Duke (1-1) fell behind 12-0 after having to forfeit at 125 and 133 pounds. A decision win by the Wildcats at 141 put Davidson (2-3) ahead 15-0 after three matches.
The comeback started at 149 pounds with senior A.J. Guardado. The West Covina, Calif. native cruised to a 16-1 technical fall for five points. Guardado jumped all over William Ray in the first period, scoring a takedown and a three-point near fall in the opening 25 seconds. He added six more points in the second period to make it 11-0 and pushed the margin to 15 to cut Duke's deficit to 15-5 after three matches.
Competing in a dual match for the first time in his career, freshman Ryan Harding picked up a big decision for the Blue Devils at 157 pounds. He outlasted Brent Mowry in overtime to pull Duke within seven, 15-8, after four bouts.
Harding registered the first takedown of the match and owned a 4-1 lead after three minutes of wrestling. The North Andover, Mass. native came out in the second session and stretched his lead to 6-2 with two minutes of wrestling left. Needing four points to force overtime, Mowry came back in the third and picked up three near fall points and added a point for riding time to send the match into sudden victory. With the first wrestler to score declared the winner, Harding came up with a big takedown just 32 seconds into the session to secure the 8-6 decision, his 11th win of the season.
The excitement continued at 165 pounds with Duke's Willy Mello matched up against Davidson's Tyler Mullen. After a scoreless first period a flurry of points ensued in the second with Mello grabbing a narrow 5-4 lead after five minutes of action. Mellow registered a reversal, a near fall for two points and an escape for the slight edge after two sessions.
Mullen, who started down to open the third period, got a point on an escape to tie the match. After Mullen was warned for stalling with just 19 seconds to go, Mello was unable to get on the scoreboard as the second straight match headed to overtime. Needing a win to cut the Wildcats lead to four, Mello picked up his first takedown of the evening 24 seconds into sudden victory overtime for the 7-5 decision.
Amidst a furious comeback by the Blue Devils, redshirt freshman Bret Klopp evened the score for the Duke with a 10-0 major decision over Christopher Cirenza. Klopp remains unbeaten in dual bouts this season as he used a five-point second period to emerge with his second major decision win of the year.
The 184-pound match was action packed from the very start. Duke redshirt sophomore Diego Bencomo scored a takedown just 11 seconds in before Davidson's Donald Patrick answered with an escape. Bencomo responded with another takedown 12 seconds later and Patrick picked up another point with an escape to make a 4-2 match midway through the first period. The pattern continued and the Phoenix native added two more takedowns to make it 8-3 after three minutes. Bencomo continued to dominate the contest and gave Duke a four-point edge, 19-15, with a 23-9 major decision. The win was Bencomo's 16th of the year and first dual victory overall.
Freshman Brian Self completed the Duke comeback at 197 pounds with a 12-1 major decision over Ike Crews. Self captured his second dual match win of the year and 11th overall as he controlled the match with four takedowns and a two-point near fall score. After picking up just two points in the first three minutes, Self want on the offensive and added five in the second and five more in the third for his first major decision victory of the year.
Sporting a 23-15 overall lead in the match, Duke redshirt sophomore Andrew Fulk found himself embroiled in a marathon heavyweight match against Charlie Wolff. After both wrestlers managed to score just one escape apiece, the third bout of the evening headed into overtime. Scoreless in the first overtime, Wolff scored on a reversal in the second to take a 3-2 lead. Fulk responded with an escape to force a third overtime. Neither Wolff nor Fulk scored in the sudden victory session and the match continued into a fourth extra session. This time it was Wolff coming away with the single point escape to garner the narrow 4-3 win.
Duke returns home to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 18 against ACC rival North Carolina. The Blue Devils welcome the Tar Heels to Cameron for a 7 p.m. match.
Results:
125- Zarth, Matt (Davidson College) For (Duke ) 0-0
133- Radsky, Alex (Davidson College) For (Duke ) 0-0
141- Radsky, Vitaly (Davidson College) DEC Mike Bell (Duke ) 12-6
149- Andrew Guardado (Duke ) TF5 Ray, William (Davidson College) 7:00
157- Ryan Harding (Duke ) SV Mowry, Brent (Davidson College) 8-6
165- Willy Mello (Duke ) SV Mullen, Tyler (Davidson College) 7-5
174- Bret Klopp (Duke ) MD Cirenza, Christopher (Davidson College) 10-0
184- Diego Bencomo (Duke ) MD Patrick, Donald (Davidson College) 23-9
197- Brian Self (Duke ) MD Crews, Ike (Davidson College) 12-1
285- Wolff, Charlie (Davidson College) TB-2 Andrew Fulk (Duke ) 4-3
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