Maryland wrestling lost all but one of its individual matches to Wisconsin on Thursday night, falling 32-6 overall. Heavyweight Youssif Hemida finished the bout with a victory to prevent the shutout.
Maryland is still chasing their first Big Ten win since the 2015-16 season.
The Terps struggled against the Badgers, who have four ranked wrestlers, losing their first nine individual matches.
125-pounder Brandon Cray started the bout by surrendering a 4-1 lead against Wisconsin’s Ethan Rotondo. Rotondo was able to accumulate a reversal and four-point near fall with seconds remaining, giving him the 7-4 decision over Cray.
12th-ranked Ryan Diehl lost his first individual match of the season, dropping his record to 4-1. Not much went Diehl’s way in his match against Eli Stickley. The 141-pound Terp injured his head in the first minute of the first period, then hurt his shoulder in the next period. He lost to Stickley, 14-1, giving the Badgers an early 10-0 lead over the Terps.
“Ryan’s a little banged up,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “Instead of being solid, he threw some junk out there and gave up some points. Still, he had a close match,”
The Terps lost their next six individual matches, highlighted by 7th-ranked Badger Evan Wick winning by major decision over Justin Alexander.
The Badgers went into the final heavyweight match with a 28-0 lead on the Terps, winning every individual bout leading up to it. Youssif Hemida entered his match against Ben Stone, who he defeated last year, with an 8-0 record on the season.
The undefeated heavyweight got off to a quick start, notching eight points in the first minute of the first period. He ended the match with a four point fall, adding to his impeccable start to his junior season. Hemida said he used the same move as last year to take down Stone, but was did not anticipate using that move leading up to the bout.
“This time I went a little bit harder, added a little grunt to it,” Hemida said. “And it worked again.”
Hemida said the Terps will take this loss as a learning experience as they prepare to host Iowa on Sunday.