The Blue Devils gained experience—and titles—at an all-day tournament in the midst of dual team competition.
Duke placed 10 wrestlers among the final four across nine different weight classes at Saturday's Appalachian State Open in Boone, N.C. Three Blue Devils—freshman Mitch Finesilver, redshirt junior Trey Adamson and sophomore Connor Bass—earned titles, showcasing both the veteran experience and future potential of the squad.
“I was happy with a lot of the performances from our guys,” head coach Glen Lanham said. “The guys [were] really getting after what we taught them and what we’ve worked on this whole week.”
After three straight dual losses competing as a team, many members of the Duke squad found the confidence boost they needed Saturday. Finesilver and Adamson each lost their two most recent matchups against wrestlers from conference foes then-No. 14 Virginia and then-No. 9 Pittsburgh, but were able to reverse their fates Saturday.
Finesilver, wrestling in the 133-pound weight class, defeated two opponents from Shorter University as well as another from N.C. State in his three bouts of competition. The Greenwood Village, Colo., native did not let any of his opponents score more than three points against him en route to a title in his first tournament of the season.
“We felt like [Finesilver] could really help us benefit the team,” Lanham said. “He had a good tournament [and] wrestled really tough. He’s a work in progress for sure, but we were pretty happy with him.”
Adamson entered Saturday after suffering losses to two wrestlers in the top 10 at 174 pounds, including being pinned by No. 5 Blaise Butler of Virginia Jan. 16. The redshirt junior bounced back Saturday, beating North Carolina’s Francisco Mora by technical fall 22-6 in his first round of competition. From there, Adamson notched a fall and major decision to set up a match against teammate Randy Roden.
Adamson defeated Roden 20-4 to claim his first tournament win of the season as the pair finished first and second in the 174-pound weight class. The meeting of Blue Devils was one of several inter-squad matchups on the day.
“Trey dominated throughout the whole tournament,” Lanham said. “I don’t think anybody really pushed him, so it was good for him, but he had a lot to work on, and [he’s] just trying to work on different steps. He really did it today, and did a good job doing it.”
Joining Adamson and Finesilver at the top of his weight class was Bass, wrestling unattached at 157 pounds. Bass outlasted N.C. State’s Rodney Shepard in the final match, winning a grueling 5-2 contest and improving to 9-3 in tournament competition this year.
“We had three titles here—we’re happy with that,” Lanham said. “[We] felt like we could have had more, but it’s a process, and overall I’m pleased with the way the guys are wrestling, and they’ve just got to continue to do that.”
Saturday's event served multiple purposes as newer wrestlers gained experience and returners to the squad got more practice against a variety of competition. Fifth-year senior Brendan Fowler, competing in his third collegiate sport after careers in both lacrosse and football, notched his first win in a Duke singlet, defeating Gardner-Webb’s Tristan Majors 7-1 in the 197-pound weight class.
Along with the new faces on the mat, the Blue Devils added wins from returning wrestlers, such as redshirt sophomore Evan Botwin at 141 pounds and redshirt sophomore Brian Dorsey at 165 pounds, who both earned second-place finishes in their respective weight classes.
“We want to get the guys who have wrestled more relaxed,” Lanham said. “When we wrestle relaxed, we seem to do better, so hopefully today was just a good tournament for our guys to work on what we’ve been working on [in practice].”
The Blue Devils return home in preparation for three dual competitions that will all take place Jan. 31 on their home mats in Card Gymnasium. Duke will take on American, Drexel and Appalachian State in its first home competition in more than two months.
“You just have to be ready to wrestle,” Lanham said. “[There will be] great matchups at certain weights, and we’re hoping that our guys can rise to that occasion. It’d be great to go and win three of those duals, but it’s going to definitely be tough for us. We had success here at the Appalachian State Open, and now we’re going to go with a higher level of competition.”
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