NCAA Championship MARCH 15-17 ESPNU/ESPN2/ESPN Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, Ohio Duke NCAA Qualifiers Wt. Rk. Name Yr. Record 133 - Josh Finesilver Fr. 20-17 157 10 Mitch Finesilver R-Jr. 17-4 165 - Zach Finesilver R-Jr. 11-11 174 - Matt Finesilver Fr. 25-9 285 3 Jacob Kasper R-Sr. 34-2 * Rankings are InterMat (3/6) Duke in the NCAA Tournament Year Place Score 1973 T-48 2 1974 T-67 0.5 1975 T-50 2 1983 T-49 2 1990 T-55 2.5 1992 T-60 1.5 1994 T-56 2.5 1996 T-62 0.5 1997 T-47 5 2001 T-42 4.0 2002 T-52 3 2003 T-50 3 2004 T-55 3.5 2005 62 1.5 2009 35 17.0 2010 37 13.5 2011 48 5.0 2012 T-64 0.0 2013 T-63rd 0.5 2014 29th of 72 10.5 2015 28th of 69 14.0 2016 31st of 72 11.0 2017 32nd of 69 9.5 Duke by the Numbers 103 Career wins for redshirt senior heavyweight Jacob Kasper, the fourth Blue Devil to amass 100 career victories 86 Miles between where Jacob Kasper wrestled in high school Lexington High School
86 Miles between where Jacob Kasper wrestled in high school Lexington High School and Quicken Loans Arena 23 Current win streak for Kasper, dating back to a December 2 loss to Tanner Hall 8 Losses by Jacob Kasper in the past two seasons 28 Losses by Jacob Kasper his first two campaigns 32 ACC Champions in Duke history with the most recent being Jacob Kasper two weeks ago 67 NCAA qualfiers in Duke wrestling history 21 NCAA qualifiers for Duke under Glen Lanham 31 Percentage of Duke s total NCAA qualifiers coached by Glen Lanham despite him being in just his sixth season 3 Wins needed by Jacob Kasper to break John Barone s single-season wins record of 36 3 Of the five true Duke freshmen who have qualified for the NCAA Championships who have come from the Finesilver family - Josh, Matt, Mitch 2 Minutes separating Zach and Mitch Finesilver - Zach born at 8:50 p.m. and Mitch at 8:52 p.m. 1 Minute between Matt and Josh Finesilver - Matt born at 8:32 p.m. and Josh at 8:33 p.m. 0 Times Duke has landed more than one wrestler on the podium at NCAA Championships - a number the Blue Devils are looking to change this year How to Follow the Action Every match of the 2018 NCAA Championships will be carried on the ESPN family of networks and on WatchESPN. The action will be broadcast on ESPNU, ESPN and ESPN2 and every mat will have a live feed on WatchESPN. Thursday - March 15 ESPNU All Day Session I (Pigtails & First Round) : 12 p.m. Session II (Wrestleback Prelims & First Round, Championship Second Round, Consolation Round) : 7 p.m. Friday March 16 ESPNU 11 a.m. ESPN 8 p.m. Session III (Quarterfinals and Wrestlebacks) : 11 a.m. Session IV (Semifinals and Wrestlebacks) : 8 p.m. Saturday March 17 ESPN2 Session V (Wrestleback Semifinals, 3rd, 5th, 7th-place matches) : 11 a.m. Session VI (Finals) : 8 p.m.
