ST. LOUIS –Duke University redshirt junior Conner Hartmann secured All-America honors and a spot in the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championship semifinals today with a thrilling quarterfinal upset over the No. 2 seed from Penn State in front of 18,486 fans at the Scottrade Center. Duke sits in 24th place with 14 points.
Hartmann joins Konrad Dudziak as the second two-time All-American in Duke wrestling history. He took fifth at the 2014 NCAA Championships as an unseeded 197-pounder. Immanuel Kerr-Brown and Marcus Cain both saw their careers come to an end after outstanding efforts.
Hartmann, seeded 10th and coming off a win over No. 7 seed Abram Ayala in the second round, scored a thrilling 3-2 decision over No. 2 Morgan McIntosh. After a scoreless first period, McIntosh picked the down position and escaped in a matter of seconds for the 1-0 lead. Hartmann remained aggressive and took down McIntosh for the 2-1 advantage. The Port Orchard, Wash., native rode out the second period to extend his riding time to over a minute.
Despite holding the riding time point, Hartmann elected to start the third period in the down position. The decision paid off as he got to his feet and escaped for the 3-2 lead. With time starting to tick away, McIntosh took a shot and put Hartmann in a dangerous position. However, the Duke All-American refused to give up the takedown and held on for the 3-2 victory. Penn State challenged the no call on the takedown attempt, but the original ruling stood to send Hartmann into the semifinals.
Hartmann will wrestle No. 3 seed Kyven Gadson of Iowa State in the semifinal Friday night He is 29-2 and looking for win No. 30, pushing him to 10th on the single-season list at Duke. Konrad Dudziak was the last Duke wrestler to reach the 30-win mark, garnering 31 in 2008-09.
Kerr-Brown did what he does best in his consolation second round match, upsetting No. 8 seed John Boyle of American 5-3 in overtime. They traded points – Boyle scored a takedown and Kerr-Brown responded with an immediate takedown – to finish the first period 2-2. Kerr-Brown, from the down position, escaped in the second and took that 3-2 lead into the final stanza.
Boyle returned the favor to tie the match and neither wrestler scored in the final minute to send the bout to sudden victory overtime. Sporting a 1-1 record in overtime for the year Kerr-Brown, got a single leg and turned it into a takedown on the edge of the mat for the win.
The Duke captain, looking to advance to the evening session, could not quite pull out a win in his next match against Ohio's Spartak Chino. A pair of takedowns by Chino proved to be enough for him as he held off a strong effort from Kerr-Brown in the third period to get the 4-3 victory.
Cain's consolation second round match against Garrett Schaner of Stanford was full of action, but Cain ultimately ran out of time in the 7-6 decision. Trailing 5-2 early in the third period, Cain scored a reversal to make it 5-4. However, Schaner came right back with his own reversal for the 7-4 lead. A third straight reversal pulled Cain within one, but with just 10 seconds left the Winston-Salem, N.C. , native ran out of time as he finished his season with a 22-9 overall record.
Friday night's semifinal action will be televised live on ESPN starting at 8 p.m. All matches can be viewed on ESPN3.
#GoDuke
