Pack Preview: Duke & Northwestern

Duke

Duke has a young team that has improved throughout the season.  Coach Lanham is in his second year as the head coach. Highlight matches should be 157 and 197 pounds.  At 157 pounds, both Gantt and Kerr-Brown are nationally ranked.  At 197 pounds, senior KaRonne Jones faces another nationally ranked wrestler.  He will have wrestled six nationally ranked competitors in his last nine matches.

125 - open
133 - Botwin - redshirt freshman (4-15), his best position is top
141 - Ramos - freshman (7-19), likes to shoot a single leg and is funky
149 - Bass - freshman (11-13), good on top with legs and tilts
157 - #22 Kerr-Brown - redshirt junior (21-9), likes to shoot a single and wrestle from an underhook
165 - Cain - redshirt sophomore (10-14), shoots a double, has a good navy ride on top
174 - Adamson - redshirt sophomore (15-11), solid both neutral and on the mat
184 - Kasper - freshman (12-14), shoots a double and bodylocks
197 - #22 Hartman - redshirt sophomore (18-8), NCAA qualifier, has good reshot and wrestles from an underhook
285 - Walsh - redshirt sophomore (8-4), hard to score on and keeps good position

#21 Northwestern

Northwestern enters the weekend with a very solid team that is ranked  in the top 25 nationally on the strength of seven ranked wrestlers. The highlight matches of the dual will be 141, 174, and heavyweight.  Speno will have a battle tested redshirt junior who is ranked.  Renda has an opportunity to climb in the rankings with a match that will see #19 against #15.  Heavyweight will be a battle of two retuning All-Americans that will be important for seeding at the NCAA tournament.

125 - White - sophomore (7-13), rides well and has a nice single
133 - #33 Malone - sophomore (10-11), wrestles hard and is very solid on top
141 - #30 Greco - redshirt junior (13-12), NCAA qualifier, wrestles from an underhook and has good reattacks
149 - #5 Tsirtsis - redshirt freshman (22-3), explosive shots and stays in great position
157 - Sullivan - redshirt freshman (7-9), attacks a lot to his opponents right leg
165 - #7 Harger - redshirt junior (21-5), two-time NCAA qualifier, tough to score on and is solid in all positions
174 - #15 Munster - redshirt junior (6-4), two-time NCAA qualifier, wrestles from a 2-on-1 and has a nice single to the right side
184 - Berkowitz - sophomore (9-12), low single shot and duck unders
197 - #14 Poluzzi - redshirt junior (18-7), NCAA qualifier, shoots to a body lock and rides legs on top
285 - #1 McMullan - redshirt junior (10-1), two-time All-American (3rd and 2nd), active heavyweight that moves well and shoots

Pack Preview: Duke Dual

We compete against Duke University tonight at Reynolds Coliseum at 7:00.  This is our last dual meet of the season and we are currently 5-5 as a team so this match will determine whether we will have a winning dual meet record this season.  Duke is led by first year head coach (third season on the Duke coaching staff) Glen Lanham.  He is assisted by Ben Wissel, Will Rowe, and Corey Bell.  Duke is 7-9 on the season.  Here is a look at their line-up…

125 Pounds – Peter Terrezza is a redshirt senior who has been the Blue Devil’s starter for four seasons.  He has sixty-three career wins, including six this season.  He has placed in the ACC Tournament two times.

133 Pounds – Brandon Gambucci is a redshirt sophomore and in his second year as a starter at Duke.  He tied for the most wins on the team last year in wins with twenty-three and currently has a 14-4 record this season.  He leads the team in both technical falls and pins.  He is nationally ranked twenty-seventh in the country by the NCAA Coaches Poll.  He finished third at the Keystone Classic earlier this season.

141 Pounds – Tanner Hough is a sophomore and a returning national qualifier.  He placed at the ACC Tournament last season and was named Duke’s most valuable wrestler last season.  He recorded twenty-three wins last season and has eighteen so far this season.

149 Pounds – Marcus Cain is a redshirt freshman who went 25-7 wrestling unattached last season.  He has the second most wins on the team with twenty so far this season.  He leads the team in dual meet wins with an 11-2 dual meet record.  He finished fourth at the Keystone Classic earlier this season.

157 Pounds – Immanuel Kerr-Brown is a redshirt sophomore who leads the team in wins with twenty-three.  He won nineteen matches last season and is in his second year as a starter.  He has won five of his last six matches.  This season, he won the Ashland Open, took sixth at the Hokie Open, and finished in the top eight at the Wolfpack Open.

165 Pounds – Randy Roden is sophomore.  He started last season at 174 pounds and won thirteen matches.  This season, he has six wins.

174 Pounds – Trey Adamson is a redshirt freshman who won nineteen matches wrestling unattached last season.  He is second on the team in dual meet wins (ten) and falls (five).  He also leads the team in major decisions (six).

184 Pounds – Dylan Ryan is redshirt freshman.  He won ten matches competing unattached last season.  He has two wins so far this season. 

197 Pounds – Diego Bencomo is the second redshirt senior in the line-up.  He has thirteen wins so far this year and eighty career victories.  Bencomo has won six of his last seven matches.  He was listed in the RPI Ranking by the NCAA in the thirty-second spot.  He finished second at the Hokie Open at the beginning of the season.  He has placed second and third in the ACC Championships.  He has started for four years and finished in the top twelve at the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore.

285 Pounds – Brian Self is a junior with eleven wins on the season.  He started the season wrestling at 197 pounds but has since moved up to heavyweight.  He has thirty-five career wins and is in his third season as a starter.

If you cannot attend, results will be posted on twitter (@PackWrestle) and live scoring will be provided by TrackWrestling.com

Pat's Pop Ins

Don't forget - tomorrow night the Pack takes on the Duke Blue Devils at 7:00 in Reynolds Coliseum.  This is the last dual meet of the year before we gear up for ACCs & Nationals! Go Pack!

Mentality Monday

On Wednesday evening we close out our dual meet season at home against the Duke Blue Devils. Check out this promo video & come out to Reynolds at 7:00 to cheer on the Pack!