With a chill entering the air as winter sweeps its way across the East Coast, the Blue Devils will fly cross-country for two dual matches in the Golden State.
Duke will spend the weekend battling Stanford at Burnham Pavilion Saturday at 4 p.m. in Stanford, Calif., before moving down the coast the next day to take on Cal Poly at Mott Athletics Center in San Luis Obispo, Calif., at 10 p.m. The two matches will mark the midway point of a hectic month in which the Blue Devils will compete in nine duals in four states and Washington, after the first half of the month yielded three losses and a single win.
“I think the bounce-back was good [following two losses at the Pitt Duals],” Duke head coach Glen Lanham said. “It’s just growing pains that we’ve got to get through…. It’s going to be tough, but we’ve still got to go out there and wrestle hard and compete.”
Although Duke (1-4) picked up its first dual win of the season at the Pitt Duals, the Blue Devils lineup has been decimated early in the season. The Blue Devils have wrestled without a grappler at 125 pounds, pulled freshman Brandon Leynaud out of a redshirt at 133 pounds and sustained injuries at multiple weight classes, crippling the team's chances in its other dual matches in the early portion of 2016.
But an early forfeit and misfortunes in the lineup have not discouraged the Blue Devils from competing down the lineup. No. 19 Mitch Finesilver boasts a 16-5 record this season at 149 pounds, No. 17 Jake Faust is 9-4—including a 2-0 clip against ranked opponents—and No. 5 Conner Hartmann is once again making an All-American bid with a 14-1 record at 197 pounds.
“I think if we compete, then good things will happen,” Lanham said. “That’s the main thing I’m looking for right now, is for our guys to step up and compete. Hey, we know we’re a man down, but so what? You’re still there and you still have to wrestle.”
When the Cardinal (5-2) hit the mats at home Saturday, they will look to replicate their previous match against Duke—a 2014 blowout in which they blanked the Blue Devils 41-0 in Durham. Stanford finished ninth at the Southern Scuffle—three places ahead of Duke—and will have four wrestlers ranked in the top 20 who could potentially appear in the lineup.
Although No. 20 Connor Schram will not have to compete at 125 pounds due to a Duke forfeit, No. 2 Joey McKenna, No. 12 Jim Wilson and No. 19 Keaton Subjeck might see action at 141, 165 and 174 pounds, respectively.
“They’re a tough team,” Lanham said. “They want to beat us because they recruit against us, and our guys have to understand that—it’s more than just a dual—it’s recruiting, it’s everything. We’ve got to go out there and compete and go out there and wrestle a tough opponent that we’re capable of beating.”
If the Cardinal opt to wrestle Wilson at 165, it will be the third time this season that he and Faust will face off. In the previous two meetings, Faust captured the victory—a 6-2 decision at the Hokie Open against a then-No. 4 Wilson and a 6-1 decision at the Southern Scuffle against a then-No. 9 Wilson.
“Faust is going to be tested to beat a tough guy three times now,” Lanham said. “He’s just got to go out there and wrestle his style. But I think everybody has to do that. We’re okay in these matchups if we go out there and wrestle.”
After a tight contest against Stanford, Duke will head south, where the Mustangs (1-4) will be waiting in the wings Sunday for their first ever dual match against Duke. Cal Poly finished 27th out of 31 teams at the Southern Scuffle earlier this month.
J.T. Goodwin leads the Mustangs at 197 pounds. The junior owns a 13-6 ledger this season and has scored five falls, but will have to compete against Hartmann, whose only loss of the season came against then-No. 5 Brett Pfarr of Minnesota, 4-3.
“It’s good to get out there and wrestle those guys. Hopefully we’ll beat some of those good guys and then they’ll go out in their conference and get good wins, and that’ll help us for the national tournament,” Lanham said. “I don’t have any doubt about Conner. He’s going to come out there and be 100 percent ready to wrestle.”
With an open slot at 125 pounds, the Blue Devils will have to finish stronger than they did against Pittsburgh and Harvard last week to make the return flight as victors. If they can rally in the back of the lineup from a 6-0 hole, the squad could grab two more wins before returning to conference competition.
“If you go out there and you don’t have a [125]-pounder, that’s just the way it is,” Lanham said. “But the other guys have to wrestle better and that’s the whole thing we’re trying to do right now, just get these guys wrestling better.”
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