Quartet of Champions

The wrestling team had not had one individual ACC champion since 1998. This year Duke had four.

Christian Smith (125 pounds), Adam Benitez (133), Levi Craig (174) and Frank Cornely (184) can each say they are the best in the conference in his weight class. The four champions led the Blue Devils to a third-place team finish behind champion N.C. State and runner-up Virginia.

"I am very pleased for the individual champions," head coach Clar Anderson said. "I know we haven't had a champion since 1998, so to have four in one year was a phenomenal accomplishment."

Smith, Benitez and Craig were all No. 1 seeds in their respective weight classes and dispatched every challenger they faced.

"That was a very impressive win in the finals," Anderson said. "Pinning [Hartrum] definitely got all the other coaches' attention where they were commenting on how tough he is. I think he should have won Most Outstanding Wrestler."

Benitez went into the tournament having won 11 straight, and simply continued his winning ways. He defeated the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, proving beyond a doubt that he is the best in the ACC.

N.C. State's Dan Pacitti took him to overtime in the finals but Benitez bested him 6-2.

"Adam definitely beat the toughest kids in the tournament," Anderson said. "He probably had the toughest path to the championship, and he beat them all pretty solidly."

Craig, Duke's final No. 1 seed, won close matches in his semifinal and final to take the crown. He beat fourth-seeded Rick Brownlee 3-0 in the semifinals before winning 3-1 in the finals against Virginia's Michael Grogan.

"Levi just went in and did what he was supposed to do," Anderson said. "He won the matches where he had beaten the guy earlier in the year."

In the 184 pound final, Cornely became the first non-No. 1 seed to win a championship. Unfazed against North Carolina's Mark Canty, a two-time defending ACC champion and an opponent who had beaten him 4-2 earlier in the year, Cornely won a tightly-contested battle 7-6.

"Frank did an outstanding job in the finals," Anderson said. "He just had the confidence going in there. We had scouted [Canty] and looked at the tapes, and Frank knew he could beat him and told us he was going to win."

Though it was a landmark accomplishment to have four individual champions, the third-place team finish was a bit of a disappointment for a team that finished tied for first place in the ACC regular season.

"We'd of loved to have won he tournament," Anderson said. "We weren't able to match the depth of the other schools."

Part of the reason for the lack of depth was an injury to 165-pounder Michael Mitchell, a senior captain and one of the conference's top wrestlers. He would have contended for a championship but was hindered by torn cartilage in his ribs. He lost in his first match to the wrestler who ended up taking second, and then lost in the consolation bracket to a wrestler he had beaten soundly earlier in the year.

"His rib was very tender," Anderson said. "He was under incredible pain and basically couldn't compete, could barely breathe after his first match. It was really a tragedy. Without that injury he would have qualified for nationals."

Three other wrestlers did place for the Blue Devils. Daniel Shvartsman took third at 141, beating last year's ACC runner-up in overtime after tying the match with a takedown in the last few seconds of regulation. Seniors Tim Marcantonio and Andy Soliman both finished fourth.

"It's a tough tournament and they should be satisfied," Anderson said. "We were incredibly pleased putting four athletes in the finals. It's a pretty amazing accomplishment for those guys."