Five Blue Devils Ranked in NCAA Coaches? Polls

DURHAM, N.C.—Five Blue Devil wrestlers are ranked among the nation's best after the first half of the season according to the first of four coaches' panel rankings released by the NCAA Thursday afternoon. Redshirt junior Conner Hartmann leads the program-best pack of five with a No. 7 ranking at 197 pounds.

Joining Hartmann among the top 32 in their respective weight classes are Immanuel Kerr-Brown (157) at No. 24, Jacob Kasper (184) 26th, Marcus Cain (149) 30th and Brian Dorsey (165) 32nd. Both Hartmann and Kerr-Brown are tops among ACC wrestlers at their respective weights.

The final rankings will be one of the tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. This year's event is March 19-21 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Ranked seventh by InterMat as well, Hartmann is 10-2 overall and a perfect 3-0 in ACC action. He leads all ACC wrestlers at 197 as he looks to return to the podium in March. The Port Orchard, Wash., native is 3-1 against ranked foes with the lone loss coming against No. 1 J'Den Cox of Missouri.

Kerr-Brown, a redshirt senior captain, is 15-5 on the year and 7-2 in duals. He sports a 1-2 mark against ranked opponents and owns a pair of third-place tournament finishes this year. A true sophomore, Kasper paces the Blue Devils with an 18-6 overall record and a 6-2 mark in duals. The Lexington, Ohio native is 2-1 in ACC matches and is coming off of a hard-fought 3-2 decision at Virginia.

Cain, after missing a month of action, is 11-5 overall and 2-3 in only five duals. The redshirt senior is competing back down at 149 after wrestling up to 165 a year ago and has adjusted well with two top-five tournament placings.

A relative newcomer to the show for Duke is Dorsey at 165 pounds. The Austin, Texas native is 11-5 overall and 1-1 in duals. He turned in a strong performance at the Southern Scuffle, advancing to the second day of competition and going 3-2 overall at the prestigious tournament.

Wrestlers in each weight class will be measured by winning percentage, rating percentage index (RPI) and coaches' rankings to earn spots in their qualifying tournaments for the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The coaches' rankings are compiled by a vote of coaches representing each qualifying tournament.

Duke is back in action Saturday Jan. 24 at the Appalachian State Open.