The Terrapins wrestling team has sworn by its hard work this season, promising the results would show over time. Those efforts seemed to emerge Jan. 10 with the program’s first-ever Big Ten victory over a winless Michigan St.
On Friday, the Terps fell to No. 20 Indiana, though they were able to claim 13 points against a ranked opponent. But the struggles continued, and worsened, two days later at Purdue.
The Terps fell to the Boilermakers, 32-6, on Sunday afternoon. Four of the Terps’ individual losses came by double digits or fall on the afternoon. Additionally, the loss marks the Terps’ sixth straight dual defeat by at least 13 points this season.
Coach Kerry McCoy’s squad only had two victorious wrestlers, 133-pound Tyler Goodwin and heavyweight Dawson Peck. McCoy went with Goodwin as opposed to No. 13 Geoffrey Alexander, who has battled injuries for much of the season. Goodwin rewarded McCoy’s lineup change when he put Terps on the board with a 11-7 victory.
Peck’s victory came in the final match of the afternoon, with the final team result already decided. Nonetheless, he fought for a come-from-behind 8-4 victory.
Even the Terps (4-8, 1-8 Big Ten) star, No. 19 157-pound Lou Mascola, struggled. By the end of the first period, Mascola found himself down 6-2, before eventually falling 10-5. The defeat marked Mascola’s first dual-meet loss since falling to No. 1 Isaiah Martinez of Illinois at the Grapple at the Garden on Nov. 29, 2015.
McCoy decided to make a change to start the mean, opting for 125-pound Michael Beck instead of fellow 125-pounder Jhared Simmons. Simmons started the first eight duals for the Terps, but Beck has filled in for three of the last four as McCoy searches for answers at the lightest weight class.
Beck extended the season-long trend at 125 pounds, though, falling 18-6 to Ben Thornton as Purdue (7-2, 2-1) took a 4-0 lead.
McCoy continued to alter the lineup when he went with 141-pound Billy Rappo. His captain, redshirt freshman Alfred Bannister, has lost three straight.
Rappo took on the Boilermakers’ Danny Sabatello, but Rappo’s success on the open circuit didn’t translate in the Big Ten contest as he fell in a minor decision. Freshman 149-pound Wade Hodges and 165-pound Brendan Burnham then both fell to each go 0-2 on the current road trip.
Fellow freshman, 184-pound Jaron Smith, also struggled and dropped his battle, snapping a three-bout winning streak.