The Duke wrestling team brought the action to Pittsboro on Nov. 23.
Seaforth High School hosted the Blue Devils’ quad meet with American University, Presbyterian College and Utah Valley. The free event was the second time Duke wrestled at a North Carolina high school this season after losing to Michigan at Jordan High School in Durham on Nov. 22.
“I think this is great for the school and for the community,” Seaforth athletic director Jared Worley told the Chatham Journal the day of the meet.
Said Worley, “I think it just fell into our lap. With the program we’ve got, they saw us and reached out. We were just luck enough it came to us.”
Seaforth is no stranger to interactions with college wrestling programs. Last season, the Hawks wrestled against Cardinal Gibbons, Laney and Cary in a quad meet at Carmichael Arena on UNC’s campus. Seaforth went 2-1 in that environment.
Duke didn’t have the best day in a new venue as it went 1-2 in its duals, though.
The Blue Devils started the day with a 33-6 loss to American. Starting with the 125-pound match, Duke fell down 20-0 thanks to two technical falls, two decisions and a major decision before sophomore Aidan Wallace (165 pounds) put its first three points on the board with a win by decision over American’s Kaden Milheim.
Things weren’t much better against Utah Valley as the Blue Devils lost the second dual of the day, 38-6. Two major decisions with a fall in between put Duke behind, 14-0, and it could only muster two decision victories from sophomore SP O’Donnell (149) and redshirt sophomore Connor Barket (285) to avoid a shutout. The 32-point loss was Duke’s second largest defeat of the season behind its 46-4 loss to Rutgers on Nov. 9.
Duke dominated Presbyterian in the final dual of the day, 38-9, thanks to its own hot start. Two victories by decision from junior Ethan Grimminger (125) and O’Donnell, a major decision win from sophomore Raymond Adams (133) and a forfeit against freshman Noah Kochman (141) propelled the Blue Devils to a 16-0 lead. Sophomore Logan Fite came up huge right after that stretch with a fall over Presbyterian’s Eli Holiday in the 157-pound match to give Duke a 22-0 lead. The following 18-0 technical fall from Wallace over Presbyterian’s Nathan Furman extended the advantage to 27-0 and secured Duke’s largest win of the year before the end of the dual.
The Blue Devils left the meet with a 2-6 overall record in a season that looks to be a continuation of lackluster years for Duke’s wrestling program. Duke hasn’t finished at least .500 since the 2017-18 season in which it went 7-7 overall and 1-4 against ACC opponent. Duke will hit the mat again Friday against Davidson at Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7 p.m.
