The black team came from behind to defeat the red team, 17-14, at the Maryland wrestling team’s annual wrestle-offs Sunday afternoon.
Nine matches took place as several members of the squad fought to determine their places on the team. Some cemented their spots as starters, while others moved towards competing in open competitions and possibly redshirting.
Overall, head coach Kerry McCoy, entering his ninth season with the program, was happy with action in Xfinity Center pavilion.
“I was pretty pleased with the day,” McCoy said. “For the guys to go out, they went after it. Most of the matches showed a lot of points being scored, and if points weren’t being scored, there was a lot of attacking going on.”Several projected starters did not compete Sunday. Michael Beck (125-pound weight class), Alfred Bannister (141), Shyheim Brown (149), Josh Ugalde (165), Brendan Burnham (174), Jaron Smith (184) and Youssif Hemida (285) all watched from the side as their teammates competed.
The event kicked off with a bout in the 125-pound class, as freshman Alex Vargas of the red team picked up a 9-4 decision over freshman Brandon Cray. Vargas went down after an early takedown by Cray, but, tied at 3-3, Vargas pulled off a reversal to give him a lead he would not relinquish.
Redshirt junior Tyler Goodwin, the projected starter at 133 pounds, then dominated Jhared Simmons, taking a 15-0 decision via tech fall. McCoy expects Goodwin to be one of the Terps’ top wrestlers this year, and he showed why in impressive fashion.
The black team earned its first decision in the 141-pound class, as redshirt senior Billy Rappo defeated Brandon Walker by tech fall. Rappo is fighting for the starting job with sophomore Bannister, who is out with an injury and did not compete Sunday. After his outing, Rappo is looking forward to the campaign.
“I felt pretty good today, excited,” Rappo said. “It’s my last year, my redshirt senior year, so I’m excited to go out, wrestle for Maryland, and put that Maryland stamp on it.”
The projected starter in the 157-pound class, redshirt junior Justin Alexander, then took one back for the red team with a 7-5 decision in overtime. He earned it over redshirt freshman Jakob Restrepo, who battled hard but gave up a late takedown.
In a battle of redshirt freshmen, the red team’s Danny Boychuck earned a 10-7 decision over Jahi Jones in the second 157-pound match. Boychcuk was strong for much of the bout, and a late takedown for Jones made it close, but Boychuck staved him off. That decision put the red team up, 14-5.
Redshirt sophomore Patrick Gerish held off redshirt freshman Garrett Griffith to begin the black team’s comeback in the 165-pound class by a 2-1 decision, with both wrestlers holding each other off for much of the matchup.
Freshmen dominated at 174 pounds. Redshirt freshmen Idris White and Sam Rowell faced off first, followed by rookies Niko Cappello and Spencer Woods. The black team took both matches, as Rowell earned a 7-3 decision, while Woods’ late takedown finished off Cappello in the 6-4 decision.
“They went out there to score points and to get after it, so it was exciting to see that, especially from our younger guys,” McCoy said. “I’m really excited our younger guys were able to out there and not be intimidated by the atmosphere.”
The final bout took place between projected starter Garrett Wesneski and David-Brian Whisler in the highly competitive 197-pound class. The two fought to a 4-4 stalemate, and went to overtime, when Whisler emerged victorious by a 6-4 decision. That put the finishing touches on the black team’s victory. A late surge from the squad, which scored 12 unanswered points, was enough to defeat the red team.
The Terps will look to build on a their performance when they compete at the Southeast Open and Clarion Open next week.
“We’ve still got a couple of weight classes to figure out,” McCoy said. “But this is a good part to help them figure it out.”
