After all the blood, sweat and hard work poured on the mats all season long, it is finally time for the Blue Devils to take the big stage in the most unpredictable time of year—the postseason.
“This is a good time. I’m excited about it,” Duke head coach Glen Lanham said. “The guys are healthy. I feel like it’s been a good vibe in the room so far, so I’m excited to see what we do.”
Lanham will get his answer Sunday at the ACC championships in Charlottesville, Va., when No. 21 Duke travels to John Paul Jones Arena for the second time this season. The Blue Devils will begin their day at 11 a.m. and hope to still be around when the championship finals kick off at 7 p.m., searching for an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament in two weeks.
Following one of the ACC’s most successful regular seasons in recent memory, the conference was allotted 34 automatic bids—tied for the most in league history—and is ranked fifth among major conferences in automatic slots awarded.
“I feel like if you look at the Big Ten, they’re the ones that everybody talks about, but look at our matchups against Big Ten teams this year. We’ve all beaten Big Ten teams, so we’re excited about that going in and we feel like we can have a premier conference and a premier tournament and quality schools going out,” Lanham said. “We’re capable of putting guys on the podium, and that’s what we need to do bottom line, as a team and as a conference.”
The Blue Devils will certainly have to deal with one of the toughest ACC fields in several years after going 1-4 in conference duals this season. Of the five other teams competing this weekend—No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 8 N.C. State, No. 11 North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Virginia—none have fewer than five grapplers in the coaches’ rankings. The Hokies—who went undefeated in the regular season to lock up their second consecutive dual-meet title—have eight wrestlers with that distinction and boast the most No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in the conference tournament with seven, though seeds and lineups are subject to change until 5 p.m. Saturday.
Duke will not roll over without a fight, though. The squad enters Sunday with the third-most No. 1 or No. 2 seeds with three, and boasts five wrestlers ranked in the RPI this season.
No. 5 Conner Hartmann—the defending ACC champion and No. 1 seed at 197 pounds—No. 9 Mitch Finesilver—the No. 2 seed at 149 pounds—and No. 18 Jake Faust—the No. 2 seed at 165 pounds—will lead the way for the Blue Devils. All three wrestlers will receive byes into the semifinals before strapping on their gear for the day.
Both Hartmann and Faust will battle in weight classes receiving five automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, but Finesilver will have to secure a victory in his first match to receive one of the two automatic bids in his weight class.
“Throughout the year we tell guys, ‘Make it easy on yourselves,’ and that’s part of it, making it easy on yourself, earning a spot where you can get in a situation where you know that you’ve beaten those guys before. You’ve earned a spot for the conference and go get what you’ve earned,” Lanham said. “That’s what we’re trying to do and I feel pretty confident that those guys are capable of doing that.”
Outside of its top three, Duke will look to Zach Finesilver at 141 pounds and Connor Bass at 157 pounds to match last year’s program-best five grapplers qualifying for the NCAA tournament. Finesilver is the No. 4 seed in a class that will send four automatic bids from the conference meet and will face off against the Panthers’ No. 5 seed Nick Zanetta. The redshirt freshman beat the Pittsburgh redshirt sophomore 8-1 in dual competition Jan. 9.
Bass also received the No. 4 seed, but has work to do to receive an automatic bid at 157 pounds due to just three automatic spots up for grabs Sunday. The junior will meet the Tar Heels’ No. 5 seed Robert Henderson for the first time this season.
“I would like to [beat last year’s record],” Lanham said. “We’ve got some weights where we could get in there and qualify guys. I think legitimately we could get five [into the NCAA championships]. I feel like six would be hard, but I think we could do it. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got it, but obviously I feel like five would be a good number for us.”
Aside from the top half of the lineup, the Blue Devils may be poised for another surprise run. Last season, Mitch Finesilver—wrestling at 133 pounds—snuck into the championship final as the No. 6 seed, and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament. With a litany of wrestlers vying for spots as the No. 5 or No. 6 seed at Duke’s four remaining weights—125, 174, 184 and 285 pounds—there is the potential for another Blue Devil to author his own Cinderella story.
“We’ve got a couple of guys that could [make a run like Mitch],” Lanham said. “I think the mindset of the whole team is positive. It’s a positive vibe. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have one or two guys make a run like that—that would be exciting for the team across the board.”
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