Duke continued its rebound Tuesday night, gaining its third consecutive win after a six-game losing streak.
The Blue Devils (3-6) defeated Gardner-Webb (5-9) 22-13 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
After defeating Davidson 43-0 last Wednesday, Duke hoped to carry the energy into yesterday’s match, and it did.
“I think we definitely carried a lot of momentum,” redshirt senior A. J. Guardado said. “Our motto for the second half of the season is ‘You win your match and you’re 1-0.’ We are just thinking about moving forward…. It’s a new day. We are starting over.”
This attitude appears to be working for the Blue Devils. Duke started the match strong with redshirt junior Peter Terrezza defeating the Bulldogs’ Michael Slaughter 7-4 in the 125-pound weight class, putting the Blue Devils up three points.
At 133 pounds, Duke’s Brandon Gambucci followed up with a crushing 16-2 win over Jacob Reinemund to give his team a 7-0 lead.
Freshman Tanner Hough created some early excitement by pinning Gardner-Webb’s Robert Golde in just the first round, his team-high ninth pin of the season.
“Tanner Hough has been outstanding lately,” head coach Clar Anderson said. “He leads the team in wins and pins, and we’re really pleased with how well he’s been wrestling recently.”
The Bulldogs began to fight back against Guardado, who just barely made it out with a 3-2 decision over Davante Andujar.
“A. J. had one of their better wrestlers,” Anderson said. “I think he had a very good win.”
Gardner-Webb then rallied with two wins against the Blue Devils’ Immanuel Kerr-Brown in the 157-pound weight class and Ryan Harding in the 165-pound weight class, bringing the match to 16-7.
“I think maybe [the team was] a little nervous for their performances,” Anderson said. “They showed some fatigue that they normally wouldn’t show.”
Freshman Randy Roden and redshirt junior Diego Bencomo stepped up to defeat their opponents 5-1 and 7-3, respectively, putting Duke in a much more secure 22-7 lead.
Despite the fact that the Blue Devils’ remaining 197-pound and heavyweight wrestlers were defeated, Duke still left with a 22-13 victory.
The Blue Devils hope to continue their recent success this Sunday, when they take on ACC opponent Maryland in College Park.
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