Junior Konrad Dudziak's run all the way to the finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships came to a painful end Saturday, as Dudziak lost a triple-overtime match 3-2 to No. 2 Mark Ellis of Missouri. Dudziak, seeded No. 5 in the tournament, advanced the farthest in Duke history, and he also became the first Blue Devil to earn All-American honors with the runner-up finish.
After upsetting the tournament's top seed, Iowa State's David Zabriskie, Friday evening, Dudziak matched up with Ellis in the final. Dudziak fell behind 1-0, but fought back and earned a point with an escape to knot the score at one midway through the third period. Both wrestlers battled for the title-clinching point in the final minute of regulation, but neither wrestler was awarded a point, sending the match to sudden-death overtime.
The first extra session ended with the score still tied. Dudziak came close to a takedown late on, but was unable to complete the move. And in the second extra period, which was broken into two 30-second blocks, the two exhausted competitors failed to earn the victory.
In a classic third overtime, though, Ellis finally got Dudziak in a promising position and scored on a takedown, giving him a two-point advantage. Dudziak scored on an escape later in the session, but Ellis held on for the one-point win to earn the NCAA championship.
The day before, Dudziak defeated perennial power Iowa State's best wrestler, Zabriskie, 3-2. Tied at 1-1 in the third period, Dudziak came up with a two-point takedown to give himself a 3-1 lead. He then held on for the victory for his second upset of the day.
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