Terps Prepare for B1G Match Against Penn State

By Ryan Connors

If you’re a Maryland student, you probably received the email. Signs will be up on Thursday advertising the the Terps’ wrestling match against No. 4 Penn State, and the team is expecting a big turnout from both sides.

“We’re definitely expecting a big crowd,” said redshirt sophomore Shyheim Brown. “Penn State is going to bring a bunch of people I guarantee, and the atmosphere is going to be crazy. The enthusiasm is a lot different going into this one. I’ve been excited since the moment I saw it on our schedule.”

Terps prepare to take on Penn State on Thursday. (Courtesy of UMTerps.com)

Not only is head coach Kerry McCoy facing the No. 4 team in the nation, but he’s also facing his alma mater in Penn State, where he won two heavyweight titles and was a three-time All-American during his time there from 1993 to 1997, as well as an assistant coach for three years. McCoy acknowledged that facing his alma mater would be a different experience than other matches.

“It’s one of those things that you kind of prepare for. It’s going to be a different feel,” McCoy said of being on the other side of the mat from his alma mater.

McCoy has never faced Penn State in a dual meet as the head coach at Maryland, but that doesn’t mean the Terps haven’t grappled with Penn State wrestlers when he’s been the coach.

“We’ve gone to the Penn State open every year, we’ve wrestled guys at the Midlands, at the NCAA tournament, so we’ve been on the mat with those guys a lot, but this will be the first time we wrestle them head to head since I’ve been here,” McCoy said. “One year at the Penn State open I think we had five or six guys in the finals and every single match was against a Penn State guy, which was almost like a dual meet.”

But in terms of his wrestlers, McCoy downplayed the significance of the match, at least as it factors into the regular season standings.

“This match is important, we want to go out there and perform well. These matches will help for seeding at the conference tournament and maybe for national ranking,” he said. But he added, “I’m not gonna put a whole lot of bearing on how we finish in a dual meet.”

McCoy instead wants each wrestler to focus on his matchup. “If we put in good individual matches together and help the team but it’s just a step that we get to wrestle this high level competition and get ready for the end of the year,” he said.