In its toughest test of the still-young season, the wrestling team finished in seventh place out of nine teams at the Keystone Classic at the University of Pennsylvania. With three of their top starters missing, the Blue Devils had strong individual performances but suffered as a team from the absences.
"Having those three guys would have put us right in the hunt of things," head coach Clar Anderson said.
Frank Cornely, the defending ACC champion at 184 pounds, is currently at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and will not return to the team until December. Christian Smith was the No. 1 seed at the 125-pound weight class but hurt his shoulder while leading in the second period of his first match and was unable to continue. He is scheduled to see a doctor about the injury today.
"We are obviously hoping it isn't serious, but he was in a lot of pain," Anderson said. "It is really too bad because he would have done very well."
Steve Smith, a 165-pounder, was the third Blue Devil who sat out. Smith injured his knee at last week's Pembroke Open, where he had to forfeit in the finals and finished second.
"The injury isn't very serious, but it was still a little sore," Anderson said. "Since we now have three or four weeks before our next competition, we felt it would be best for him to rest."
Still, in a tournament field that included No. 20 Pennsylvania and No. 23 Rider, Duke showed promise in several weight classes. Bryan Gibson and Wes Kuser finished third and fourth, respectively, at 133 pounds. Kuser defeated Gibson 8-7 in a wrestle-off two weeks ago, but Gibson bested Kuser this time, winning 10-9. The two will battle all season for the starting spot at 133, but they are not backing down from the competition.
"We keep making each other perform and we keep each other at our best," Gibson said. "If that competition wasn't there, we might not be working as hard. Right now we know that if we don't work hard, the other guy is right there to take the spot."
Senior Levi Craig at 174 pounds and Junior Mark Thompson at 197 finished fourth in their respective weight classes. Although the finish was impressive for both wrestlers, each was frustrated with the result. Craig lost twice to Pennsylvania's Dustin Wiles, a wrestler whom Craig beat last season. Thompson was competitive in each of his losses, but both times his opponent caught him in a move and won by pin. Thompson has not wrestled competitively in three years because of a red-shirt season, an injury and a season during which he played football.
"He was frustrated with his losses," Anderson said of Thompson. "To come out after a long time away and compete like he has is very impressive. We are real pleased with his progress and I think he will continue to improve."
None of Duke's other wrestlers placed in the top six in his weight class.
Anderson was pleased with the individual performances but stressed the mental impact of having three of the team's top wrestlers out of the tournament.
"Missing three of our stronger competitors may have taken away confidence from the rest of the team," Anderson said. "We lost a lot of close matches and I think our confidence level was a big factor in some of those. There were a lot of strong teams and nationally ranked wrestlers, and I think we gave some guys a little too much respect which may have played a role in pulling out close matches."
Anderson was optimistic that the tournament experience would help his team in the long run.
"Hopefully being in so many close matches lets our guys know that we can compete at a high level," Anderson said. "The ACC Tournament is basically what we're training for so exposing these guys to nationally ranked wrestlers was my goal."
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