The Maryland wrestling team began its season with Red vs. Black Wrestle-Offs on Oct. 30, allowing its wrestlers to face off in front of the Xfinity Pavilion crowd for the first time.
After battling their teammates at the event, the Terps will have the opportunity to grapple with wrestlers from several different schools Sunday when they compete at the Southeast Open in Roanoke, Virginia.
Virginia Tech, which InterMat ranks as the sixth-best team in the nation, is hosting the event. Coach Kerry McCoy mentioned teams from Penn, Army, North Carolina and North Carolina State will be there.
“It’s going to be a good variety of teams, and teams we don’t get to see too often,” McCoy said. “It’s the first time for our guys to compete and see what they can do against some different competition. It’s going to be good to get them out there and to finally be able to wrestle somebody else.”
The team’s website states Maryland is also scheduled to compete at the Clarion Open on Sunday, but McCoy said his team would compete in just one of the tournaments.
“The Clarion Open was an event that we had scheduled earlier that we used to like to send guys to, but we decided we’re going to have everybody go to Virginia to keep the team together,” McCoy said.
McCoy, set to begin his ninth year with the Terps, said at the team’s practice Wednesday that every wrestler who is healthy will compete. Both 141-pounder Alfred Bannister and 125-pounder Michael Beck are expected to compete after missing the wrestle-offs with minor injuries.
The Southeast Open serves as an opportunity for several Terps grapplers who did not compete in Maryland’s Red vs. Black Wrestle-Offs last weekend. Shyheim Brown (149), Josh Ugalde (165), Brendan Burnham (174), Jaron Smith (184) and Youssif Hemida (285) will join Beck and Bannister as projected starters who did not participate in the wrestle-offs and are getting their first taste of competition this season.
Smith, who started in the 184-pound class last season, brings valuable experience to the Terps’ lineup. He earned four victories over Big Ten opponents a year ago and stayed in College Park over the summer to hone his technique.
“I’m really excited for this open because I’ve been training a lot this offseason,” Smith said. “I feel like it’s a good area to really test my skills, see how far I’ve come and apply that.”
Redshirt junior and 133-pounder Tyler Goodwin, who McCoy labeled as the team’s “poster child,” said he sees Sunday as an opportunity to see where his skills stack up. He also said he believes the event will be a team-building experience.
“We have a really young team, and the mentality of the team is a lot different this year,” Goodwin said. “The culture we’re adopting right now is pushing everyone to the next level. … A lot of guys have asked me to come in and help out, and doing that gets me a lot better too.”
Smith shares the same sentiment about the squad.
“We like to set goals as a team, and we did last year too, but there was a little miscommunication that held us back,” Smith said. “But, this year, we’re all on the same track, looking at the same goal and pushing forward to that goal. It will be really exciting to see how we get there.”
