The event sold itself. Host No. 14 Lehigh would be matching strengths against fellow perennial wrestling power No. 21 Hofstra, and as the sentimental sideshow, Lehigh Valley would welcome the return of one of its favorite sons, Terrapin head coach Pat Santoro.
When Terp senior Adam DeCosmo pinned Lehigh’s Dave Nakasone 1:29 into the opening match, that sideshow looked to have some shock in store for the fans at Leeman-Turner Arena, but the win proved to be nothing more than a rousing opening act.
The Terps dropped the remainder of their bouts with Lehigh, losing 36-6, and went on to fall 35-10 to Hofstra.
“It was a little bit anticlimactic,” Santoro said. “But I think we learned a lot about ourselves this weekend. The score didn’t show it, but halfway through some of the matches, a couple guys realized they can hang with the best in the country. If we wrestled them again, I think it could be a different outcome.”
In actuality, the Terps (6-9) had an uphill battle to begin with. Santoro only brought eight of his wrestlers to compete in the dual competition, as junior Mike Maceroli (174 pounds) and freshman heavyweight Bryan Reiss nursed injuries. The gaps in the lineup forced the Terps to forfeit two bouts and surrender 12 points in each contest.
“It’s tough to give up 12 points to any team, but to do it against some of the best teams in the country really hurts,” Santoro said. “That’s like giving a team a two-touchdown lead in football.”
Still, the biggest hurdle for the Terps, Santoro said, was his young team’s apprehension of wrestling before a big-time crowd in a big-time atmosphere.
“It’s a big difference from a lot of the wrestling we have here, because we don’t have that many fans yet,” said freshman Brendan Byrne, who lost 5-4 to Lehigh’s John Stout. “With a crowd like that, you can get surprised because you don’t know what to expect, but then you settle in.”
Byrne was one of several young Terps to come out shaky following DeCosmo’s opening win. Freshman James Knox fell 7-0 to Lehigh’s Matt Fisk at 125 pounds, and the usually steady freshman Alex Krom dropped a 6-1 decision to Cory Cooperman at 141 pounds.
But even seniors struggled with the transition, as Adam James (157 pounds) fell 14-4 to Lehigh’s Derek Zinck and 15-2 to Hofstra’s James Strouse, proving it was not just a matter of inexperience, but a matter of inexperience in big-match situations as well.
Regardless, the losses were not devastating to a team happy to be wrestling at this level of competition just weeks before the ACC Tournament.
“It’s like lifting 200-pound weights,” James said. “When you go and pick up that 100-pound weight, it’s going to feel lighter.”
Contact reporter Jason Fraley at fraleydbk@gmail.com.
