By Alex Rychwalski
In a one-sided match, the Maryland Terrapins wrestling team was dominated by No. 2 Ohio State 45-3 on Friday night at the Xfinity Center Pavilion.
The lone Terp points came by way of Maryland junior Youssif Hemida, who benefitted from Kyle Snyder, the No. 1 heavyweight in the country and 2016 Olympic gold medalist, not being in the Buckeyes’ lineup.
Kyle Snyder’s replacement, his freshman brother Kevin Snyder, was overmatched by the experienced Hemida. Hemida won 8-1, improving his record to 16-1 on the season.
Despite being the last hope for the Terps to avoid the potential shutout, Hemida said he likes the pressure of being the last line of defense.
“I don’t mind the pressure [of being last],” said Hemida. “There were times this year it came down to me, and I kinda liked that. To kind of put the team on my back and save the shutout or whatever it may be, I don’t mind being the last guy up.”
The vaunted Buckeye lineup featured eight wrestlers in the top 10 in the country, and their technical prowess showed from the start in each dominating victory.
Even in the matches that were competitive early on, the talented Buckeyes were able to wear the overmatched Terrapin wrestlers down. Each Buckeye wrestler appeared bigger and stronger than their opposition, and it showed in the later stages of matches.
Maryland head coach Kerry McCoy said after the match that he was pleased with the Terps’ performance against the Big Ten’s best team, but there are a lot of things for the struggling Terps to improve going forward.
“Obviously [I’m] not happy with the result, but I think our guys did a pretty good job of meeting expectations,” said McCoy. “When it comes down to it they’re pretty good, and we’ve got to take our level up a little bit, but it was definitely an opportunity to measure ourselves against one of the top teams.”
Before halftime, the closest match, with the exception of the 157-pound class that ended with an injury withdrawal, was at 149. Maryland Junior Alfred Bannister fell down 4-0 early against No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes, but fought hard despite being on the defensive for much of his 8-0 defeat.
The most even match up on paper was at 174 between Maryland sophomore Josh Ugalde and Ohio State freshman Fritz Schierl, but the Terps couldn’t catch a break as Ugalde was forced to withdraw after an apparent knee injury.
The Terps next hit the mat Tomorrow at the F&M Open, and continue Big Ten play Sunday on the road against Nebraska.
