The Blue Devils fought tooth and nail, but came up shy in two out of three matchups Saturday.
Although Duke picked up its first win of the season 30-15 against Edinboro at the Pitt Duals in Pittsburgh, it dropped two heartbreakers that came down to the heavyweight division against No. 25 Pittsburgh and Harvard at Fitzgerald Field House. The Blue Devils could not overcome early deficits in either match, resulting in a 23-19 loss to the Panthers and a 23-17 defeat at the hands of the Crimson.
For the second straight year at the duals, Duke (1-4, 0-2 in the ACC) could not put away Pittsburgh to capture a victory in the opening session. The Blue Devils dropped last year’s dual against the then-No. 9 Panthers 20-15 when heavyweight Brendan Walsh lost a 2-1 tiebreak against Ryan Solomon—and Saturday looked eerily similar for Duke.
In the final match, with the Blue Devils leading 19-17, No. 20 Solomon pinned Walsh at 4:59 to add six points to the team score and seal the victory for Pittsburgh. The Panthers (9-1, 1-0) captured their first conference win of the season with the pin, and used the early morning victory as a springboard to a 4-0 ledger at their annual event.
After dropping the close match to Pittsburgh, Duke rallied against the Fighting Scots in the second dual of the day for both teams. Coming off a loss to North Carolina in its own opening bout, Edinboro (5-6) jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead following the first two weights. But seven straight wins—including five by bonus-point margins—locked up the Blue Devils’ first dual victory of the season.
In the third and final dual of the day, Duke could not overcome another early deficit through the first three weight classes to topple Harvard. The Blue Devils fell into a 14-0 hole against the Crimson (2-1) due to a forfeit, a technical fall and decision loss in the first three matches.
Although three straight Duke wins narrowed the deficit to 14-13, losses at 174 pounds, 184 pounds and heavyweight sealed the Blue Devils’ fate. Similar to the first dual against the Panthers, Walsh had a chance with the score at 20-17 to get the victory for Duke, but lost his third match of the day.
The biggest problem for the Blue Devils continues to be the absence of Thayer Atkins at 125 pounds due to a concussion. With the sophomore unable to compete, Duke dropped into a 6-0 hole from the outset of every dual Saturday, which proved fatal in its two defeats.
Even with the deflating start in each matchup, the Blue Devils produced three undefeated grapplers down the lineup to keep the contests close. No. 20 Mitch Finesilver, Connor Bass and No. 5 Conner Hartmann went undefeated at 149, 157 and 197 pounds, respectively. Teammates Zach Finesilver, No. 12 Jake Faust and Trey Adamson nearly wrapped up perfect days as well, each going 2-1.
Following the long day of competition, Duke will take a week off before making a West Coast road trip to face Stanford and Cal Poly. The Blue Devils will take on the Cardinal Jan. 16 at 4 p.m., before moving down the coast to battle the Mustangs Jan. 17 at 10 p.m.
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