Maryland wrestling coach Kerry McCoy was adamant going into Sunday’s season-opening dual meet against the freshmen-heavy Penn Quakers that his squad’s collective experience didn’t translate to an overall advantage.
He was right.
Penn’s vaunted freshman class went a perfect 6-0 on the afternoon, including two major decisions.
So for the fourth straight year, Maryland wrestling lost their opening dual, falling 26-6 to the Quakers.
Maryland opened up the action with a freshman of their own, 184-pounder Kyle Jasenski. He picked up a decision win over Penn’s Ryan Farber, 7-5. Jasenski’s defense was on full display, fighting off late takedown attempts from Farber in both the second and third period.
“He did a great job,” McCoy said. “He went out there, scored a lot of points and kept his poise. I’m excited that he was able to go out there and get his first win.”
But the Terps lost their next six matches. David-Brian Whisler (197 pounds), Mansur Abdul Malik (heavyweight), Michael Doetsch (141 pounds), and Alfred Bannister all lost by decision while both Brandon Cray (125 pounds) and Orion Anderson (133 pounds) lost by major decisions.
Bannister, who is ranked No. 18, faced No. 20 Anthony Artalona in the only ranked matchup of the competition.
The two battled for two periods before Bannister tied the score at one in the third period. After Bannister scored a takedown in the third, Artalona was awarded one point due to stalling. The match went into overtime, where Artalona managed to counter Bannister’s attempted takedown to win the match, 5-3.
Both Youssif Hemida and Ryan Diehl — Maryland’s only two wrestlers other than Bannister who qualified for last year’s NCAA tournament — did not wrestle for the Terps.
“We’re always looking to put the best team out there,” McCoy said. “Those guys will be competing along with everyone else.”
157-pounder Adam Whitesell broke Maryland’s losing streak with a decision win over Joe Oliva. Whitesell dominated the first period, nearly pinning Oliva twice, before taking the decision, 12-10.
“I just wanted to go out there and get the wins flowing again,” Whitesell said. “It fires me up to go out there and change the tide like that. I was really excited to go put up some points in that first period.”
But Whitesell’s contribution couldn’t spark a significant turnaround for the Terps. The last two matches saw 165-pounder Philip Spadafora lose in overtime in his dual debut for the Terps, and 174-pounder Josh Ugalde losing by decision.
So after Maryland’s first dual meet of the season, McCoy knows there may be changes to his lineups to find the best combination for the rest of the year.
“We’re going to figure out what’s best for the individual needs and what’s best for the team,” he said.
