Before the Maryland dual wrestling season began, coach Kerry McCoy preached to his team that the postseason is all that matters.

The Terps stumbled through the regular season — including a two-meet stretch where they were outscored 93-0 — before notching their first dual win on Feb. 17 against George Mason.

Now, despite Maryland’s dismal 0-9 conference slate and 2-12 dual season record, the team is eager to build off its recent momentum as postseason play gets underway. The Terps enter the Big Ten tournament having won two out of their past three dual matches, but they will be without a top-10 pre-seeded wrestler in the tournament.

“We ended on a high note, so we’re riding that wave a little bit,” McCoy said. “When you focus on the tournament, it’s a little bit of a switch to more of the individual needs [instead of the team].”

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

Pre-seeds were released Monday, and most of the 10 Terps wrestlers know where they’ll stand come Saturday in Minnesota.

125-pounder Brandon Cray and 165-pounder Philip Spadafora, both seeded No. 11, are Maryland’s highest ranked pre-seeded wrestlers.

However, not all Big Ten weight classes hand out the same number of pre-seeds. Several weight classes, including 125 pounds and 165 pounds, have more automatic bids, meaning all the wrestlers receive a predetermined seed.

[Read more: “They are a pioneering group”: Maryland wrestling’s seniors are ready for their last duals]

141-pounder Danny Bertoni, 174-pounder Josh Ugalde and 184-pounder Kyle Jasenski will all come into the weekend as No. 13 seeds. Rounding out the seeded wrestlers are 133-pounder Orion Anderson and 157-pounder Adam Whitesell as No. 14 seeds.

McCoy made the somewhat surprising decision to go with Whitesell — who earned a win in his first dual before falling in his final six — over 2018 NCAA qualifier Ryan Diehl in the tournament, but the 11th-year Maryland coach stood by his decision.

“When it comes down to it, we look at our lineup, and we figure out who can give us the best result,” McCoy said. “When we came down to it, we felt Adam was going to be the guy.”

That leaves 149-pounder Alfred Bannister, 197-pounder Niko Cappello and No. 9 heavyweight Youssif Hemida as the only Maryland wrestlers without pre-seeds.

Hemida is Maryland’s most accomplished and only ranked wrestler, but with the heavyweight division handing out only eight pre-seeds, his seeding will be randomly generated Friday.

Hemida wasn’t too concerned with not receiving a pre-seed. “I let my wrestling do the talking,” Hemida said. “I’m definitely okay with it.”

The 2018 All-American has had an up-and-down season that included both a U23 World silver medal in November and a stretch of four straight losses to top-10 Big Ten opponents in which he didn’t score a single takedown.

Hemida welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight, particularly against Minnesota’s No.1-seeded Gable Steveson, who took him down, 7-4 in the regular season.

“I’d like to face [Steveson] in the first round,” Hemida said. “Gable, [No. 2-seed Anthony] Cassar or anyone like that. I know I can beat those guys.”

After being ranked early in the season, Bannister has since fallen out of the rankings altogether. A lackluster dual campaign hurt the 2018 NCAA qualifier, but the senior will now look to potentially make his final mark on the college wrestling landscape.

“Most of the Big Ten matches I lost [this season] were very close,” Bannister said. “Now is the time to show that I’ve made those improvements, and I’ve got to prove that I am the guy.”

McCoy has lauded his team’s improvement from earlier in the season, but if they want to achieve individual success, they will need to score a few upsets this weekend.

Bannister has embraced the opportunity to end the season on a high note, and he’s challenged his teammates to bring their best on Saturday.

“We need to have a sink or swim mentality,” Bannister said. “Do you want to make it to Nationals or not?”