The Maryland wrestling team often allows matches to get out of reach by the time its heavier grapplers hit the mat. The Terps, however, remained in their match against Northwestern on Friday with big victories in the middle, but faltered down the stretch.
The Terps (2-13, 0-8 Big Ten) were within four points with three matches remaining, but lost two of the three as the Wildcats (7-6, 2-5 Big Ten) earned a 23-16 victory. The loss keeps the Terps winless in the Big Ten, and extends their losing streak to nine matches, dating back to Dec. 9.
“It sucks to lose, and we haven’t won in a long time,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “That’s the number one thing.”
The match began with a celebration for redshirt senior 133-pounder Billy Rappo. More than 10 family members attended his final home match as a Terp. Rappo repaid the favor, grabbing four late points to earn a 9-1 major decision over Jason Ipsarides.
Rappo said he was disappointed with the team result, but enjoyed being honored.
“It was very cool to go out with a win here at Maryland,” Rappo said. “It showed the fans that we’ve still got some fight in us.”
The Terps received wins from 157-pounder Justin Alexander and 174-pounder Josh Ugalde to keep them in the match. Alexander earned a 7-1 decision over Ben Sullivan, while Ugalde, who moved up a weight class, pinned Braxton Cody after 34 seconds.
That pin cut the Wildcats’ lead to 17-13, but the Terps couldn’t take advantage of another team near the bottom of the conference.
Following Ugalde, 184-pounder Idris White and 197-pounder David-Brian Whisler lost, stretching Northwestern’s lead to 23-13. Youssif Hemida earned a 5-2 decision over Conan Jennings, but it was once again to no avail.
“It’s just tough,” McCoy said. “The guys are working hard and they’re doing the things they need to be successful, but when you wrestle tough competition and you might be a little overmatched, you’ve got to find that little extra to get you over the hump.
“It’s right there, we just have to get it.”
McCoy said losses at 141 and 149 pounds was the major factor in the end result. However, he said it was encouraging to see his squad get closer to a victory, despite still being winless in conference play.
Rappo said his team has to find that extra push to turn around the results as the season comes to a close.
“It’s just fight,” Rappo said. “We’re in the right positions for the most part, we’ve just got to fine-tune some things. We need a lot more heart out of some guys on this team. It showed throughout the year and in this match as well.
“We’ve just got to find ways to win matches. All you’ve got to do is dig deep. That’s what we train for, and you’ve either got to train more or get some more heart.”
