Hartmann Makes History; Secures 3rd All-America Award

Friday, March 18

New York, N.Y.

All Day

Duke University

NCAA Championships

Hartmann Makes History; Secures 3rd All-America Award

3/18/2016 11:04:00 PM | Wrestling

Brackets Session IV Brackets

By: Duke Sports Information

NEW YORK – Duke University redshirt senior Conner Hartmann made history Friday night at the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships, becoming the first Blue Devil in program history to earn three All-America honors. Hartmann will wrestle in the seventh-place match Saturday starting at 11 a.m.

Hartmann, facing unseeded Ryan Wolfe of Rider, used a stellar third period to come away with the 7-0 decision. Scoreless after two periods despite quality shots from both wrestlers, Hartmann was the first on the scoreboard with an escape to start the period. Wolfe turned in a couple quality shots, but Hartmann was able to come out the backend for the takedown that made it 3-0. Hartmann quickly turned Wolfe and nearly got the pin as time ran out and resulted in just the four nearfall points for the 7-0 win.

The victory over Wolfe clinched a spot on the podium for Hartmann and set him up for a rematch against Virginia Tech's Jared Haught.

Undefeated against Haught in his career, Hartmann couldn't find a way to score on Haught. The Hokie 197-pounder scored a takedown in the first period and never let Duke's three-time All-American finish a shot en route to the 5-2 victory over No. 5 Hartmann. He will wrestle Patrick Downey of Iowa State for seventh place Saturday. Hartmann needs one more win to join the 30-win club at Duke.

Mitch Finesilver joined Hartmann in the Friday evening wrestling, marking the first time Duke has had two wrestlers advance to that point in the championships.

Finesilver, seeded 14th at 149 pounds and up against No. 9 seed Justin Oliver of Michigan, saw his season come to an end in a narrow 6-5 decision.

Oliver scored a pair of takedowns in the first period to take a 4-2 lead into the second session. Finesilver, in the top position, rode out the enter two-minute stanza and then added an escape 30 seconds into the third period to pull within one point, 4-3.

The sophomore tried to score, but it was Oliver with the successful shot for the 6-3 lead before Finesilver escaped to make it 6-4. Finesilver attacked with fury in the final 30 seconds, resulting in a stalling penalty to Oliver, but ultimately came up short in the setback.

Finesilver finishes his season with a 31-9 overall, becoming just the 12th Blue Devil to reach 30 wins in a season. His 31 wins are tied for eighth in Duke single-season history.

Duke is in35th place with nine points heading into the final day of competition.

#GoDuke