RALEIGH - Coach Clar Anderson made his first trip as head wrestling coach to Reynolds Coliseum last night to try to repeat history.
Two years ago, the Blue Devils trounced the Wolfpack 26-15 in Raleigh on the shoulders of then-sophomore Matt Mapes.
Unfortunately, history did not repeat itself as N.C. State (9-7) defeated Duke (6-10) 27-9.
In fact, the only winners for Duke were 197-pound freshman Daegan Smith and the seemingly unstoppable Mapes, who improved his record to 12-2 by pinning the Wolfpack's Kyle Guffey in the 165-lb. weight class.
Smith emerged with the win in the most exciting match of the contest after initially being in a situation unfamiliar to him lately, a near fall. Wolfpack sophomore James Vanni almost pinned the Washington, D.C. native early, scoring three points and taking the lead, 5-4. Smith turned on the gas late in the third period to score a takedown with 15 seconds left.
His win turned out to be the Blue Devils' last of the meet.
"We had a disappointing loss," Anderson said. "There was a possibility of an upset when we put our best [wrestlers] against theirs. They beat us in close matches."
In the end, N.C. State's best wrestlers topped Duke's offering. The Wolfpack's arsenal included Tommy Davis, who was ranked No. 15 in the nation this week by InterMat. Davis brought a five-match winning streak into his match with consistent winner Jason Gorski and beat the Duke freshman 7-4.
In addition to Davis, 174-lb. sophomore Kevin Boross, the current ACC Wrestler of the Week, downed Blue Devil freshman Tom Cass in a major decision .
"[N.C. State] just beat UNC," said Anderson, commenting on the Wolfpack's effort. "They struggled in the beginning of the year, but they have come on strong."
Duke will have to come on stronger to make its impression at the ACC Tournament next weekend.
There Mapes could possibly make history, repeating his ACC Championship performance from last year at the ACCs in Charlottesville.
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