The Terrapins wrestling team didn’t fare much better in its second regular season in the Big Ten. A year after going winless in their new conference, the Terps snagged just one Big Ten win during a 1-8 conference campaign.
Through the struggles, though, the Terps have maintained that their work in the gym would lead to results when postseason tournaments came around. Now the time has come for them to try to prove themselves.
“This is the weekend where it all matters,” 141-pound Alfred Bannister said. “If you don’t perform here, there’s no national tournament for you. If ever your hard work is going to pay off, this is the weekend.”
The Terps will send 10 wrestlers to Iowa City, Iowa, this weekend for the Big Ten championships, though only three received pre-seeds. The final bracket for all wrestlers will be released Friday afternoon.
Of the nearly 40-wrestler roster, only about a quarter will have a chance to compete against the best the conference has to offer. But coach Kerry McCoy still believes it’s a full-team effort.
“The focus is having the 10 best guys representing us at the tournament and the other 30-plus guys on the team that are there to help the other 10 guys perform best,” McCoy said.
The Terps’ two redshirt senior captains — 133-pound Geoffrey Alexander and 157-pound Lou Mascola — earned the highest seeds on the team. Alexander is the highest-ranked Terp as the No. 4 seed, while Mascola, the Terps’ leader in dual wins with 11, was awarded the No. 8 seed.
Bannister doesn’t expect the co-captains to let the pressure of their final conference tournament affect them.
“It’s their last season, so they have to put it on the line,” Bannister said. “Hopefully if they have any doubt or any struggles, they push it back, ’cause it’s their last shot.”
Josh Snook, wrestling at 174 pounds, is the other pre-seeded wrestler, at No. 12 of 14.
The seven other Terps competing in Iowa City will be 125-pound Michael Beck, Bannister, 149-pound Wade Hodges, 165-pound Brendan Burnham, 184-pound Mark Colabucci, 197-pound Garrett Wesneski and heavyweight Youssif Hemida.
While many have struggled this season, Bannister said some of them, such as Beck and Colabucci, can lean on recent successes. For the others, it’s just about winning their first match and getting on a roll from there.
“Anything can happen at these things,” administrative assistant Kevin Kearns said.
Earlier this season, the Terps had the opportunity to grapple in Carver-Hawkeye Arena during their dual with Iowa on Nov. 20, something McCoy hopes will aid his team in the tournament.
“Being there once before definitely helps because those fans are the loudest fans in the country. They’re real wrestling fans,” Bannister said. “It’ll catch somebody who hasn’t been there off guard, so it’s an advantage.”
After a tough first two regular-season campaigns in the Big Ten, the Terps want to change the conference’s perception of them. The regular season only dictates seeding, not results, so the focus is squarely on what they can accomplish this weekend.
“If you struggled throughout the season, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Bannister said. “Everyone is 0-0 heading into the weekend. … It’s just you and how much work you put in. You just go in there with the mentality that you’re going to win.”
