When the Terrapins wrestling team’s Jan. 24 dual against Wisconsin was postponed due to snow, the Terps were presented with a unique opportunity. Amid the closing matches of their season, they would have two duals on Feb. 14, one against the Badgers and the second against George Mason in the afternoon.
The Terps struggled mightily in the opener, falling to Wisconsin, 25-12. Between 157-pound Lou Mascola’s victory in the second bout of the match and 133-pound Geoffrey Alexander’s win later on, the Terps lost six straight contests, turning a 3-3 dual into a 25-3 blowout.
The loss to Wisconsin ends the Terps’ conference slate with a 1-8 record. Their lone win came against a then-winless Michigan State squad.
About an hour later, the Terps continued their day with an afternoon battle with George Mason. Against the Patriots, the they rolled to a 31-9 drubbing.
“I’m happy with the way these guys responded after a tough match with Wisconsin,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “After Wisconsin where we might’ve been a little flat, not necessarily our best effort, so to be able to bounce back after not as good a performance wraps the weekend up and helps build momentum the rest of the year.”
In their dual with Wisconsin — the premier matchup of the day — the Terps (5-12, 1-8 Big Ten) sent out No. 16 Geoffrey Alexander against No. 7 Ryan Taylor of Wisconsin (3-7, 2-6). Alexander jumped on Taylor from the get-go, notching a takedown and near fall in the first period to begin his day with a 6-1 lead, and held on for an 8-6 victory.
“I’m so proud of him,” Mascola said. “Today definitely opened up a lot of people’s eyes that Geoff’s going to get it again. It was great seeing him put it on against them.”
Alexander followed up his performance with an 11-8 win over Ryan Renkey of George Mason (7-12) to extend his winning streak to seven matches.
After weeks of struggles and four straight losses, Mascola bounced back against TJ Ruschell of the Badgers. Mascola nearly pinned Ruschell twice as the two rolled on the mat, and by the end of the second period, he was up 10-2. The redshirt senior ended up beating Ruschell by 10-7.
Mascola followed up his win with another strong performance against the Patriots’ Greg Flournoy. Mascola scored a takedown with six seconds remaining to clinch a 3-1 victory over Flournoy. He now has a team-leading 11 dual wins.
“It felt good,” Mascola said. “It felt different, not something I’ve been feeling a lot lately.”
After losing to Wisconsin’s Johnny Jimenez by 7-2, in the first dual, 125-pound Michael Beck rebounded against George Mason’s Bill Prochniewski. Beck held a 6-0 lead early on before pinning Prochniewski.
In the final contest against Wisconsin, 141-pound Billy Rappo notched his first career Big Ten victory. McCoy turned to Alfred Bannister to close out the dual with the Patriots at 141. After snapping his losing streak last week against Michigan, Bannister fell, 2-1, to Tejon Anthony.
While 149-pound Wade Hodges started against the Badgers, Diehl got the nod in the second dual. But after injuring his ankle less than a minute in, he struggled mightily. Diehl went down 7-1 before the referees ended the match due to stalling.
In the 165-pound, 174-pound, 184-pound and heavyweight classes, McCoy decided to switch things up for the second meet. All four moves paid off.
After each wrestler in those classes lost against Wisconsin, the substitutes were all able to top George Mason.
“It was a situation where we’re still trying to iron out our No. 1s in a bunch of weight classes,” McCoy said. “In the next week and a half, we’ll solidify our lineup for the Big Tens.”
Brendan Burnham, wrestling at 165 pounds, came out in the second battle of the day after Tyler Manion was pinned against Wisconsin. With his 8-4 win, Burnham scored his first victory since Jan. 22 against Navy.
In the second match, McCoy opted for Josh Snook at 174 pounds and Mark Colabucci at 184 pounds. Snook was able to pull out a 3-1 win in a sudden victory before Colabucci got back on track with a 17-2 win, his first action since a loss to Iowa on Nov. 20.
Heavyweight Dawson Peck made McCoy look smart with his substitutions when the redshirt sophomore went out against Matthew Voss. Peck got a late takedown to force sudden victory, then secured the 7-5 win with another tackle.
While the loss to the Badgers was a disappointing way to end the Terps’ conference slate, McCoy was happy to see his team respond in the manner it did. It was a long day with numerous peaks and valleys of emotion, but at the end of it, the Terps grew as wrestlers and accumulated some valuable experience.
“Some guys wrestle better than you that day, and sometimes it’s just not your day,” Mascola said. “I don’t necessarily think we came out flat, but I see a lot of positive.”
