The University of North Carolina wrestling team is getting younger.
Unfortunately for Duke, and the rest of the ACC for that matter, it's only getting better. The Tar Heels came into Cameron Indoor Stadium last night led by three nationally ranked wrestlers, all of whom are sophomores, and beat Duke for the 28th consecutive year. UNC, who upped its record to 7-3 overall, 3-1 in the ACC, did not even wrestle its returning All-American Chris Rodrigues, ranked No. 13 in the country, en route to a 29-9 win over the Blue Devils (6-7, 0-1).
Rodrigues, who wrestled Monday night in an all-star meet in Delaware, had a slightly injured knee, and veteran Tar Heel coach Bill Lam, who is in his 30th season in Chapel Hill, opted to hold him out against the Blue Devils' Tommy Hoang.
"If [the match] got tight, if he had to wrestle, he would've," Lam said. "I would've liked to have him wrestle. It's going to hurt us in seeding [for the conference tournament]."
Freshman 141-pounder Brian Baglio led off for the Tar Heels, escaping with a well-fought 3-1 win over Duke junior Adam Benitez, giving UNC an early 3-0 advantage. Baglio, a blue-chip recruit for Carolina, fought off several deep shots by Benitez in the first period to keep the score tied at zero. After escaping to start the second period, Baglio countered a Benitez shot for a takedown and a three-point lead.
Redshirt senior Chris DiGiuseppe followed with a very physical first period against Duke freshman Brandon Foose. DiGiuseppe took Foose down only 20 seconds into the match and almost immediately took the freshman to his back with a power-half and gut-wrench for three near-fall points. However, Foose kept his composure and only let up another set of backpoints at the beginning of the third period in desperation. DiGiuseppe's 10-2 major decision gave UNC a 7-0 lead.
After Duke senior Ben Balmages dropped a 9-6 decision to redshirt sophomore Nick Royer at 157-pounds, the Blue Devils looked at a 10-0 deficit, but had a good opportunity to score points in two of the next three weight classes with returning national qualifiers at both 165- and 184-pounds.
Junior Michael Mitchell looked to rebound after a disappointing loss last week against the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, but was taken down early by UNC's Jimmy O'Connor at 165-pounds. With a 2-0 lead to begin the second period, O'Connor gave up an escape to Mitchell but subsequently took him down again for a 5-2 advantage heading into the final frame. Mitchell managed a takedown halfway through the period to cut O'Connor's lead to 6-4, but after giving up an escape for another attempt at a takedown, was taken down himself trying for a five-point move and lost 8-3.
Junior Tim Marcantonio gave the Blue Devils an emotional boost at 174-pounds with an early takedown against the Tar Heels' Mark Canty, a national qualifier. Canty, however, escaped and scored another five points in the first period with a takedown and a bulldog-ride near-fall for a 6-2 advantage. Down 9-3 to begin the third, Marcantonio almost gave Duke six points when he unleashed a ferocious headlock on Canty near the edge of the mat. The Tar Heel let out a yelp as he was taken down, but his shoulders were out of the circle so Marcantonio could not accumulate any back points. Canty wound up escaping with a 12-8 decision and gave UNC a 16-0 advantage.
Duke finally got on the scoreboard when Tom Cass beat No. 20 Dusty Heist at 184-pounds, by a 7-3 count.
"That was a big, big win for Tom Cass," Duke coach Clar Anderson said. "[Heist] is nationally ranked and has placed in a lot of tournaments. Tom did a great job."
Cass hit a beautiful duck-under just over a minute into the match and added backpoints. Heist escaped, but Cass took him down again with an elbow shuck for a 7-1 advantage early in the match. Cass, who is seldom taken down, wrestled very defensively for the final two periods, but held on for a 7-3 win. The win was Cass' 11th in a row and the senior is now 16-6.
After Carolina freshman David Dashiell, a No.1 recruit from last year, scored a major decision over Duke's Andrew Herbert at 197-pounds, the teams traded forfeits before Duke senior Andy Soliman lost a well fought 11-5 decision to UNC sophomore Evan Sola, ranked 18th in the country.
"Soliman wrestled well against Sola. He couldn't get out on bottom and that's where Sola's strengths' lie," Anderson said. "I was pleased with our fight tonight. It's a shame that where we were strong, they were strong."
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