At two different times last night, the wrestling team looked like it was about to wrap up an upset of UNC-Greensboro in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Both times, however, the Spartans responded and squeaked ahead.
UNC-Greensboro (8-2) rallied from 15-4 and 18-5 deficits to defeat Duke (5-6) 24-18 in dramatic fashion. Mike Hawkes preserved the win at 133 pounds with a 5-4 decision over the Blue Devils' Sean Meakim.
"It's a frustrating loss," Duke coach Clar Anderson said. "If Sean had pulled that last one out we'd have won on criteria. [Greensboro's] got a good team."
The Spartans didn't look too good after Duke took three of the first four matches and raced out to a 15-4 lead. Deuce Harris and Matt Mapes both dominated their bouts, but the biggest boost came from Jason Gorski, who started things off at 141.
The freshman was tied at four apiece as time ran out against Corey Williams until Gorski managed to grab Williams and pin him with just 12 seconds left, earning Duke a quick six points.
"He's tough," Anderson said. "He's won a lot of matches like that for us, and you can't count him out."
Anderson couldn't count UNC-G out either. The Spartans tied the match at 15 with three wins heading into the heavyweight bout between Duke's Alex Hunt and Cedric Moore.
Moore scored the only point of the first two periods, but Hunt tied the match with an escape 13 seconds into the third. He then earned the Blue Devils three points on a takedown with just 15 seconds left.
"It's getting tough to wrestle because a lot of the guys are banged up," said Hunt of his teammates, many of whom are still battling the flu. "This is the closest we've ever come to beating [Greensboro]. We've got a young team and we're getting better and better, so hopefully next year we'll beat them."
Hunt's match was the last time Duke scored any points. Greensboro pulled ahead at 125, as Kevin Bradley pinned the Blue Devils' Brijal Padia at 0:16 of the third period.
Down 21-18, Meakim almost stole the match back for Duke. But tied after two periods at three, the Spartans' Hawkes scored a takedown in the third and held on for a 5-4 win to close out Duke.
"I'm incredibly disappointed because I felt they snatched it from us," Anderson said. "I wish we could face them again, but we'll have to wait another year."
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