With an 11-4 record and two wins against nationally ranked opponents, Terrapin wrestling heavyweight Pat Gilmore is on the cusp of stardom. Perhaps the only thing left is to drop his subdued demeanor.
At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Gilmore certainly strikes an imposing figure. Despite all the good things he had to say about Gilmore, coach Kerry McCoy still wishes he would get meaner. Three of his four losses this season were close, and in each one McCoy said Gilmore had opportunities but needed a “killer instinct.”
As a redshirt sophomore last season, Gilmore was the primary heavyweight for McCoy from the start. An illness during the summer caused him to get off to a slow start, and the Richboro, Pa., native was often lost amidst a team full of strong personalities.
Gilmore finished the season 24-18 and placed fourth at the ACC Championship, just missing the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Tournament. McCoy knew a healthy Gilmore would be better prepared but wondered if he’d be able to step up to fill a leadership role. McCoy got a quick answer.
“Right from the beginning you could tell his attitude from this year to last year had completely changed for the better,” McCoy said. “Now he expects to win: he commands respect from his teammates and opponents.”
Most members of the program agreed Gilmore had improved, but his inability to close out matches hampered him at times. He needed a signature win, and his opportunity came in the Terps’ Nov. 20 match against then-No.4 Cornell.
Entering the third and final period of his match, Gilmore was in dire straits.
Cornell held a slim 17-15 advantage in team score, and Gilmore trailed then-No.14 Josh Arnone 4-1 in front of a vocal road crowd. In the previous match, Terp star Hudson Taylor had pinned his opponent to give Gilmore and the Terps the opportunity to upset the Big Red. But with the match on the line, Taylor and the rest of the team were relegated to cheerleaders.
With three seconds left, Gilmore took down Arnone to knot the match at four and scored one more takedown in overtime, thrusting the Terps onto the national wrestling scene with one of the biggest wins in program history.
“I was really trying to feed off the energy from Hudson’s match, and I could see he was tired,” Gilmore said. “When I won I just ran over to my teammates. It was really cool to see them so excited, and obviously it was cool to win the match as well.”
Gilmore’s performance early this season has propelled him to new heights. The early success has led him to a No. 19 heavyweight ranking in the country and an important supporting role behind the Terps’ All-American senior trio, which includes Taylor, Alex Krom and Steven Bell.
Now, because of their newfound depth, the Terps have legitimate national championship aspirations — in part because of Gilmore’s victory at Cornell. But if they expect to seriously contend in March, they need wrestlers like Gilmore to continue to rise to the challenge.
McCoy would like nothing more than to make the All-American trio a quartet.
“There are a couple of other guys on the team who could get that status,” Gilmore said. “It would definitely be a treat to be a part of that cool group.”
lemaire@umdbk.com
