Duke Drops Hard-Fought Battle to No. 9 Hokies, 22-15

Saturday, February 14

Blacksburg, Va.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Drops Hard-Fought Battle to No. 9 Hokies, 22-15

2/14/2015 9:42:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Duke Sports Information

BLACKSBURG, Va. –Duke true freshman Mitch Finesilver captured his first career victory over a ranked opponent to highlight a hard-fought 22-15 loss by the Blue Devils to No. 9 Virginia Tech in ACC wrestling this evening at Cassell Coliseum. Duke captured four wins on the night.

Duke falls to its second straight top 25 opponent to move to 10-6 overall and 1-4 against ACC foes, while Virginia Tech wrapped the conference's dual regular season title with a 5-0 record.

Finesilver, with Duke trailing 5-0 in the dual, wrestled a great seven-minute match to upset No. 17 Kevin Norstrem 12-6 at 133 pounds. Sporting a 4-1 record in his previous five matches, Finesilver was tied with Norstrem 6-6 after the opening period. The Greenwood Village, Colo., native was outstanding in the top position in the second period as he added riding time and got a penalty point for a 7-6 lead and nearly 90 seconds of riding time heading into the final period.

The rookie quickly escaped in the third for an 8-6 lead and remained on the offensive en route to the 12-6 triumph. The win was Finesilver's eighth of the year since joining the starting lineup a month ago.

At 141 pounds, Evan Botwin wrestled hard against No. 3 Devin Carter in a 12-5 setback that pushed the Hokies' lead to 8-3 after three bouts.

Marcus Cain quickly put Duke on the board again with a commanding 6-1 decision over Brent Waterman at 149 pounds. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native scored a takedown and rode well throughout the match to earn his 16th win of the year and improve to 3-2 in ACC duals.

The Hokies picked up three straight wins before sophomore Jacob Kasper earned a win by injury default at 184 to make the score 19-12 with two bouts remaining.

Virginia Tech's win at 165 pounds was not without controversy with a series of reviews by the referee in the final 15 seconds. Brian Dorsey, looking like he had lost, was awarded a takedown after a video review to tie the match with 13 seconds. After a clock malfunction to start the final 13 seconds, Chad Strube got a second chance to escape and managed to get out with less than a second remaining for the 5-4 victory.

Seventh-ranked Conner Hartmann, the top-rated wrestler in the ACC, completed his sweep of his conference foes with a 7-4 decision over Jared Haught. Hartmann's 16th win of the year pulled the Blue Devils within four heading into the final match of the evening.

At heavyweight, eighth-ranked Ty Walz iced the regular season title for the Hokies with a 5-2 decision at heavyweight over Brendan Walsh.

After wrestling seven matches in 16 days the Blue Devils take a short break before heading north to wrestle Big Ten opponents Michigan State and Michigan. The duals are set for Feb. 20 and Feb. 21, respectively.

125 – No. 4 Joey Dance (VT) tech fall Thayer Atkins (Duke), 22-7; VT 5, Duke 0

133 – Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec. No. 17 Kevin Norstrem (VT), 12-6; VT 5, Duke 3

141 – No. 3 Devin Carter (VT) dec. Evan Botwin (Duke), 12-5; VT 8, Duke 3

149 – Marcus Cain (Duke) dec. Brent Waterman (VT), 6-1 ; VT 8, Duke 6

157 – No. 5 Nick Brascetta (VT) dec. Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke), 6-3; VT 11, Duke 6

165 – Chad Strube (VT) dec. Brian Dorsey (Duke), 5-4; VT 14, Duke 6

174 – No. 7 Zach Epperly (VT) tech fall Randy Roden (Duke), 17-2; VT 19, Duke 6

184 – Jacob Kasper wins by medical forfeit over Austin Gabel (VT); VT 19, Duke 12

197 – No. 7 Conner Hartmann (Duke) dec. Jared Haught (VT), 7-4; VT 19, Duke 15

285 – No. 8 Ty Walz (VT) dec. Brendan Walsh (Duke), 5-2; VT 22, Duke 15

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