It only seems right that in a tournament held at Godwin Hall, that a wrestler named Godwin wins. This was the case Sunday when junior Jeremy Godwin of the wrestling team captured the heavyweight class championship at the James Madison University Wrestling Invitational in Harrisonburg, Va.
Freshman Chris Heckel, in his first tournament as a collegian, also won at the 126-pound weight class title.
Duke, in its first tournament of the year, placed fourth in the tournament, with 53 1/4 points, 44 1/2 points behind Rutgers. James Madison and William & Mary also placed ahead of the Blue Devils in the seven-team tournament.
Though the team finished in the middle of the pack, Duke posted some impressive individual performances, particularly those by Godwin, and Heckel.
Godwin, after drawing a bye in the first round, wrestled two close bouts to win the championship. In the semifinal round against Delaware State's Donald Thomas, Godwin won in sudden-death overtime, and he later beat Shippensburg's Jamie Brumbaugh in the finals as the closing seconds of the match ticked away.
"I think the main thing I was pleased with was that I fought back and wrestled hard until the end," Godwin said. "In overtime, there was a lot of pressure on me to score. I think I am in a lot better shape this year than I was last year and that helped me get through it."
The most dominant performance by a Blue Devil was turned in by Heckel.
"All the matches were pretty convincing," Harvey said. "There were really no close situations that he had."
After a first-round bye, Heckel pinned Delaware State's Cameron Davis, defeated James Madison's Doug Derick 6-2 and later pinned Howard's Alfonzo Taylor in the finals.
"It was exciting," Heckel said. "I wish the team could have done a little bit better, but it was a good first experience and I hope I'll be able to keep it up."
Other Blue Devils who turned in strong performances were junior Drew Muzslay who lost in the finals of his weight class and sophomore Scott Frinzi and junior Danny Lilley who both finished third.
Harvey cited injuries to key wrestlers as the main factor in the team's fourth-place finish instead of a higher showing.
"We didn't have Danny Goffredo, he was hurt, so he didn't go." Harvey said. "We didn't have Jacob Hart, he was hurt, he didn't go, so we had some guys who we thought were point-getters who were not there. But, of course, you go to the race with the horses you've got and that's how it ended up."
Harvey was pleased with his team's effort but had hoped for more.
"I'm not disappointed in our performance, but, a lot of times you go into a tournament like this, saying, Hey, you know, we're going to win it," Harvey said. "And when you don't win it, you feel like you're coming away a little bit empty."
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