Session VI (Finals) : 8 p.m. How They Got to Cleveland Duke landed five wrestlers four with automatic berths and one at-large bid in the NCAA Championships to tie the program record. The Blue Devils also had five in 2015. Jacob Kasper captured the ACC heavyweight crown to earn one of the five bids. The title was his first and Duke s first since 2016. Mitch Finesilver and Zach Finesilver both finished as runners-up at 157 and 165, respectively, to grab automatic spots. Matt Finesilver rounded out the automatic qualifiers with one of the four ACC spots at 174. He took fourth at ACCs. Josh Finesilver completed the group by earning one of five at-large spots at 133 pounds. Josh s wins over fellow at-large qualifier Rico Montoya of Northern Colorado and No. 25 in the coaches ranking Sean Nickell of Cal State Bakersfield proved crucial to him being selected. Recapping the 2017 NCAA Championships Jacob Kasper completed his run at the 2017 NCAA Championships, taking sixth place overall at heavyweight. With his sixth-place showing, Kasper became the third Blue Devil in program history to earn All-America honors with a place on the podium. Duke finished in 32nd place with 9.5 points. Kasper s All-America honor marks the fourth straight season a Blue Devil finished on the podium at NCAA Championships. Also competing for Duke were Jake Faust and Connor Bass. Looking At Duke The Blue Devils finished the regular season with a 7-7 overall record and took fourth at the ACC Championships. The seven wins were three more than they had last season, while the fourth-place finish was the highest since 2015 and the second time under Glen Lanham. There was a lot of movement in the Duke lineup this season and Mitch and Zach Finesilver were among those. Mitch bumped up to 157 from 149 pounds, while Zach made the leap from 141 to 165. Kasper Vs. Nevills & the Field Jacob Kasper, the No. 4 overall seed, will wrestle AJ Nevills of Fresno State. Nevills is 26-8 overall and earned an automatic bid after taking second a the Big 12 Championships. A first-round win will put Kasper up against No. 13 seed William Miller of Edinboro for a first time or a rematch with Purdue s Shawn Streck who he defeated 15-0 in Las Vegas. Against the full heavyweight field, Kasper is 15-6 for his career. Kasper and Nevills Common Opponents Opponent, School Kasper Nevills Nathan Butler, Stanford W, 6-4, W, 3-1 L, 1-7
Nathan Butler, Stanford W, 6-4, W, 3-1 L, 1-7 Robert Winters, Northern Colo. W, Fall, 3:36 W, FAll, 6:38 Jacob Sieder, CSU Bakersfield W, TF, 20-4 W, Dec., 11-4 Mark Penyascek, CSU Baskersfield W, MD, 10-1 W, MD, 11-0 Mitch Finesilver s Bracket Seeded 12th overall, Mitch Finesilver will wrestle Casey Sparkman of Kent State. It will be the first meeting between the two. Sparkman is 22-16 overall and took second at the MAC Championships to earn an automatic bid. A first-round win will pit Mitch against either No. 5 seed Alec Pantaleo of Michigan or Ian Brown of Lehigh. Both would be new opponents as well. Against the full 157-pound field, Mitch is 9-4 for his career. Zach Finesilver s Field Zach Finesilver will go up against No. 2 overall seed David McFadden of Virginia Tech. In the two matches against McFadden this season, Zach lost by decision, 6-4 and by major decision, 22-9, in the ACC title match. A first-round win will pit Zach against No. 15 seed Anthony Valencia of Arizona State or Andrew Fogarty of North Dakota State. A setback puts him in the consolation bracket against the loser between May Bethea of Penn and Gordon Wolf of Lehigh - the pigtail match at 165. Against the full 165-pound field, Zach is 1-4 for his career. Matt Finesilver s Bracket Matt Finesilver toes the line against top-seeded Zahid Valencia of Arizona State. It is the first meeting between the two. A win means he will wrestle the winner of the Seldon Wright (ODU) and No. 16 seed Christian Brucki (Central Michigan), while a loss pits him against the loser of that match. Against the full 174-pound field, Matt is 5-5. Looking at Josh Finesilver s Path Josh Finesilver opens his NCAA Championship agianst No. 16 seed Mitch McKee of Minnesota. It is the first meeting between the pair. A win advances Josh to wrestle either No. 1 seed Seth Gross of San Diego State or Matthew Schmitt of West Virginia. A loss puts him down in the consolation bracket against the loser of that match. Against the full 133-pound field, Josh is 1-12. Jacob Kasper Joins the Century Club Redshirt senior heavyweight Jacob Kasper joined the elite century club with a win at North Carolina. He captured his 100th victory in dominating fashion, 16-1, over Andrew Gunning. He is just the fourth Blue Devil to reach the mark. John Barone holds the record with 112. Kasper owns 103 victories and is poised to finish second in school history with matches remaining at the NCAA
finish second in school history with matches remaining at the NCAA Championships. Duke s Trend Under Lanham The Blue Devils are sending a program-record five qualifiers to the NCAA Championships for the second time, multiple wrestlers for the sixth consecutive season and at least three for the third straight season. Prior to the 2016 season, Duke had never sent more than two wrestlers to NCAA Championships in consecutive seasons. Duke is ranked 18th in the InterMat poll, and received three votes in the latest USA Today/NWCA rankings. It s only the second time in history Duke has received votes in the poll. The Blue Devils have never been ranked in the top 25, but have finished among the top 32 teams in the NCAA the past four seasons. Prior to the team s 29th-place finish in 2014, Duke had never finished higher than 35th and had never put together three consecutive top 35 finishes. #GoDuke NCAA.pdf