The Maryland wrestling team entered the postseason looking to put another rough dual season behind them.
But with all 10 Terps losing their opening round match of the Big Ten tournament Saturday and only heavyweight Youssif Hemida winning a match at all, most of the team’s postseason runs are likely already over.
Maryland had the worst showing of any team in the first day of the conference tournament, opening with 18 consecutive losses before Hemida went on a winning streak that secured himself a spot in the NCAA tournament and will make him the Terps’ lone representative on day two of the Big Ten championships.
“I’m very disappointed,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “We could’ve done better. We trained well, and I thought we were in a position to perform better.”
Maryland had just 7.5 total team points and, for the fifth consecutive year, will not have a Big Ten champion.
Hemida — no stranger to being Maryland’s bright spot — is the only Terp who will be competing Sunday and their only automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament.
“Obviously this was one of my goals,” Hemida said. “I didn’t get to win a Big Ten title, and that’s really frustrating, but I’m just happy to go to Nationals.”
The depth of the conference meant Hemida — the No. 9-ranked heavyweight in the country — entered the Big Ten tournament unseeded. Hemida said he took note of that but didn’t want to let it affect him too heavily.
“I did feel a little disrespected, but that’s OK,” Hemida said. “You’re always going to have beat good guys anyway.”
In the opening round, Hemida drew Michigan’s Mason Parris, whom he lost to during the regular season. Similar to their first matchup, Hemida just couldn’t find his offense quickly enough.
Parris scored the opening takedown and never relented. The Wolverine scored two more takedowns, meaning even though Hemida scored a takedown late, it wasn’t enough to avoid falling into the consolation bracket.
Hemida finally got the Terps on the board with a 13-4 win over Illinois’ Deuce Rachal and a 9-6 victory over Ohio State’s Chase Singletary.
Then, needing one more win to clinch a spot in the NCAA tournament, Hemida got some help. Purdue’s Jacob Aven pulled a huge upset over No. 8-ranked Iowa heavyweight Sam Stoll, who beat Hemida 1-0 earlier this season. So instead of facing Stoll, Hemida matched up with Aven, whom he beat 3-2 on Jan. 11.
In their rematch Saturday, it was clear that the two were evenly matched, just as they were in January. With the score tied at two with one minute remaining, Hemida managed to get Aven on his back, and those were the deciding points in a 4-3 win that cemented the Mamaroneck, New York, native as one of the more accomplished wrestlers in program history.
“It’s good for him to hit his stride,” McCoy said. “This is the perfect time to do it, and I’m happy with how he performed.”
But while Hemida bounced back from a disappointing start, none of his teammates could do the same. Each of the other nine Terps ended their Big Ten tournaments winless.
After losing his first match, 149-pounder Alfred Bannister — Maryland’s second-best shot at a NCAA tournament qualifier — received a bye into the second round of the consolation bracket.
There, he faced off with Michigan’s Malik Amine, a wrestler he lost to earlier this season. But Bannister started strong, earning the first takedown and even took a 3-2 lead into the final frame.
Bannister couldn’t hold that lead, though, and Amine took a 4-3 lead with just over a minute remaining. All Bannister needed was an escape, but he couldn’t break the Wolverines’ grip, losing 5-3 with riding time.
Bannister is the Maryland wrestler with the best chance at making the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid.
“He’s got the criteria,” McCoy said. “He’s had some really good matches with some really good guys, his RPI is really high, and I think he’s one of the top guys in the country who deserves to compete for a championship.”
Other than Hemida, much of the rest of the team went quietly. Of their 25 losses, 13 were by major decision, technical fall or pin.
133-pounder Orion Anderson was pinned twice. 157-pounder Adam Whitesell lost two major decisions and was pinned. 125-pounder Brandon Cray dropped a 13-3 major decision to Michigan’s Drew Mattin and a 7-5 decision to Wisconsin’s Ethan Rotondo.
141-pounder Danny Bertoni showed Maryland’s first signs of life by garnering a takedown in the first 10 seconds against Wisconsin’s Tristan Moran, but that lead quickly evaporated. Moran won, 14-4, and Bertoni was pinned by Michigan State’s Austin Eicher in the consolation.
165-pounder Philip Spadafora nearly earned a win in the consolation bracket before late violations led to a 5-2 loss.
While Spadafora was locked in that match, 174-pounder Josh Ugalde had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it match, getting pinned in the first minute by Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola.
184-pounder Kyle Jasenski had one of the closest matches of the afternoon, against Illinois’ Emery Parker. In the waning seconds, Jasenski needed one last takedown to tie the match and send it to overtime, but Parker countered and took the Terp down to seal the decision victory.
Just seconds after Jasenski went down, 197-pounder Niko Cappello lost by technical fall to Nebraska’s Eric Schultz.
Those winless performances mean they will not receive an automatic qualifier spot in the NCAA tournament, and based on their solo performances, none are expected to receive an at-large bid.
“We were the underdogs in every match,” McCoy said. “We went out there and got beat by guys who are better than us.”
