By Juan Herrera
In their final dual meet match of the season, the University of Maryland wrestling team struggled to find their rhythm against Rider.
Prior to the match, Coach Kerry McCoy called up his senior wrestlers and their families to the center of the mat to recognize them on senior night. Afterwards, the match kicked off at the 125-pound weight class.
Maryland’s Michael Beck took on Rider’s Zach Valcarce in a very close match. Beck was able to build a 3-0 lead heading into the final period thanks to a takedown and an escape. The final period of the match was a back and forth battle for points. Valcarce left himself open near the end and Beck was able to capitalize with a takedown to secure a 5-1 victory.
This was Beck’s second consecutive dual win of the season. He had previously been winless in seven matches until he picked up a pin against George Mason on Feb. 14.
“I was struggling in the past; I was wrestling a lot of ranked guys,” Beck said. “That’s how the big ten is but it feels great getting past two and getting on a roll heading into the postseason.”
In the next bout, senior No.10 Geoffrey Alexander took on Rider’s Robert Deutsch. After falling behind 2-1, Alexander went for a risky move in the second period that backfired on him. In an effort to turn his opponent over, Alexander was caught on his back and gave up six points. Deutsch was able to hold off Alexander in the third period to pick up the upset victory 12-7.
“It sucks to go out with a loss on senior day but in the end I’m probably going to get a top four seed at Big Tens,” Alexander said. “No one really looks back and says ‘you know what you lost on senior day’ when you’re standing at the top of the podium.”
Senior Lou Mascola also lost his match to Rider’s No.15 Chad Walsh despite taking an early 6-0 lead. Walsh was able to throw Mascola on his back and pin him in the second period.
“Lou’s wrestled that kid so many times, but that’s just something stuck in his head,” Coach Kerry McCoy said. “It’s kinda a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead of shaking it off, it get’s to him a little bit.”
Despite the rough outing, a few Terps were able to shine against Rider. Senior Mark Colabucci collected a tough 3-1 win over Michale Fagg-Daves. Freshmen Alfred Bannister and Youssif Hemida grinded out two wins for the Terps.
Bannister outlasted his opponent and took him down in overtime for a sudden death victory at the 141-pound bout. In the last match of the day, Hemida came from behind to beat Mauro Correnti 6-4 with an impressive cradle in the third period that sealed his win.
The Terps (5-13, 1-8 Big Ten) dropped the match 26-12 to Rider and they will now have two weeks to prepare for the Big Ten Tournament on March 5-6.
