The independent news organization of Duke University
After exiting the NCAA Championships with a 1-2 record, senior heavyweight Jonah Niesenbaum reflected on the season and the team's goals moving forward.
Niesenbaum nearly captured his first conference title, but fell just short in the final round.
On Sunday, Jonah Niesenbaum will compete on the ACC's biggest stage as the favorite in the heavyweight division. This is the story of how he got here.
Duke capped off a winless ACC season with a Saturday defeat at Pittsburgh, but Jonah Niesenbaum was a bright spot once again.
Duke stayed winless in the ACC on the road Friday at Virginia.
“We didn’t match their intensity,” Lanham said. “Just a bad showing. We got to have some fights. We didn't have that tonight, we really just kind of laid down.”
Duke faced its toughest test of the season last week. It proved to be just as difficult as expected.
Coming off of a lopsided 35-4 defeat at the hands of Central Michigan the night before, Duke lost at the hands of archnemesis North Carolina 37-6 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke floundered at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., finishing tied for 18th place with Virginia.
Duke started the day on a high note, winning against Franklin and Marshall 19-18, but later fell to VMI 28-9.
Senior captain Jonah Niesenbaum continued his excellent grappling, winning the heavyweight division in a tight overtime contest.
Duke senior Jonah Niesenbaum placed first in the heavyweight division at the Battle at the Citadel in Charleston, S.C.
After two straight seasons without a win, Duke improved mightily last season, finishing the year 7-10.
Josh and Matt, both seniors, potentially competed in their last collegiate matches in last week's NCAA championships.
Though the Blue Devils didn't finish with a victory or a higher placement than they have seen in recent years, the Blue Devils had some success on their side, sending two wrestlers to NCAA Championships beginning Thursday.
The Blue Devils competed three times over eight days, facing a win and two losses to bring themselves up to a 7-9 record, which also marks the most victories the team has had since the 2014-15 season.
Though the team’s performance didn’t pan out as it would have liked, minor correctable issues and an injury were the main problems on the mats.
Considering that the Blue Devils still only have two of their wrestlers ranked within their weight brackets, competing against a team with that magnitude of power and getting wins on their side shows they have what it takes to remain competitive against top-ranked teams.
The Blue Devils hit the mats Sunday in Boone, N.C., where they competed at the Appalachian State-hosted Mountaineer Invitational.
Duke placed third out of six teams at the match and finished the day with 146 points, trailing behind Air Force (221) and No. 5 NC State (256.5).