Coach Kerry McCoy said Wednesday he anticipated the Maryland wrestling team would face tough competition at the Cavalier Duals this weekend. The Terps, though, couldn’t overcome their talented opposition.
They dropped two straight matches to Lock Haven and Virginia on Sunday to start the season 0-2.
“First match, the guys were a little flat,” McCoy said. “I don’t know if they were overlooking the competition, or they were nervous about the first dual of the season, but just a little bit flat, and it showed in our result.”
They faced Lock Haven first. Though 125-pounder Michael Beck, competing for the first time after a hamstring strain limited him during the preseason, lost the opener, 12-2, to Jake Field, the Terps won four of their next five matches.
They led, 18-7, but the Eagles reeled off four consecutive victories to claim the match, 20-18.
When the Terps later battled host Virginia, they didn’t have as much early success. McCoy’s team narrowed its deficit to 9-7 after four bouts, but the Cavaliers pulled away to win 22-13.
Despite leaving Charlottesville, Virginia, without a team triumph, Maryland experienced individual successes.
Tyler Goodwin, ranked 12th in the nation in the 133-pound class, and 149-pounder Alfred Bannister, ranked 17th, earned two victories. Goodwin pinned Lock Haven’s Lewis Williams in the first period and then earned an 8-0 major decision over Virginia’s William Mason.
“It felt good winning, but, like coach says, you’ve got to expect to win, and I expected to win,” Goodwin said. “We’ve just got to work on little mistakes. It’ll get a lot better.”
Bannister, meanwhile, opened a seven-point lead before Lock Haven’s Kyle Shoop cut it to two. Still, the redshirt sophomore claimed a 9-7 win. Then, in an overtime decision, Bannister won the tiebreaker, 2-1, over Virginia’s Samuel Krivus.
Danny Boychuck (157 pounds), Patrick Gerish (165) and David-Brian Whisler (197) all finished the day 1-1. Heavyweight Youssif Hemida also earned a victory, defeating Virginia’s Chuck Boddy 3-1 in overtime.
“It was awesome, great to finally get out there in a dual meet instead of in an open. The atmosphere was awesome,” Boychuck said. “Getting exposed to this type of wrestling in a dual format is good. Now I know I can wrestle with these guys and I can beat these guys.”
True freshman 125-pounder Alex Vargas and redshirt freshmen Sam Rowell (174) and Idris White (184) also made their dual debuts, but none recorded victories. Redshirt senior Billy Rappo (141) finished winless after facing two ranked opponents in Lock Haven’s Ronnie Perry and Virginia’s George DiCamillo, who are No. 20 and No. 9 in their weight class, respectively.
Overall, six grapplers wrestled in their first dual matches.
“It’s good to get that experience,” McCoy said. “They were ready to go. When those guys get a chance to get that experience, and have it now, it helps them compete as the year goes on.”
Still, McCoy hopes their matches Sunday were a learning opportunity and will translate to success as the Terps’ season continues.
“Overall, it’s disappointing, but I tell our guys that it’s November, so we don’t want to be wrestling our best in November,” McCoy said. “But, we have to continue to get better. It’s disappointing that we didn’t win, but if you don’t win, you learn something.”
