By: Alex Rychwalski
The Maryland Terrapins wrestling team won a back and forth match against the Stanford Cardinal 18-15 in Palo Alto, California. The outdoor match took place before the Cardinal’s football game.
The Terps came out of the gates hot, as Brandon Cray upset No. 9 Connor Schram in the 125-pound class. Cray picked up a four-point near fall in the second to stretch his lead to 6-2, and held on to give the Terps a 3-0 lead.
After Maryland’s Jhared Simmons fell in his season debut in the 133-pound class, No. 15 Ryan Diehl put the Terps back in front with a 6-1 decision in the 141-pound class. Diehl only held a 2-1 entering the final period, came up big in the final frame to give the Terps a 6-4 lead.
The back and forth action continued, as the Terps’ Adam Whitesell, 149-pound class, fell and put the Cardinals in front again, but the Terps came back strong.
In the the 157-pound class, Maryland’s Kyle Cochran scored a pair of takedowns to give him an 8-3 lead in the second period, and he never looked back in an 11-4 victory. The win put the Terps in front again 9-8.
Brendan Burnham was next in line for the Terps in the 165-pound class, and he didn’t disappoint. The bout was deadlocked at four after regulation, and Burnham triumphed in sudden victory to earn his first victory of the season.
The Cardinal came back again and their victory in the 174-class cut the Terps advantage to 12-11 with just three bouts remaining.
The Terps sent out Spencer Woods in the 184-pound class next. After being leading 4-2 entering the third period, Woods held on and stretched the Terps advantage to 15-11.
Despite having control for most of the day, a loss by Maryland’s Niko Cappello in the 197-pound class knotted the score at 15 heading into the final heavyweight bout.
The decisive bout featured a top-15 matchup between the Terps’ No. 15 Youssif Hemida and No. 12 Nathan Butler, and it did not disappoint.
Butler lead 1-0 after the first period, but an escape by Hemida tied up the score at one early in the final period, and the match went to sudden period with the match on the line. Hemida earned the final blow with a takedown, which gave the Terps an 18-15 victory.
The victory improves the Terps record to 3-1 (0-1 Big Ten) on the season, and upped their win streak to three in a row.
