citadel

Duke Falls to The Citadel in Dual Match Opener

1/11/2011 8:19:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.--The Duke University wrestling team opened its dual match season this evening with a tough setback to The Citadel in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils fell to the Bulldogs 31-9 with the three match wins coming from underclassmen.

Duke (0-1) dropped the first seven matches before coming back to win three of the final four contests in the match. The Blue Devils earned wins at 174 and 197 pounds and at heavyweight. The trio of victories came from two freshmen and a sophomore.

"This was a tough match, but I'm really proud of the way the guys fought," head coach Clar Anderson said. "[Bret] Klopp got a great win over a ranked opponent tonight and I thought Brian Self and [Andrew] Fulk also wrestled really well and smart to get their first dual match wins of the season."

Arguably the best win of the day was from redshirt freshman Bret Klopp at 174 pounds. The native of Lander, Wyo. captured his 20th win of the year with a 10-4 victory over No. 32 J.C. Oddo. Falling behind 2-0 in the opening minute, Klopp rallied to tie it and nearly pinned Oddo before time expired. He earned three near fall points in the final second to go ahead 5-2 after the first. Klopp picked up four more points with a reversal in the second and third and garnered one more point for riding time to improve to 20-6 overall.

Rookie Brian Self turned in an outstanding defensive effort at 197 pounds and scratched out a 2-1 decision over Kelby Smith. After a scoreless first period, Self grabbed a point for an escape and then added one more point after an unnecessary roughness call against Smith. The native of Oklahoma City stayed strong in the final two minutes, allowing just one escape to come away with the one-point decision.

The final win of the evening was from Andrew Fulk at heavyweight. Fulk used a big third period to seal the win as he picked up his fourth victory of the year and handed Luke Johnson his 12th. Holding a narrow 4-2 lead after five minutes of wrestling, Fulk went on the offensive in the third period. He picked up two takedowns and an escape to go ahead by five points and cruise to the 10-4 decision.

Duke returns to the mats on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at Davidson. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Live video and live statistics are available with links at www.GoDuke.com.

125	Richard Alarcon (CIT), W, Forfeit	0-6
133	Tyler Sim (CIT) pinned Nick Adamo (DU), 2:54	0-12
141	Jordan Dix (CIT) dec. Mike Bell (DU), 12-9	0-15
149	Derek Royster (CIT) dec. A.J. Guardado (DU), 8-3	0-18
157	Pierre Frazile (CIT) dec. Chris Mullen (DU), 11-5	0-21
164	Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (CIT) major dec. Willy Mello (DU), 12-4	0-25
174	Bret Klopp (DU) dec. No. 32 J.C. Oddo (CIT), 10-4	3-25
184	Justin Sparrow (CIT) pinned Diego Bencomo (DU), 1:49	3-31
197	Brian Self (DU) dec. Kelby Smith (CIT), 2-1	6-31
HWT	Andrew Fulk (DU) dec. Luke Johnson, 10-4	9-31