Coach Clar Anderson and the wrestling team knew they needed to take six matches on Friday night to win against Maryland.
The frustrating part was that they won the six matches needed, but the Blue Devils still came up short against the Terrapins, 20-19.
The deciding match for the Blue Devils (5-9, 0-3 in the ACC) came in the 157-pound weight class, when sophomore Deuce Harris wrestled Terrapin Jake Stork with the team score tied at 13. Stork made a quick move in the opening moments of the match and pinned Harris in four seconds, putting Maryland (5-3, 2-1) ahead 20-13, a deficit the Blue Devils could not overcome.
Stork's upset was particularly damaging for Duke because a pin is worth seven points while a win decided by point score is only worth three.
"In wrestling you can't afford to give up pins," Anderson said. "It was disappointing that Deuce Harris got caught in a cradle and was pinned."
Up until that match, the momentum seemed to be swinging Duke's way, as freshman Daegan Smith decimated his opponent, 18-9, and heavyweight Alex Hunt recorded a win in double overtime that pumped the crowd's enthusiasm.
For the Blue Devils, though, the most important win came from sophomore Sean Meakim, who scored a major upset against Maryland's Brandon York in the 133-lb. weight class.
"We felt we should have won," Anderson said. "When Meakim won we thought we had won. But that's why we wrestle the matches, to see how they come out."
After Harris' loss, senior captain Matt Mapes and freshman Tom Cass represented Duke's last hopes. They both recorded wins, but their combined effort only brought the Blue Devils agonizingly close to their first win over Maryland since Anderson joined the coaching staff.
"I don't remember the last time we beat them," Anderson said. "This year we thought it was our best chance."
Picking up the sixth win for Duke was freshman Jason Gorski, who defeated Terrapin Bryan Robinowitz, 4-0, in-between losses by Brijal Padia and Bill West. Wrestling out of position, Padia was pinned in 2:07 and West dropped his match, 18-1.
Due to injuries, Padia and West are the starters at the 125- and 149-lb. weight classes, respectively, and the Blue Devils will have to protect them in the lineup to win their last ACC match against N.C. State.
"We should have won," Mapes said of the meet with Maryland. "It was a very disappointing loss. We want to close out the season with an ACC win."
The Blue Devils will face Gardner-Webb on Friday night at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium before traveling to Raleigh to face the Wolfpack Feb. 23.
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