October 30, 1998
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -In his 20th season as head coach at Maryland, John McHugh has one of his toughest challenges at hand.
"We have the youngest team that I have been involved with in a long time," McHugh admits. While a roster with only one senior and a slew of underclassmen might appear to lack depth, the Terps gained a lot of experience last season.
Senior captain Ted Harlan (141 lbs.) leads a core of five returning starters back to the mat for the Terps' second season in the newly-renovated Ritchie Coliseum. Harlan quietly became one of the top wrestlers in the ACC last season after filling the lineup spot vacated by All-American Jim Guzzio. In addition to winning eight of his 10 dual meets, Harlan placed second at the Millersville Invitational and took third in a competitive weight class at the ACC Championships.
Also returning to the lineup are four sophomores who combined to form one of McHugh's strongest recruiting classes ever two summers ago. At 125 pounds, Joe Guzzio, Jim's younger brother, is expected to continue his success at the lightest division. He began his Terrapin career with back-to-back top eight finishes at the West Virginia and East Stroudsburg opens and was the also the only ACC freshman to earn Wrestler of the Week honors.
At 141, Mark Mansueto will build off of his 4-6 dual record. After solid performances in most of the preseason tournaments and a third-place finish at the midseason Congressional Cup, he showed remarkable perseverance against many of the ACC's toughest opponents.
Josh Weidman is expected to start at 165 and expand on the potential he showed coming out of Hershey High School. After placing three straight years in the Pennsylvania state tournament and competing in all 11 duals for Maryland as a freshman, he has a lot of experience after only one collegiate season.
Rounding out the fab four is Chad Masemer at 184. Masemer twice qualified for the Pennsylvania state meet while at Littlestown High School. He held his school record for wins and made an immediate mark on Maryland wrestling, including three gutsy performances at the end of the year against the nation's top wrestlers in his division.
Also returning for Maryland are a number of past role players who see this season as an opportunity to step up in their classes. At heavyweight, juniors Jule Dolci and Paul Fitzmaurice, each of whom wrestled in two duals for the Terps last season, will square off in their bids to earn the starting spot. Both men bring aggressiveness, toughness and leadership to the Maryland lineup.
At 133, sophomore Brandon York is ready to add his name to the "fab" list after a year tearing up the open tournaments. A Damascus High School graduate, where he won the Maryland state championship twice and posted a 100-8 career record, York finished third at the Edinboro Open last spring. While he spent most of the season competing with Guzzio, he has moved up a weight class to add more versatility to the lineup.
Juniors Mike Tomaino (190), Robert Takseraas (133), Scott Herfel (133) and Grant Newman (157) all have experience and are expected to be strong challengers at multiple positions. Sophomore Rob Booth (149) is also in a position to start for Maryland.
Following up a solid 1997 recruiting class, Coach McHugh added a number of solid freshmen to the team this past summer. Nick Cilento (125), Tony Capone (149), Jake Stork (157), Jeff Salvo (149), Sal Aquia (174), Brian Robinovitz (141), Rashad Henderson (174) and Justin Rix (190) all have a chance to earn starting spots in their first season and might beat out some of the returning starters.
The talent for the Terps is unlimited and they all hope to continue the "Working Tradition" that has made the University of Maryland the most successful program in ACC history.
