Campbell 19, Duke 17
BUIES CREEK - Campbell jumped out to a 16-3 lead after a forfeit win at 125 pounds and the Camels held on for a 19-17 win to defeat the Blue Devils. CU improves to 9-12 overall with the team victory, while Duke falls to 0-5 on the season.
The win marks the first for the Fighting Camel program over an ACC opponent since a 19-18 triumph over Duke on Feb. 13, 2002. It is also the fourth win in the Duke series for Campbell, as the Camels also defeated the Blue Devils on Feb. 9, 1988 (27-15) and during the 1974-75 season (19-18).
James Cook opened the match with a 6-2 decision victory at 174 pounds. The Madera, Calif. native won his 16th individual match on the season. Duke then drew the match even at 3-3 when Diego Bencomo took an 11-6 win over John Merickel.
John Weakley took a 13-4 major decision win in the 197-pound bout and Joe Nolan outlasted Robert Mello in a 5-1 decision at heavyweight. After Chance Credeur took the forfeit win at 125 pounds, CU had gained a 16-3 advantage.
Duke took four of the final five matches, but Nick Rex's 3-2 decision win at 157 pounds in the next to last bout of the evening was enough to give Campbell the team victory.
The Camels return to action on Saturday as Campbell hosts Old Dominion and Navy. The match against ODU will begin at 1 p.m., while the nightcap against Navy will get underway at 7 p.m.
Campbell 19, Duke 17
174: James Cook (CU) dec. Randy Roden (Duke) 6-2
184: Diego Bencomo (Duke) dec. John Merickel (CU) 11-6
197: John Weakley (CU) major dec. Brian Self (Duke) 13-4
285: Joe Nolan (CU) dec. Robert Mello (Duke) 5-1
125: Chance Credeur (CU) wins by forfeit
133: Brandon Gambucci (Duke) major dec. Joey Rizzolino (CU) 8-0
141: Tanner Hough (Duke) major dec. Jordan Tolbert (CU) 14-5
149: Andrew Guardado (Duke) dec. Mark Hartenstine (CU) 3-2
157: Nick Rex (CU) dec. Immanuel Kerr-Brown 3-2
165: Ryan Harding (Duke) dec. Ryan Krecker (CU) 4-3
VMI 24, Millersville 13
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Winner of three of its last four dual matches, the VMI wrestling took the show on the road Thursday night, knocking off Millersville University 24-13 at Pucillo Gymnasium, marking VMI's second straight win over the Marauders.
Going with a different lineup than normal, the Keydets (5-7) wrestled strong, picking up three wins with bonus points. David Yost notched a 14-4 major decision at 149 pounds followed by Michael Burnett's second period pin at 157 pounds. At 197 pounds, John Dommert logged his second major decision of the season 18-2 to secure the match.
Neither team posted a wrestler at 125 pounds while Millersville (1-6) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, earning a pin at 133 pounds.
But the Keydets answered back quickly, winning the next three bouts, kicking things off with a dominating 11-4 decision at 141 pounds by Zeb Stewart, now 6-6 in dual matches.
The Stewart win was followed up by Yost's major decision, the 15th for VMI this season and his second. Yost's win gave VMI a narrow 7-6 lead, which it would not relinquish for the remainder of the night.
Burnett snapped a three-match skid with his pin of Zac Wawrzyniak-Bush, coming just 42 seconds into the second period. The win by fall was Burnett's first of the year.
But the Marauders clawed back into the match with a major decision at 165, pulling to within three with the Keydets up 13-10.
Normally wrestling at 165 pounds, Carry Joseph bumped up a weight class and represented VMI at 174 pounds. The weight difference was no struggle for the freshman, who posted a 3-0 blanking of Zach Pincus to extend the Keydet lead to 16-10.
Joseph was not the only Keydet to move up a class as senior Matthew Brock wrestled at 184 pounds for the first time this season. Brock extended his winning streak to 10. His 4-0 win over Shane Smith was his 25th of the season and it marked his 16th shutout of the season, which includes five pins.
Dommert got the final win of the night and did so in dominating fashion, putting up an 18-2 technical fall over Joel Suter. The Dommert technical came midway through the second period and locked up the win for VMI.
The Keydets are idle until heading west to participate in the All-Academy Championships on Feb. 5, hosted by Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo. Action is set to begin at 9 a.m. Mountain Standard Time (11 a.m. EST) at the Falcons' Clune Arena.
Agate:
VMI (5-7) 24
Millersville University (1-6) 13
Bout-by-Bout Winner def. Loser Type Score - Running Score: (VMI-MU)
125 - No Match (0-0)
133 - Joshua Ruppert (MU) def. Joe Jarrells (VMI) Fall: 0:27 (0-6)
141 - Zeb Stewart (VMI) def. Brock Thompson (MU) Dec. 11-4 (3-6)
149 - David Yost (VMI) def. Steve Hess (MU) Major Dec. 14-4 (7-6)
157 - Michael Burnett (VMI) def. Zac Wawrzyniak-Bush (MU) Fall 3:42 (13-6)
165 - Brandon Vernalli (MU) def. Jonathan Jones (VMI) Major Dec. 11-2 (13-10)
174 - Carry Joseph (VMI) def. Zach Pincus (MU) Dec. 3-0 (16-10)
184 - Matthew Brock (VMI) def. Shane Smith (MU) Dec. 4-0 (19-10)
197 - John Dommert (VMI) def. Joel Suter (MU) Technical Fall 18-2 5:46 (24-10)
285 - Bradley Ladd (MU) def. Juan Adams (MU) Dec. 3-0 (24-13)