After finishing fourth in the ACC in 2005, the wrestling team is preparing for its 2006 campaign without five of its key contributors from a year ago.
Duke will rely primarily on its strong recruiting class and a number of underclassmen, as each of the five Blue Devils who finished in the top three at last year's ACC Championships have since graduated.
"On paper we are very young and kind of thin at three or four different weights," head coach Clar Anderson said. "Last year we lost five ACC placers, and we have none returning this year."
Although they are training with the squad, a number of the Blue Devils' upperclassmen will not compete for Duke until next semester, leaving the team lacking depth. It will, however, allow the freshman class to gain significant collegiate experience.
"This is definitely the youngest team that I have ever coached," Anderson said. "However, we have a great recruiting class, and a strong redshirt freshman class, with a couple upperclassmen to anchor us."
This year's recruiting class includes two state champions and three state runner-ups, and sophomore Konrad Dudziak is the Poland Under-21 national champion and the European U-21 runner-up. This combination of potential will provide Anderson with a bevy of fresh talent.
The young wrestlers have already made some noise at the collegiate level, when they competed at the Citadel Open-a tournament that features over 100 true and redshirt freshmen from schools around the region-last weekend. Michael Degi Obizzi placed first in the 133-pound weight class, and seven other Duke wrestlers finished within the top five.
Although the influx of freshman talent will make up the crux of Duke's rebuilding process, the team is not entirely without experience.
Senior Levi Craig, an ACC Champion as a sophomore, spent his summer training in New York with Princeton's former two-time NCAA All-American Greg Parker and other elite wrestlers.
"Being around some of the best guys in the country really built my confidence tremendously," said Craig, who earned a 24-14 record last season. "My biggest improvement from last year to this year is that mentally, I can take it to the next level."
Anderson is relying on Craig and the team's other veteran wrestlers to help the freshmen adjust to collegiate wrestling, particularly in the ACC.
"The ACC is known for the push, bang, beat-you-up style of teams, rather than the slick and finesse teams," Anderson said. "I am pushing our guys to be much more physical to handle the brute nature of the ACC."
But competing in the league will not be an easy task. Virginia Tech brought in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, and N.C. State and Maryland have a number of top-ranked recruits in their respective weight classes.
North Carolina, which won the the conference title a year ago, retained all of its starters this season.
"It looks like an up-hill battle, but I am real excited about the guys," Anderson said. "The potential is great, and I hope to compete within the ACC."
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