Gardner-Webb nips No. 24 Duke
DURHAM, N.C. – Boyce Cornwell's hard-fought, 2-1 decision in the night's final individual bout lifted Gardner-Webb to a 19-18 win over No. 24 Duke on Wednesday night.
It marked the second win over a top-25 team in as many weeks for Gardner-Webb (6-5) and the third win overall for Daniel Elliott's Runnin' Bulldogs. Duke is ranked 24th in this week's InterMat team rankings.
Cortez Starkes (125) and Tyler Ziegler (133) pushed Gardner-Webb to an early 7-0 lead after two bouts, with Starkes slipping past Thayer Atkins by a 5-3 decision and Ziegler handling Brandon Leynaud in a 13-4 major decision.
Zach Finesilver rallied the Blue Devils quickly, however, recording a pin fall over Ryan Hull at 141 pounds to trim the lead to 7-6. No. 10 Mitch Finesilver followed with a decision over talented 149-pounder Chris Vassar for a 9-7 Duke edge on the team scoreboard.
Ryan Mosley continued to wrestle well at 157 pounds – up a weight class from his NCAA qualifying level of 2015 – nipping Connor Bass by a 4-2 margin to seize the lead for the 'Dogs.
No. 17 Jake Faust outlasted Austin Trott by a 5-2 decision at 165 pounds in a seemingly pivotal result, but Brett Stein wrestled himself to a 10-4 win at 174 pounds and Hunter Gamble followed with a key decision at 184 pounds to push Gardner-Webb in front 16-12 with two bouts remaining.
The nation's fifth-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds, Duke's Conner Hartmann, improved his record to 19-1 overall with a pin of TJ Henderson in 2:00, putting the Blue Devils on top once again (18-16) and leaving the match in the hands of heavyweights Cornwell (GWU) and Brendan Walsh (Duke).
Cornwell and Walsh battled in a low-scoring tussle through the first six minutes, with Cornwell scoring the winning points on a two-point reversal with just over 30 seconds left on the third-period clock, giving Gardner-Webb an emotional victory.
It marked another milestone win for the Runnin' Bulldogs, who picked up their first win over Duke since the 1998 season.
Gardner-Webb will return home to resume Southern Conference action Friday night, hosting The Citadel at 6 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena. The match will air live on The Big South Network (bigsouthsports.com), with Alex and Andy Bennett calling the action.
Gardner-Webb 19, #24 Duke 18
125 – Cortez Starkes (GWU) dec. Thayer Atkins (Duke), 5-3 – Duke 0, Gardner-Webb 3
133 – Tyler Ziegler (GWU) major dec. Brandon Leynaud (Duke), 13-4 – Duke 0, Gardner-Webb 7
141 – Zach Finesilver (Duke) fall Ryan Hull (GWU), 3:51 – Duke 6, Gardner-Webb 7
149 – #10 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec. Chris Vassar (GWU), 11-4 – Duke 9, Gardner-Webb 7
157 – Ryan Mosley (GWU) dec. Connor Bass (Duke), 4-2, Duke 9, Gardner-Webb 10
165 – #17 Jake Faust (Duke) dec. Austin Trott (GWU), 5-2, Duke 12, Gardner-Webb 10
174 – Brett Stein (GWU) dec. Brian Dorsey (Duke), 10-4, Duke 12, Gardner-Webb 13
184 – Hunter Gamble (GWU) dec. Trey Adamson (Duke), 7-1, Duke 12, Gardner-Webb 16
197 – #5 Conner Hartmann (Duke) fall TJ Henderson (GWU), 2:00, Duke 18, Gardner-Webb 16
285 – Boyce Cornwell (GWU) dec. Brendan Walsh (Duke), 2-1 – Duke 18, Gardner-Webb 19
VMI shuts out Davidson in Senior Night
LEXINGTON, Va. – Hoping to send four senior Keydets off with a win, the VMI wrestling team earned a 37-0 shutout victory over Southern Conference foe Davidson College on Wednesday night at Cormack Hall.
Competing in their final home dual, seniors Emmitt Kelly, Mark Darr, Derek Thurman and Urayoan Garcia earned individual victories to lead the team to the shutout, its first such victory since blanking Davidson, coincidentally, by a 36-0 score during the 2012-13 campaign. It was also the largest margin of victory since defeating Campbell last year by a 45-8 score.
Junior Dalton Henderson won his 10th consecutive bout by earning an 11-3 major decision over Camden Bertucci at 125 pounds for a quick 4-0 VMI lead. Coming off a third-place finish at the All-Academy Championships, freshman 133-pounder Dominick Gallo won his fourth straight match by topping Dustin Runzo by a 4-1 decision to lift the lead to 7-0.
At 141 pounds, Hunter Starner earned his third pin of the year by defeating Davidson’s Billy McClelland in the second period (4:12) to balloon the VMI advantage to 13-0 after three bouts. Kelly earned a 5-0 decision at 149 pounds to go out with an individual win in his senior home finale before freshman Neal Richards registered a 10-4 decision over Davidson’s Tony Palumbo.
After a Shabaka Johns pin at 165 pounds and Mark Darr decision victory provided the Keydets a 28-0 advantage, senior Derek Thurman earned a hard-fought 4-3 decision over Davidson’s Konner Pritchard.
Down 7-5 near the end of his bout, 197-pounder Taylor Thomas earned a takedown in the final seconds to force overtime, where he earned a takedown and four-point near fall en route to a 13-7 sudden-victory decision.
At heavyweight, senior Urayoan Garcia gutted out a 3-2 tiebreaker decision to preserve the shutout.
VMI returns to action this Sunday on the road with a SoCon dual at SIUE. The match is scheduled for a 2 p.m. EST start in Edwardsville, Illinois.
Davidson hosts The Citadel in its home finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.
VMI 37, Davidson 0
125: Dalton Henderson (VMI) over Camden Bertucci (Davidson) (MD 11-3)
133: Dominick Gallo (VMI) over Dustin Runzo (Davidson) (Dec 4-1)
141: Hunter Starner (VMI) over Billy McClelland (Davidson) (Fall 4:12)
149: Emmitt Kelly (VMI) over Aidan Conroy (Davidson) (Dec 5-0)
157: Neal Richards (VMI) over Tony Palumbo (Davidson) (Dec 10-4)
165: Shabaka Johns (VMI) over Adam Flatt (Davidson) (Fall 0:57)
174: Mark Darr (VMI) over Nathaniel Powers (Davidson) (Dec 9-3)
184: Derek Thurman (VMI) over Konner Pritchard (Davidson) (Dec 4-3)
197: Taylor Thomas (VMI) over Ryan Devlin (Davidson) (SV-1 13-7)
285: Urayoan Garcia (VMI) over Will Cooley (Davidson) (TB-1 3-2)