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Feb. 14, 2004
DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke University wrestling team rebounded from a 14-0 deficit after four matches to win five of the remaining six bouts to score a 21-17 victory over Virginia on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Frank Cornely and Tim Marcantonio scored first period wins by fall as Duke improved to 7-6 overall and a perfect 3-0 in ACC action, while Virginia falls to 8-5 overall, 2-1 in the conference. The Blue Devils are now alone atop the ACC standings with a Feb. 24 match against N.C. State remaining. Duke last won three ACC matches in a season during the 1959-60 season.
“After dropping the first couple of matches, the pins by Cornely and Marcantonio were huge for us,” said head coach Clar Anderson. “This is an incredible win for our guys and now they are starting to believe me when I say that we can contend and compete for the ACC Championship.”The match opened up at 141-lbs. where Virginia’s #1 Scott Moore took a 1-0 lead on Daniel Shvartsman with a quick escape in the second period. Moore followed up with a two-point takedown and three points with a near fall to head into the final period with a 6-0 lead. Moore, the top-ranked wrestler in the country at 141-lbs. tacked on nine more points for a 15-0 technical fall victory to give Virginia a 5-0 lead. Moore improved his record to 40-0 overall with 28 of his 40 wins coming by fall.
At 149-lbs., after a scoreless first period Duke’s Antwone Floyd earned one point with an escape with just over 30 seconds left in the period. Virginia’s Aaron Martin knotted the contest 1-1 with an early escape in the third period, retaining just over a minute worth of riding time. Martin reversed a throw and takedown by Floyd in the final 15 seconds of action to secure a 7-1 win and an 8-0 Virginia lead.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the final period at 157-lbs., Duke’s Andy Soliman scored an escape four seconds into the period to tie the match and send it into a one minute sudden-death overtime period. Virginia’s Paul Bjorlo scored a takedown 32 seconds into overtime to register a 4-2 decision.
In the marque match of the evening, the Blue Devils’ Michael Mitchell squared off against 14th-ranked Tim Foley at 165-lbs. Foley opened up with a quick takedown and wracked up over two minutes of riding time in the first period. Foley added a reversal on a Mitchell shot to jump ahead 4-0 heading into the final period. Foley held off several charges by Mitchell to register a 6-0 decision and give Virginia a 14-0 advantage.
At 174-lbs., Duke’s Levi Craig registered an escape and takedown in the second period to head into the final two minutes with a 3-1 lead. Virginia’s Michael Grogan collected a quick escape to close to within 3-2, before Craig scored another takedown for a 5-2 lead. Grogan again escaped only to have Craig score another takedown for the 7-3 advantage. Craig held off a couple of shots by Grogan in the final 30 seconds to score the 7-4 decision for his 16th win of the season and third in conference action.
Senior Frank Cornely brought Duke to within 14-9 at 184-lbs. with a first period pin of Drew Michelotti in a time of 2:21. The win was Cornely’s 17th of the season and third win by fall. With momentum and a boisterous crowd behind them, the Blue Devils capped a big comeback to take a 15-14 lead when Tim Marcantonio pinned Virginia’s Kevin Collier, 1:25 into the opening period. Marcantonio opened the match with a quick takedown and kept constant pressure on Collier before being awarded the pin.
In the heavyweight match, Virginia regained the lead as Andrew Leffler earned a closely contested 4-0 decision over Roy Williams. At 125-lbs., Duke’s Christian Smith scored an escape, a takedown and two back points to jump out to a 5-0 lead in the second period against Brian Sticca. Smith went on to score two more back points in the third period and avoided a late charge by Sticca to collect a 7-4 decision and put the Blue Devils ahead, 18-17 with one match to go. The win was Smith’s 25th of the season as he also moved to 3-0 in ACC action.
With one match to decide it all, Duke’s Adam Benitez faced Virginia’s Steve Hromada, who earlier in the day won the deciding match in the Cavaliers, 22-21, win over N.C. State. Benitez struck first with a takedown with 1:30 gone by in the opening period. Hromada escaped five seconds later for a 2-1 Benitez advantage after one period. Benitez extended the margin to 3-1 with an escape to open the second period and held off Hromada for the remainder of period. Hromada narrowed the score to 3-2 with an escape in the third, but Benitez quickly responded with a two-point takedown for a 5-2 lead with 1:33 remaining in the match. Hromada countered with an escape and a quick shot that Benitez fought off with just over a minute remaining. With the crowd on its feet and time ticking down, Benitez battled off a couple of shots before scoring a two-point takedown to secure a 7-3 match victory and a 21-17 Duke dual meet win. The win for Benitez was his 19th of the season, his seventh straight dual meet victory and third win in conference action.
Virginia will return to home action on Wednesday, February 18th when UVa hosts the Maryland Terrapins in an ACC dual match. The dual is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM at Memorial Gymnasium. Duke will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 18 when it faces Campbell at 7:00 p.m.
Wgt. Opponents Result Score V/D141 Scott Moore (UVa) def. Daniel Shvartsman (Duke) TF, 16-0 5-0149 Aaron Martin (UVa) def. Antwone Floyd (Duke) 7-1 8-0157 Paul Bjorlo (UVa) def. Andy Soliman (Duke) 4-2 (OT) 11-0165 Tim Foley (UVa) def. Michael Mitchell (Duke) 6-0 14-0174 Levi Craig (Duke) def. Michael Grogan (UVa) 7-4 14-184 Frank Cornely (Duke) def. Drew Michelotti (UVa) Fall @ 2:21 14-9197 Tim Marcantonio (Duke) def. Kevin Collier (Duke) Fall @ 1:25 14-15HWT Andrew Leffler (UVa) def. Roy Williams (Duke) 4-0 17-15125 Christian Smith (Duke) def. Brian Sticca (UVa) 7-4 17-18133 Adam Benitez (Duke) def. Steve Hromada (UVa) 7-3 17-21
— UVa —