With the fresh optimism and hopes of a new season in tow, the wrestling team traveled to the Bloomsburg Invitational this Saturday and finished with mildly successful results.
Duke placed fifth out of eight teams with 88.5 points. Virginia Military Institute won the tournament, finishing with 133 points. The Blue Devils' standing was in the top tier, as after Duke the next school, Millersville, only had 55.5 points.
"We were in the thick of things," Blue Devil head coach Bill Harvey said. "I thought we had a good tournament. We found a lot out about ourselves."
Leading the way for Duke was the senior tandem of Dan Covatta and Jacob Hart. Covatta won the 145-pound class with four straight wins. Included in the results was a pin of Mark Samson from Franklin & Marshall in 2:45 and a 7-4 decision over Jarrod Fitzpatrick from VMI in the championship.
"They were pretty convincing wins," Harvey said. "We were really impressed with his performance."
In the 170-pound class, Hart won three straight matches and the title. He pinned Mike Stankina in the semifinals in 5:38 before dominating Eric Jones from VMI in the finals with an 11-2 decision.
"[Hart] did a nice job," Harvey said. "We were pleased with his performance."
In addition to the two seniors, four other Blue Devils placed in the tournament. Junior Chris Heckel finished third in the 150-pound class, losing to the 16th-ranked wrestler in the nation in the semifinals while Dion Santo, also a junior, placed sixth in 193-pounds, losing to Joe Fazio in a 7-5 decision.
Perhaps the greatest reason for optimism among the Blue Devils came from two of the freshmen.
Conway Harris rolled all the way through the 153-pound class to the finals, where he lost a 13-7 decision to John Stutzman. Along the way, Harris beat Jason Foresman of VMI, who is ranked 15th nationwide.
Alex Hunt, meanwhile, finished fifth in the heavyweight class. Hunt's mere presence adds strength to Duke's roster, as the Blue Devils went the entire 1995-96 season without a heavyweight wrestler.
"[Hunt] is young but he's real aggressive," Harvey said. "We didn't have a heavyweight last year but he's going to do a good job for us.
"We think a lot of these young kids. Even though they didn't win, they are going to be very good."
The Blue Devils' one weak spot, in the 180-pound class, was not due to performance but injury. Junior Jesse Raia had a flare-up of an elbow injury and defaulted both of his matches. His status is uncertain.
Duke returns to Pennsylvania for the Kutztown Invitational on Saturday.
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