When Hudson Taylor took the mat to battle Virginia’s Brent Jones on Sunday, the Terrapin wrestling team was down 3-6, and the ACC’s top two teams were in the midst of a war.

Taylor, ranked No. 5 nationally at 197 pounds, overpowered No. 20 Jones 10-2 in the only major decision of the night. Taylor’s win gave the Terps four much-needed points and a 7-6 edge.

Throughout the match, the rival teams traded victories. They split the 10 individual matches, but in the end, Taylor’s extra point was the deciding factor in the No. 22 Terrapin wrestling team’s 16-15 win over the Virginia Cavaliers.

“It was a very tight match – a great battle,” Terp coach Pat Santoro said. “Every match was hard-fought and really close. But Taylor looked great, and his extra point put us over the top.”

With the victory, the Terps ended the season undefeated in the ACC for the second year in a row, grabbing their second-consecutive regular season ACC championship.

“To get the ACC title two years in a row is pretty cool,” redshirt sophomore Brendan Byrne said. “It shows Maryland wrestling is continuing to go in the right direction.”

The match was highly anticipated because these two teams have been atop the ACC in recent seasons, even sharing the ACC regular season title in 2006. This match was the closest an ACC opponent had come to upsetting the Terps, and the team was relieved to pull off the victory.

Things started off on a sour note for the Terps in the 165-pound weight class. Redshirt sophomore Mike McGill lost to Michael Chaires, 4-3. But the Terps came right back to tie the match with No. 9 Mike Letts’ low-scoring 3-1 victory over No. 19 Chris Henrich at 174 pounds.

No. 19 Josh Haines failed to pull off an upset against Virginia’s top wrestler, No. 12 Rocco Caponi, at 184 pounds, but this was offset by Taylor’s major decision, giving the Terps their first lead of the night.

The duel continued in this fashion, with the lead continually going back and forth. Seven matches were won by two points or less, and two more had to be decided by tiebreakers.

As much as the match meant to the Terps, Santoro knows his team cannot be satisfied with an ACC regular season title. He has bigger goals in mind.

“We’ve had a great year, and being undefeated in the ACC and the regular season champs is nice,” Santoro said. “But the goal every year is to get to the National Championships.”

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