By Juan Herrera

The University of Maryland men’s wrestling team was unable to knock off the No.4 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers on Friday, falling 30-9. The Terps were only able to win two out of ten matches, earning all nine points from their captains.

Prior to Friday night’s match, the Cornhuskers (7-0) were able to beat No.7 ranked Cornell 21-14 and Princeton 21-12. The Terps (3-5) were also coming off of a 24-10 win over Drexel.

Despite their best efforts, the Terps were unable to do much against Nebraska. The Cornhusker wrestler’s ability to ride out opponents was the main difference maker in the match. The Terps’ only two wins in the night came from 157-pounder Lou Mascola and 133-pounder Geoffrey Alexander.

The match started off at the 141-weight class between Maryland’s Billy Rappo and Nebraska’s Anthony Abidin. Rappo was able to take a 5-3 lead in the 2nd period, but was taken down and rode out to lose 5-7 in the 3rd period. After Wade Hodges 2-0 loss to Nebraska’s Jake Sueflohn at the 149-pound weight class, 157 pounder Lou Mascola faced off against No.10 Tyler Berger in a very high paced match.

The first period of the 157 pound match was even and ended 0-0. Mascola was able to take a 1-0 lead in the 2nd period on an escape. As the two started to scramble on the ground, Mascola was able to catch Berger on his back to pin him for the win. After the match, Berger pushed Mascola in the chest, resulting in a one-point deduction for Nebraska on the team score for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

“This sport is very emotional and people get fired up, but there’s no place for that behavior in the sport,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “Our guys kept our cool and things didn’t get out of hand.”

The Terps were unable to capitalize on the momentum and went on to lose the next six matches. Heading into the final bout of the night at the 133-pound weight class, Nebraska was able to build a 30-6 lead.

The Terps’ best performance of the night came from Geoffrey Alexander at the 133-pound weight class. The redshirt senior returned from injury to take on No.9 Eric Montoya in his first duel meet match of the season.

“I was fired up and there were a lot of emotions going through my head,” Alexander said. “I wrestled a solid match and I can’t complain.”

Alexander was able to take a 2-0 lead on a takedown after only nine seconds. The two wrestlers went back and forth until the 3rd period where Alexander was able to take command of the match to win 6-2. Despite Alexander’s great performance, the Terps still lost 30-9. The Cornhuskers simply outwrestled the Terps with great takedowns and effective riding.

“Against this level of competition you’re only going to get a few opportunities so we need to recognize them and take advantage of them,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “I’m proud of the way my guys competed tonight and we will get back to work.”