On Feb. 20, 1996, the N.C. State wrestling team, on its way to an Atlantic Coast Conference championship, shut out Duke, 36-0, leaving the Blue Devils winless in the ACC for the season.
What a difference a year makes.
Thursday night Duke traveled to Raleigh and defeated the Wolfpack, 26-15, for its first conference victory in over two years. The last ACC team the Blue Devils had beaten was Clemson, which no longer sports a wrestling program. The win pushed Duke over the .500 mark for the season, raising its record to 6-5 as it heads into the conference tournament in Raleigh on Mar. 8.
"The fact that we won an ACC meet obviously was pretty big for us," Blue Devils coach Bill Harvey said. "It's going to help us a lot for the ACC Tournament next week."
Leading the way for Duke was sophomore Matt Mapes, who, at 158 lbs., pinned N.C. State's Kevin Farmham in 2:17. The match was sweet revenge for Mapes, who lost last season to Farmham.
Also earning a pin for the Blue Devils was junior Dion Santo, who, in the 190-lb. match, needed only 1:40 to take care of N.C. State's Travis Withers.
Duke had two victories by major decisions, as junior Chris Heckel defeated the Wolfpack's Brad Bauer, 16-7, at 126 lbs. and Jacob Hart downed Dan Campanella, 9-1, at 167 lbs.
In the 142-lb. match, Blue Devils senior Dan Covatta took a 7-3 decision, using a streak of five straight points to pull away in a close contest. Freshman heavyweight Alex Hunt decisioned Troy Beadnell, 6-3, for Duke's final points.
"We had some outstanding performances," Harvey said. "Mapes and Santo both had pins, and Heckel was super, getting a major decision..... I think all our guys did jobs we can be proud of."
With the ACC Tournament just over a week away, Thursday's win was especially meaningful for Duke. It gave the Blue Devils momentum going into the competition and improved their position in the conference, on both the individual and team levels.
"Winning these matches made our seeding situation a lot better," Harvey said.
Heckel, undefeated at 126 lbs. in the conference, should get a No. 1 seed, the coach said. Covatta has just one loss at 142 lbs., which should be good for a second or third seed, while Mapes and Hart, at 158 and 167 lbs., respectively, should also earn high seeds.
"I think they have the best chance of doing something, they'll be our stronger entries," Harvey said. "But I think anyone could sneak in and win some matches."
As Duke prepares for the ACC Tournament, it will be able to savor an ACC victory, something it hasn't done in a while. But Harvey said he wasn't surprised by Tuesday's win, feeling that it was a long time in the making. The Blue Devils hope that they will reverse previous trends and that their next conference triumph will come sooner rather than later; before their win over Clemson in 1995, the Blue Devils had gone five years without a conference victory.
"I had felt we were getting closer and closer and finally we put a whole good match together," the coach said. "I think we're close to where we want to be."
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