North Carolina
Duke
Duke Downs Tar Heels, 21-13
February 3, 2004 | Wrestling
Feb. 3, 2004
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - With wins in the final three bouts of the match, visiting Duke (5-4, 1-0 ACC) scored a 21-13 come-from-behind victory over the North Carolina wrestling team (3-7, 1-3 ACC) Tuesday at Carmichael Auditorium. The loss for the Tar Heels is the first to the Blue Devils since the 1972-73 season and snaps a 30-match win streak over Duke.
With the win, Duke receives one point towards the Carlyle Cup, the all-sport competition between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils. Carolina holds a 7-5 lead in the competition.
Following three consecutive wins by the Tar Heels' Mark Canty, Venroy July and Ryan Adams in the upper weight groups, Carolina claimed a 13-10 lead, but Duke rebounded to tie the score at 13-13 with a 3-2 victory by Christian Smith over Drew Forshey at 125 pounds. The Blue Devils then reclaimed the lead, 17-13, following an 11-3 major decision win by Adam Benitez at 133 over UNC's Bobby Shaw, and extended the score to the final margin with a 17-6 major decision win by Daniel Shvartsman over Travis Sickle at 141.
Earlier in the match, Canty came up with a big overtime win for the Tar Heels at 184 pounds to close the gap to 10-6. With the score tied at two in the fourth and final overtime period, Canty scored a takedown of Duke's Frank Cornely for a 4-2 victory. Canty is now 20-12 this season, including a 7-3 mark in duals and a perfect 4-0 record in ACC action.
Carolina trimmed the Blue Devil lead to 10-9 thanks to a 10-4 victory by July over Duke's Tim Marcantonio at 197 pounds. July improved to 17-14 (6-4 duals, 3-1 ACC) with the win.
The Tar Heels took their first lead of the night following Adams' heavyweight victory. The Rock Hill, S.C., native tallied an 18-8 major decision victory over the Blue Devils' Roy Williams to give Carolina a 13-10 advantage with three bouts remaining. With the win, Adams raised his record to 23-9 this year, including an 8-2 dual record and a 4-0 conference mark.
The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 10-3 lead on the strength of wins in three of the first four bouts. Senior Andy Soliman posted a 6-4 win over the Tar Heels' Andrew Slack at 149 pounds to open the match, but sophomore Ashton Buswell quickly tied the score for Carolina with a 12-5 victory over Duke's Scott Doerr at 157. Buswell is now 12-16 on the year.
In the next two bouts, Blue Devil senior Michael Mitchell responded with an 18-6 major decision victory over Aaron Holt at 165 pounds, and sophomore Levi Craig downed Carolina's Garrett Atkinson, 2-0, at 174 to give Duke the 10-3 advantage.
Carolina returns to action Saturday in Washington, D.C., versus American, Eastern Michigan and Navy.
DUKE 21, NORTH CAROLINA 13 Weight Matchup Result Score 125 Christian Smith (DU) over Drew Forshey (UNC) 3-2 133 Adam Benitez (DU) over Bobby Shaw (UNC) MD, 11-3 141 Daniel Shvartsman (DU) over Travis Sickle (UNC) MD, 17-6 149 Andy Soliman (DU) over Andrew Slack (UNC) 6-4 157 Ashton Buswell (UNC) over Scott Doerr (DU) 12-5 165 Michael Mitchell (DU) over Aaron Holt (UNC) MD, 18-6 174 Levi Craig (DU) over Garrett Atkinson (UNC) 2-0 184 Mark Canty (UNC) over Frank Cornely (DU) 4-2 OT 197 Venroy July (UNC) over Tim Marcantonio (DU) 10-4 HWT Ryan Adams (UNC) over Roy Williams (DU) MD, 18-8
