Wrestling gains valuable experience at Sheridan

Losing can be a learning experience and, for the wrestling team, its weekend at the Sheridan Invitational fit the bill.

The Invitational featured 26 ranked wrestlers and powerhouses from all over the country. Duke placed 15th in the tournament. The surprise overall victory went to Rider College, who beat out favorites Oregon State, Lehigh and Oklahoma.

"It was high caliber," Blue Devil coach Bill Harvey said. "We expected that. We had hoped to do better than we did but we go to these early tournaments to learn about ourself."

Leading the way for Duke was the senior duo of Chris Heckel and Dan Covatta. Both wrestlers fared well, but both were plagued with the same problem that affected many of the Blue Devils: the tournament's rules dropped first or second round losers into the consolation bracket.

This rule cost Covatta, who went 4-1 on the day, but placed only fifth. The 142-pounder lost his second round match 8-6 to a wrestler from Army and, despite sweeping his way to the consolation title, was not able to score as many points.

Heckel, meanwhile, made the semifinals of the consolation bracket but was unable to place. His highlight was a 5-3 decision over the 13th-ranked wrestler in the nation from Oklahoma. Heckel then advanced to the semifinals, where he was pinned in 51 seconds.

"There's no doubt in my mind that [Heckel's] going to get better," Harvey said.

The rest of Duke's squad met with some bad luck. Four of the Blue Devils' wrestlers faced top-ranked opponents in the first two rounds. Thus, in the early rounds, much of the team lost its chance to place.

"This tournament will only make us better," Harvey said.