Heading into Maryland wrestling’s final dual meet of the season, Youssif Hemida had something on his mind.

To that point, the heavyweight was 6-4 in duals, but all of those victories had come by decision, with no major decisions, technical falls or pins. And Hemida wanted to change that in the regular-season finale.

When Hemida took the mat against Rider’s James Brady on Sunday, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. And not only did the senior captain deliver the win for Maryland, he finally got the pin he was looking for.

“What a way to end his dual career for Maryland,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “With the win for himself, with the pin for himself, it’s pretty exciting.”

[Read more: Youssif Hemida leads Maryland wrestling to 22-16 win at Rider to end regular season]

After defeating Rutgers’ Christian Colucci at Senior Day on Friday, Hemida was his usual, jovial self. He set a clear goal for his upcoming match against the Broncs.

“I would like to get a pin,” Hemida said. “Today, I was working for that cradle a lot, so I would like to get a pin using a cradle against [Rider].”

The team score was tied at 16 heading into Hemida’s match with Brady. A decision would’ve been enough to give the Terps the team win, but Hemida wouldn’t have been satisfied with that.

[Read more: Maryland wrestling’s Youssif Hemida is back on track after ending a 4-match losing streak]

The match started inauspiciously, with Brady shooting in on Hemida a couple of times and nearly taking him down almost a minute into the bout. Hemida managed to fend him off with brute strength, and scored a takedown of his own just seconds later.

Following the takedown, Hemida locked in the cradle but couldn’t flip Brady to his back in time. Even as the first-period buzzer sounded and ruined his chance at the pin, Hemida was still in complete control.

After escaping Brady to start the second, Hemida took him down again, and this time never let up. He cinched in his coveted cradle and finally turned Brady to his back. Brady squirmed, but Hemida squeezed tighter.

After a few seconds, the referee signalled Hemida’s victory, clinching the dual win for Maryland.

McCoy didn’t know that Hemida had planned the cradle, but he was glad the All-American had an aggressive mindset.

“We just wanted him to go win,” McCoy said with a laugh.

Hemida has talked at length about his disappointment with decision victories all season. But after the Rider match, he said he wasn’t focused on his post-match prediction from Friday, even admitting that he’d forgotten about it.

“Coach McCoy just pointed it out to me that I had called that,” Hemida said. “The cradle is just one of my favorite moves.”

Hemida enters the postseason with potential rematches against No. 1 Gable Steveson of Minnesota, No. 6 Mason Parris of Michigan, No. 7 Trent Hillger of Wisconsin and No. 8 Sam Stoll of Iowa looming. The Terps’ senior is looking to not only match last year’s All-American status, but to compete for Big Ten and national championships.

Even if Hemida falls short in the postseason, he can at least take pride in the exclamation point he put on his final dual match ever.

“There’s no better way to end the season,” he said, “than with a pin.”