Duke Opens 2019 at Southern Scuffle

Southern Scuffle Information | FloWrestling Live Video | FloWrestling Live Brackets

DURHAM, N.C.—The Duke wrestling team after nearly a month off from competitive action will hit the mats again to open 2019 at the Southern Scuffle presented by Compound Sportswear Jan. 1-2. The prestigious tournament will take place at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

About the 2019 Southern Scuffle

The 2019 Southern Scuffle presented by Compound Sportswear is considered one of the top collegiate touarnaments in the country. The field this year features eight teams that finished in the top 25 of last year's NCAA Championships and 25 teams overall. All totaled, there are 19 All-Americans, four NCAA Champions, 50 currently ranked in the top-20 and 25 ranked in the top 10. Wrestling begins with the pigtail round Jan. 1 at 10 a.m. ET. Tickets are available in single and two-day passes. The full pricing list is below.

Two-Day Pass

Padded Reserved - $75
Lower Reserved - $65
General Admission - $35

Single-Day Pass

Padded Reserved - $40
Lower Reserved - $35
General Admission - $20

How to Follow the Action

Every match will be streamed by FloWrestling with the purchase of a subscription. Live brackets also will be available free of charge on FloArena.

Schenk Back in a Duke Singlet

Redshirt senior Alec Schenk returns to the mats for the Blue Devils after taking the first portion of the season off. The captain, while battling a couple of injuries, wrestled unattached in both the Hokie Open and Cleveland State Open. Competing at 197 pounds, Schenk is poised to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships after showing steady improvement over the course of his career. He enters the last portion of his career with a 34-39 overall record and is coming off of a career-best 20-17 season in 2017-18.

Finesilver Trio Among Pre-Seeds

Mitch Finesilver headlines the 149-pound bracket as the No. 1 seed. He is 2-0 against the remaining seven seeds. At 174 pounds Matt Finesilver is fifth and Zach Finesilver is seventh at 165 pounds. This will be the most action for Zach this season as he returns from an offseason injury. Matt is 10-3 this season with all three of his setbacks coming against top 20 opponents.

Cleveland State Open Results

A few Blue Devils traveled to compete unattached at the Cleveland State Open prior to final exams. Zach Finesilver and Alec Schenk both came away with podium finishes. Finesilver won the tournament in dominating fashion, pinning Cleveland State's Georgio Poulias in the title match. Overall, Finesilver garnered bonus points in four of his five bouts. Schenk took home runner-up honors, falling to Michigan's Andrew Davison in the final.

Blue Devils in the Rankings

Mitch Finesilver headlines the Blue Devils at No. 6 in the latest InterMat rankings. Wrestling at 149, Mitch bumped up one spot from the previous week's poll. He is 13-2 overall on the year. Matt Finesilver is 19th at 174 pounds with a 10-3 overall record.

Recapping 2018 Southern Scuffle

Duke finished a program-best fifth place last year, scoring 80 points. Jacob Kasper captured his second consecutive Southern Scuffle heavyweight title, while Mitch Finesilver was the runner-up at 157 pounds. Luke Farinaro made his was to seventh at 197 pounds and Matt Finesilver was eighth at 174. Mitch and Matt look to return to the podium while Zach Finesilver aims to make his debut in the top eight after going 3-2 in 2018.

Dual Schedule Nearing

Duke's busy 2019 dual schedule begins Jan. 6 against Penn. The Blue Devils host the Quakers in Card Gym at 2 p.m. It will be the lone home match of the year hosted in Card Gym with the remaining four being held in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke debuts in Cameron Jan. 12 against Brown at 7 p.m.

#GoDuke