11/11/2007 - Duke Sports Information

PEMBROKE, N.C. — The Duke wrestling team continued its early season success as seven of their 16 competing wrestlers placed in the top five at the UNC Pembroke Open on Saturday. Redshirt sophomores Michael Degli Obizzi and John Barone won their weight classes, each going 5-0 at 149 and 184 pounds, respectively. Three more Blue Devils finished just out of the top five, losing in the fifth-place match.

At 133 pounds, redshirt senior captain Bryan Gibson won his first three matches and then pinned his first opponent in wrestlebacks before falling in the third place match to take fourth in Pembroke. It was Gibson’s first competition of the season, and with his four wins he moved into 18th on the all-time Duke wins list with 67 career victories.

On his way to the championship at 149 pounds, Degli Obizzi picked up two major decisions, a fall and a technical fall. He defeated the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds at the tournament in his first action of 2007-08 after redshirting last season.

Sophomores Jared Sernoffsky and Voris Tejada continued their early season success with third and fifth place finishes, respectively. Sernoffsky went 5-1 and Tejada wrestled to a 6-2 mark on the day. With his 30-11 career record, Tejada is now in 11th on the Duke all-time list for career winning percentage with a .732 clip. Sernoffsky had taken second and Tejada had placed third at The Citadel Open on Nov. 4.

In the 165 pound weight class, junior captain Addison Nuding has an impressive run on his way to a second place finish in the Pembroke Open. Nuding won five straight with two major decisions before succumbing in a close 3-1 decision to the No. 5 seed in the title match.

In winning the 184 pound division, Barone earned two technical falls and three decisions. The team captain from Shirley, N.Y., is now 40-16 at Duke, which places him 16th on the career winning percentage list.

Redshirt sophomore Wade Van Sickle placed for the second week in a row, this time third in the heavyweight division. Van Sickle went 5-1 with four decisions on his way to an impressive finish.

Wrestling unattached, redshirt junior captain Dan Tulley wrestled to five straight victories to capture the 197 pound title at Pembroke.

Sophomore Spencer Jasper (141 pounds), redshirt sophomore Ben Wales (174) and redshirt junior Dan Fox (197) all were defeated in the fifth-place match, just missing the top five in the meet.

The Blue Devils next meet is the all day East Stroudsburg Open in East Stroudsburg, Pa., on Saturday, Nov. 17. It will mark their third weekend of five in a row with meets, which concludes on Dec. 1 at the Nittany Lion Open.

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