By Ryan Homler

Maryland Head Coach Kerry McCoy returned to his alma mater on Sunday hoping to lead his new team, the Terps, past his former squad, the Nittany Lions. However, a stacked Penn State lineup proved to be too strong, and Maryland on Sunday lost its tenth consecutive match 45-6.

While the score spelled total domination for Penn State, Maryland had a 6-5 lead thanks to senior Billy Rappo after the first two matches.

Maryland’s Michael Beck dropped the first match at 125 as No. 2 Nick Suriano gave Penn State a 5-0 advantage. The following bout between Billy Rappo and Tristan Long at 133 was the lone bright spot for the Terps.

From there, it was all Penn State.

The Nittany Lions rattled off eight straight wins to end the dual meet. A 9-4 decision for No. 11 Jimmy Gulibon over Ryan Diehl at 141 gave Penn State an 8-6 lead, and they would never look back. The Big Ten champions followed up Gulibon’s win with three consecutive pins by No. 1 Zain Retherford at 149, No. 1 Jason Nolf at 157 and No. 4 Vincenzo Joseph at 165. Adam Whitesell–who once again filled in for the injured Alfred Bannister–Justin Alexander and Patrick Gerish were the victims of those pins.

Penn State would not stop there as No. 7 Mark Hall took down an undersized Josh Ugalde at 174 and Bo Nickal took down Idris White at 184. The Terps’ David-Brian Whisler at 197 and Youssif Hemida at 285 also suffered losses..

When it was all over, Penn State had put up 40 unanswered points to secure the victory and a conference championship.
The Terps will be back in action Saturday against Rider in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.