In Jacob Kasper's final time wrestling at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the outcome of the dual match came down to him.
Like he has for his whole Blue Devil career, Kasper delivered.
The No. 5 heavyweight's win by major decision capped Duke's rally for a 19-16 victory against Old Dominion on Senior Day Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils trailed 13-3 after four bouts, but won five of the last six matches to storm back in their regular-season finale.
"You don’t want to lose as a team on Senior Night. It kind of set up as a dream situation. Going out there as a team leader, as a general, you don’t want to send anyone else out with the dual on the line," Kasper said. "When it starts shaping up that way and it’s coming down to me, I love it. That gets your blood flowing. That makes you feel alive."
Duke (7-7) had little margin for error at the end due to a slow start out of the games. Senior Thayer Atkins lost a decision at 125 pounds to start the match, and though Josh Finesilver evened the match with a win for the Blue Devils at 133 pounds, the Monarchs' Alex Madrigal pinned Josh Copeland at 141 pounds to put Old Dominion (9-9) in front 9-3.
Copeland was wrestling in his first dual match of the year and normally competes at 133 pounds, but moved up a weight class while Duke head coach Glen Lanham said freshman Jeremiah Reitz was resting a shoulder issue in preparation for the ACC championships in two weeks.
Brandon Leynaud then lost a major decision to hand the Monarchs a 13-3 lead, and though No. 10 Mitch Finesilver got the Blue Devils back on track with a win at 174 pounds, he barely missed out on bonus points for a major decision.
The redshirt junior beat Larry Early for a 9-3 win and was pulled Early to the ground at the edge of the ring in the closing seconds. The referees did not award Finesilver a takedown, which would have resulted in a major decision and an extra point in the team score, and the call was confirmed after Lanham challenged the ruling.
"We need a third party to do that because you’ve got two referees. They’re both in the same locker room, they’re not going to call against each other," Lanham said. "I just feel like half the time when you challenge, it depends how the referee feels if you get it or not."
Duke was docked a point during the first match after intermission because Lanham stepped on the mat, but Zach Finesilver and Matt Finesilver each emerged victorious by decision to trim the deficit to 13-11, with Matt picking up a tiebreaking takedown in the final minute.
Freshman Kaden Russell then lost a 3-1 decision at 184 pounds, leaving the Blue Devils in need of victories in the two last bouts to win the match.
Redshirt junior Alec Schenk won in a major decision to set the table for Kasper, who left little doubt from the start against Ali Wahab and gave Duke its first lead of the day in the final match of the contest.
"I’m seeing him just peaking. He’s beating guys like he needs to be at the right time. He’s starting to peak. He knows how he has to wrestle at nationals, so I’m excited for him," Lanham said. "He’s been a strong leader for our program and just a super guy. You don’t replace a guy like that. They just move on. People are like, 'Who’s going to be the next Kasper?' We don’t have one. Just like the next [Conner] Hartmann, we don’t have that, and when these Finesilvers go, we won’t have that."
The Blue Devils will now have two weeks to gear up for the ACC championships, and the NCAA championships are two weeks after that.
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