GREELEY, Colo.—The Duke wrestling team used a fast start to capture its first dual victory of the season, besting Cal State Bakersfield 25-17 at Northern Colorado Sunday. The Blue Devils won six of the 10 bouts with the Finesilver brothers going 4-0 in their return home.
Duke jumped out to an 18-0 lead after just four matches thanks to a pair of falls from Brandon Leynaud at 149 pounds and Zach Finesilver at 165. The pin for Leynaud was his fourth of the year and second in the first period, while Zach needed just a couple more minutes to record his fourth fall of the year. They improve to 2-2 and 3-1 in duals with the victories.
At 157 pounds, 11th-ranked Mitch Finesilver and rookie Matt Finesilver, at 174, added decisions to make it 18-0 Blue Devils. Mitch garnered his first top 20 win, upending No. 17 Coleman Hammond by an 11-5 score. Matt used and early first-period takedown and never looked back en route to the 8-2 win in his first career dual.
The Roadrunners put six points on the scoreboard with a pin from Dom Ducharme at 184 and tacked on three more points with a narrow 5-4 decision on riding time from No. 14 Matt Williams.
Redshirt senior and fifth-ranked Jacob Kasper tacked on four more points to Duke's total with a 10-1 major decision at heavyweight. The victory was his third bonus-point win in four duals as he pushed his season record to 22-2 and within nine victories of 100 for his career.
After Cal State Bakersfield pulled closer, 22-13, with a major decision at 125, Josh Finesilver sealed the dual with a hard-fought 8-4 decision at 133. He used a solid second period to pull away for his 15th victory of the year.
Duke makes its home debut Jan. 19 against No. 5 NC State. The dual is slated to start at 7:30 p.m., in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The match will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and can be watched at WatchESPN.com or via the ESPN app.
Duke 25, CSUB 17
149 – Brandon Leynaud (Duke) fall Kalani Tonge (CSUB), 2:53 – Duke 6, CSUB 0
157 – No. 11 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec. No. 17 Coleman Hammod (CSUB), 11-5 – Duke 9, CSUB 0
165 – Zach Finesilver (Duke) fall Lorenzo De La Riva (CSUB), 4:52 – Duke 15, CSUB 0
174 – Matt Finesilver (Duke) dec. Bryan Battisto (CSUB), 8-2 – Duke 18, CSUB 0
184 – Dom Ducharme (CSUB) fall Kaden Russell (Duke), 2:39 – Duke 18, CSUB 6
197 – No. 14 Matt Williams (CSUB) dec. Alec Schenk (Duke), 5-4 – Duke 18, CSUB 9
285 – No. 5 Jacob Kasper (Duke) major dec. Mark Penyascek (CSUB), 10-1 – Duke 22, CSUB 9
125 – Sergio Mendez (CSUB) major dec. Thayer Atkins (Duke), 8-0, Duke 22, CSUB 13
133 – Josh Finesilver (Duke) dec. Sean Nickell (CSUB), 8-4, Duke 25, CSUB 13
141 – Russell Rohlfing (CSUB) major dec. Jeremiah Reitz (CSUB), 12-2, Duke 25, CSUB 17
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