DURHAM, N.C.—Duke University freshmen Connor Bass and Alexander Belaia-Martiniouk captured a pair of fourth-place finishes at the Appalachian State Open today for the Blue Devils wrestling squad. Bass took fourth at 149 pounds, while Belaia-Martiniouk finished fourth in the 184-pound group.
Bass improved to 8-10 on the year with a 2-2 mark at the tournament to place in his second tournament of the year. He opened the day with consecutive decisions to move into the semifinal where he dropped narrow 3-2 match to Aaron Scott of Appalachian State. In the third-place match, Bass fell to Ryan Hunsberger 9-2 to take fourth.
Belaia-Martiniouk, redshirting for the Blue Devils this season went 3-2 on the day and posted his first career fall to advance to the consolation final. The rookie 184-pounder picked up a double overtime win to start the day and added a second decision before falling to Jesse Masters of King College to drop into the consolation bracket. After the fall, Belaia-Martiniouk fell to Forrest Przybysz from Appalachian State 12-6 to earn his first collegiate top-four finish.
Joey Abbate came up just shy of a top-four finish at 149 pounds, falling to third-place finisher Ryan Hunsberger in the consolation semifinals. Abbate posted a 2-2 record on the day to move to 2-4 overall.
At 165 pounds, redshirt Will Hahn dropped his opening bout before rebounding with four straight wins, including two pins. Looking to earn a spot on the podium, Hahn lost a tough 4-1 decision to Sawa Kostis to end the day.
The Blue Devils return to dual action Jan. 29 against VMI in Card Gymnasium. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
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