"There were a lot of nerves, but I think the hard work in the [wrestling] room and that my teammates are behind me no matter what…I just wanted to win for them," said Walsh. "UNC is a great team and it is just great to be able to win this senior year."
The win is the first for Duke over North Carolina since 2004 and the Blue Devils improve to 5-7 overall on the year and to 1-3 against ACC opponents. The win over the No. 13 Tar Heels is the 25th all-time against North Carolina and is the highest ranked opponent the Blue Devils have beaten since rankings started being tracked.
With Duke sporting an 18-17 lead heading into the final bout thanks to a decision from No. 5 Conner Hartmann at 197 pounds, the match came down to the heavyweights with a winner take all bout.
Facing a near identical situation to a week ago against Gardner-Webb, Walsh stepped up and wrestled an outstanding match to secure the Duke victory. The redshirt senior scored a takedown in the first period for a 2-0 lead and proceeded to build his riding time.
Daniel escaped late in the opening stanza to make the match 2-1 and picked up another escape midway through the second period to even the match. However, Walsh had built his riding time to over two minutes with the Duke veteran starting the third in the bottom position.
North Carolina elected to option to start the final session, giving Walsh the 3-2 lead. A second stalling warning on Walsh evened it at 3-3 on the scoreboard with time ticking down, but the two minutes of riding time in Walsh's favor proved to be the difference as he held off last-second shots from Daniel.
"It was a team effort tonight," Walsh said. "Every single person has been working their butt off. We've put the time and the hard work in and to be able to grow with this team over the course of the season has been a joy."
The opportunity for Walsh to win the match for the Blue Devils in dramatic fashion got started with a win from Thayer Atkins at 125 pounds. A pin by Connor Bass at 157 pounds and an upset victory from Jake Faust at 165 buoyed the Blue Devils through the second half of the lineup and to the victory. Sophomore Mitch Finesilver also added three crucial points for the Blue Devils at 149 pounds.
For the second consecutive season Atkins got the better of North Carolina's Cody Karns, scoring an 11-6 decision to give the Blue Devils the 3-0 lead. Karns scored first with a takedown in the opening minute and led 3-1 early in the second, but Atkins tied it up and then dominated the action in the third period for his eighth win of the year.
A forfeit by the Blue Devils at 133 pounds led into a highly anticipated 141-pound match between a red-hot Zach Finesilver and No. 11 Joey Ward. The North Carolina junior attacked right away, but Zach fought off the early shot to keep the match scoreless. Ward got the takedown midway through the period and added two more nearfall points for the 4-1 lead after three minutes of wrestling.
Ward built his lead to 5-1, but was unable to score again as the Duke redshirt freshman battled through a tough final two minutes. Now 20-10 overall, four of Zach's losses have come against top-11 opponents this year.
Mitch Finesilver followed his brother with a strong showing at 149 pounds. The sophomore picked up his 12th straight victory, besting Joey Moon by a 9-6 decision. After a scoreless first period, Mitch scored early in the second and secured the win in the third with a late two points. The win was his team-best 23rd of the year and pulled Duke to within three points at 9-6.
With momentum trending in North Carolina's favor, Bass did his part in changing that with a crucial third-period pin of Jack Clark. In a tight match that featured just one takedown, Bass used a third-period escape to go ahead 3-2. Then, in a quick turn of events, Bass put Clark on his back for the fall that put Duke ahead again, 12-9.
Faust added to the excitement at 165 pounds, upsetting No. 9 John Michael Staudenmayer, 5-3. Faust scored a takedown late in the first period and then broke a 2-2 draw in the closing seconds of the second for the 4-2 advantage with two minutes left to wrestle. Staudenmayer got a penalty point to pull within one, but he was unable to turn Faust in the third period to force overtime.
North Carolina picked up eight points over the next two matches to regain the lead 17-15. The lead was short-lived as Hartmann won for the 89th time in his career to put the Blue Devils back ahead and set up the heart-stopping final bout.
Duke closes out its home schedule Saturday, Feb. 13 against No. 8 Virginia Tech. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m., in Card Gymnasium.
Results:
125: Thayer Atkins (Duke) dec. Cody Karns (UNC), 11-6 - Duke 3, UNC 0
133: James Szymanski (UNC) wins by forfeit - Duke 3, UNC 6
141: No. 11 Joey Ward (UNC) dec. Zach Finesilver (Duke), 6-1 - Duke 3, UNC 9
149: No. 10 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec. Joey Moon (UNC), 9-6 - Duke 6, UNC 9
157: Connor Bass (Duke) pinned Jack Clark (UNC), 6:00 - Duke 12, UNC 9
165: Jake Faust (Duke) dec. No. 9 John Michael Staudenmayer, 5-3 - Duke 15, UNC 9
174: No. 2 Ethan Ramos (UNC) tech fall Brian Dorsey (Duke), 27-8 - Duke 15, UNC 14
184: No. 19 Alex Utley (UNC) dec. Trey Adamson (Duke), 4-1 - Duke 15, UNC 17
197: No. 5 Conner Hartmann (Duke) dec. Chip Ness (UNC), 4-2 - Duke 18, UNC 17
285: Brendan Walsh (Duke) dec. Cory Daniel (UNC), 3-2 - Duke 21, UNC 17
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