After competing extremely well in early-bird and unattached open tournaments for the past three weeks, the Duke wrestling team finally got a taste of dual-meet action on the road this past weekend.
"There's a lot more pressure on the individual in dual meets than in unattached tournaments," said 174-pound freshman Frank Cornely, who went 2-1 over the weekend. "What you do affects the team result."
Using a lineup that featured three freshmen, the Blue Devils (1-2) fell to James Madison (1-1) Friday in Virginia before beating Bucknell (1-3) and losing to Drexel (2-1), Saturday in Philadelphia.
The Blue Devils traveled to Harrisonburg Friday, hoping that their success in tournaments would translate to more dual-meet victories. Despite wins in the lower weights and upper-middleweights, the James Madison Dukes prevailed 26-16.
Saturday, however, started out a bit differently however. After Drexel handed Bucknell a 33-9 defeat in the tri-meet's first match, the Blue Devils sent the Bison home winless with a 23-17 victory. Junior Harry Clarke, in the 149-pound class, back from an early-season concussion, got the match rolling in the first bout for the Blue Devils, winning by an 8-7 decision. Freshman Josh Sheridan followed suit with a 13-5 major decision to put Duke up 7-0. Coach Clar Anderson was impressed with his freshmen's showing.
"I was really pleased with the freshmen," Anderson said. "Josh Sheridan looked good that match and Frank Cornely looked really good against Drexel. The freshmen did a good job for us on the entire road trip. I expect great things from them."
Bucknell, however, tied the match with victories in the 165- and 174-pound classes before junior Tom Cass put Duke up for good with a fall in 55 seconds, his second pin of the season. Freshman Levi Karnehm (heavyweight) took a forfeit and junior Luke Palmisano (133) scored a major decision as the Blue Devils evened their dual meet record to 1-1.
In the finale, Drexel took an early 9-0 lead with a technical fall and major decision in the 157- and 165-pound classes respectively. The Blue Devils, however, would come back to close the score to 9-6 with victories in the next two weight classes. Cornely put Duke on the scoreboard with a 7-4 decision over the Dragons' Dan Kennett and Cass then became the only Blue Devil wrestler to remain perfect on the day when he scored a 10-6 decision over Pat Miller to score the last of Duke's points. The Dragons would go on to win the next six weight classes to bring the final score to 33-6.
After a rough weekend, the team has over a full month off to recuperate until it competes in the Millersville Invitational Jan. 6.
"We still have some guys out of the lineup," Cornely said. "We just need to take that extra step in practice."
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