When the Terrapins wrestling team ran into Xfinity Pavilion on Saturday, 157-pound Lou Mascola led the line of Terps while 133-pound Geoffrey Alexander capped the back end. With many in the crowd on their feet and cheering, the two redshirt seniors paraded the Terps onto the mat before the Senior Day festivities got underway.
Once the recognition ended and the families shared hugs, the Terps looked to defeat Rider to cap an uneven regular season on a high note.
Of the six seniors who competed, though, only 184-pound Mark Colabucci notched a victory. The Terps dropped the final dual of the regular season, 26-12, to Rider. The Terps were pinned twice and only four wrestlers won their bouts.
“It’s disappointing how our seniors’ days went, disappointing for those guys,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “It hits home a little seeing them so visibly frustrated. Winning and losing, it’s a part of the game.”
While the Terps (5-13, 1-8 Big Ten) struggled for most of the day, they did get a rare win from the 125-pound weight class. Before last week’s pin of Bill Prochniewski of George Mason, 125-Michael Beck had suffered seven consecutive losses, all but one to Big Ten foes. He earned his second straight win with a 5-1 decision over Zach Valcarce.
In the 133-pound matchup, Alexander fell behind 8-2 and couldn’t recover in a 13-7 upset loss to Robert Deutsch.
“It’s a win and lose situation,” Alexander said. “When it works everyone is pumped up and I’m excited, when it doesn’t that’s what happens and I put myself in a hole.”
After the disappointing end to Alexander’s home career, the Terps split the next two bouts. Alfred Bannister claimed 4-2 sudden victory at 141 pounds before 149-pound Wade Hodges was shut out by No. 20 B.J. Clagon.
Mascola faced off against No. 15 Chad Walsh, who he had gone against about two months before at The Midlands. In their first meeting, Mascola jumped out to a quick lead before Walsh took hold and pinned the Terp in the final minute of the dual.
This time around, Mascola wasted an early 6-0 advantage after Walsh shoved him to the ground and got the fall.
“Lou’s wrestled that kid so many times, but that’s just something stuck in his head,” McCoy said. “It’s kinda a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead of shaking it off, it get’s to him a little bit.”
After the captain lost, so did two more seniors, 165-pound Tyler Manion and 174-pound Derrick Evanovich. Colabucci, though, was able to end the skid with a 3-1 victory over Mike Fagg-Daves.
McCoy opted to have 174-pound Josh Snook to wrestle in the 197-pound weight class. Snook struggled mightily in the heavier class, laying smothered on the mat for nearly three minutes in the first period. By the end of the seven-minute affair, Rider’s Ryan Wolfe had amassed nearly five minutes of riding time en route to a 13-4 victory.
While Snook and four other seniors failed to capitalize on their day, McCoy was unfazed. The former Olympian was happy the Terps won two of final three battles, and he knows this loss will fade after “maybe one hour, maybe two hours, maybe 24 hours.”
But the blemish will certainly have faded by the Big Ten tournament in two weeks, and that’s what McCoy has been waiting for all season.
“We come back at Big Tens and win, it won’t matter what happened here,” McCoy said. “It’s definitely frustrating, but it’s not the be-all end-all. We’ll wrestle at the conference tournament and be ready for it.”
