Wrestling falls to Citadel, 31-16
The wrestling team (3-3) lost a tough match against The Citadel (6-2) on Saturday, falling 31-16 to the Bulldogs. The loss dropped Duke to .500 for the first time this season.
The Blue Devils took the first lead of the match when 125-pounder Christian Smith defeated The Citadel's Brad Ragain 11-1. Smith's major decision gave Duke a 4-0 lead.
But the Bulldogs quickly took control with back-to-back pins by two ranked wrestlers. At 133 pounds, Sean Markey, No. 16 in the country, pinned Bryan Gibson in 1:29. In the next bout, 141-pounder Levi Duyn, No. 19 in the country, pinned Daniel Schvartsman in 3:51. The Citadel followed up with a major decision at 149 and a decision to take a 19-4 lead with just five matches left.
Michael Mitchell defeated Mike Martinez 10-5 in the 165-pound match to bring the Blue Devils within 12 at 19-7.
But The Citadel came back strong again, as Keith Clifton pinned Duke's Levi Craig at 2:20 to stretch the Bulldog's lead to 25-7.
The Blue Devils would need to pin in each of the last three matches to come away with a tie, and Frank Cornely gave them one at 184-pounds. Duke's Tim Marcantonio won his match at 197 but didn't record a pin, defeating Jordan Everett 14-8. At heavyweight, the final bout of the night The Citadel's Billy Linane pinned Duke's Roy Williams in 46 seconds to give the Bulldogs the 31-16 victory.
The loss was the second in a row and third in four matches for the young Duke team. Duke's ten-man lineup includes three freshmen and only two seniors, so the Blue Devils are looking to gain experience and improve by the end of the season.
Duke's next matches come against Davidson and Tennessee-Chattanooga this Saturday.
--Matt Becker
Men's fencing goes 3-2, with lone losses coming to
top-five powers Penn State and St. John's
The fencing squad kicked off their season with mixed results at Penn State on Saturday.
On the men's side, the team secured victories against the University of Pennsylvania, Haverford College, and North Carolina. The unranked Duke squad lost to fourth-ranked St. John's and No. 3 Penn State.
Even against the highly-ranked opponents, the men showed strength with their epee squad of Sam Doran, Nic Testerman and Nathan Bragg, which won seven of its nine bouts.
Testerman led the team last year with 39 wins and five loses, and is ranked 19th in junior men's epee in the nation in 2004.
The women's fencers had reversed results, finishing 2-3. Their wins came against Hunter College and UNC. The squad lost to No. 3 Penn State, No. 7 St. John's, and Pennsylvania.
In the 15-12 decision against St. John's, the foil proved to be the difference. Duke's epee beat St. John's squad 7-2, with help from freshman star Anne Kercsmar, while St. John's evened up the match with a 7-2 finish in saber. St. John's secured its win with a 6-3 decision in the foil.
As head coach Alex Beguinet said when the team started training this fall, the youth of the women's foil this season will be a struggle for the team. In Saturday's match, the womens foil was defeated 9-0 by both Penn State and Pennsylvania.
"The foil [squad] is going to be weak," Beguinet said. "The team lost two powerful seniors, Erin Black and Ashley Cockburn, last year."
Duke will face perennial powerhouse Notre Dame when they travel to South Bend, Ind., January 31.
--Chrissie Gorman
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