In wrestling, appropriately enough, the heaviest burden in any meet often comes down to the heavyweights.
They’re the final wrestlers in most matches, the ones with the last chance to secure victory or succumb to defeat.
On the Terrapin wrestling team, a freshman holds that responsibility.
Spencer Myers, a heavyweight wrestler from Selinsgrove, Pa., has been counted on to anchor the Terps all season. And in his brief, three-month career, Myers has begun to realize the pressures of being the last guy on the mat.
“Whichever weight is last has the most pressure, because if it comes down to you, it falls on your shoulders,” Myers said. “And if you lose, it doesn’t feel too good.”
Losing is something Myers had little experience with before coming to College Park. At Selinsgrove Area High School, Myers lost just six times in his sophomore and junior years and compiled a stellar 44-0 record as a senior.
But in college, Myers (20-9) has become accustomed to facing the nation’s top competition, making his job as the team’s closer all the more difficult. Four times this season, Myers has wrestled with the match on the line.
At times, it’s been a struggle.
“There’s really no way to deal with [the pressure],” Myers said. “You just got to put it towards wrestling — you can’t let it go to your head.”
“More times this year than it should’ve happened, it’s come down to him,” 157-pound Kyle John said. “So yeah, it’s more pressure on him.”
This season, Myers’ matches have determined the overall outcome against Liberty, No. 16 Missouri, No. 22 Virginia Tech and North Carolina, and so far he’s had trouble adapting his game to those situations. In the first three tries, Myers lost twice by decision and once by an injury forfeit, accounting for three of the four Terps’ losses this season.
But Jan. 29 against the Tar Heels, Myers’ fortunes began to change. With the Terps down 18-16 and just the heavyweight class remaining, Myers scored his first victory of the season in a late-match, pressure situation, defeating the Tar Heels’ Ben Brooks by major decision, 12-0.
“One out of four is not a real good percentage, but the most important thing is the last time he got that opportunity, he got it,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “This weekend he showed he’s turning a corner, but he’s still got to continue building.”
“I don’t want to lose — I want to do anything I can to win,” Myers said. “I lost to Virginia Tech, and when I walked out for UNC, it just kept going through my head how I lost. I knew I needed to come back for the team, so I had to do everything I could.”
But for a young grappler such as Myers, success may come with more experience. John, a junior, and 141-pound senior Jon Kohler also faced do-or-die scenarios this season against Boston and Navy, respectively. Both came away with victories for the Terps. As far as McCoy is concerned, those situations require the same mindset as any other match.
“In that situation, all you got to do is go out there and win your match,” McCoy said. “What I told him this week was just to go out there and wrestle. If you go out and do your job, everything will be fine.”
It’s a burdensome responsibility for an athlete who came to this university not even expecting to start. But even with little experience, Myers is still trying to make his mark on the team.
“I give some of the [opposing] guys respect, and they give me no respect,” Myers said. “I get nothing — no recognition, anything. So I have to go out there and prove it to them that I’m the best.”
vitale@umdbk.com
