On Senior Night in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils put together two dominating performances against overmatched Campbell and Duquesne Tuesday as they improved their record on the season to 8-4.
Duke’s four seniors—Frank Cornely, Andrew Herbert, Mark Thompson and Steve Smith—combined for a perfect 6-0 record as the Blue Devils shut out Campbell (2-15) in the first match, 50-0, and defeated Duquesne (8-7) by a score of 34-7 in the second.
“It’s always a tough time because these guys have been with me for four years and you see all the sacrifices and the work that they put in representing Duke University as a wrestler,” head coach Clar Anderson said of the team’s seniors.
At 184 pounds, defending ACC champion Cornely pinned Duquesne’s Jared Ricotta 2:11 into the first period. It was his second pin on the night, having earned one earlier against Campbell senior Lantz Nixon.
“I actually had a pretty close match with him last year,” Cornely said of Nixon. “He was their stud, the best kid on their team, and getting the stick was pretty nice especially in front of the home crowd.”
Except for their two losses, the Blue Devils did not trail in a single bout against either squad, but Duke managed just two pins against Duquesne—Cornely’s and Wes Kuser’s at the 141-pound weight class.
Smith won his 165-pound Duquesne match against Jon Denk by a major decision, 11-3. After taking an early lead through the first two periods, Smith nearly pinned his opponent in the final seconds of the third period, but he was unable to get both of Denk’s shoulders on the pad.
In his first match of the night against the Camels, Smith earned a pin two minutes into the opening period, giving Duke the early 6-0 advantage.
“Obviously we did very well, but individually I kept trying to get the kids to focus on getting better every match and not to view the match as the end-all,” Anderson said. “These kids pushed themselves in some areas that they had not done so well in.”
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