Terp Wrestlers Open Home Schedule
1/22/2004 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 22, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland opens its 2004 home schedule at Ritchie Coliseum Friday night with a dual match against Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina, then turns around quickly to face D.C.-area foe American University on Saturday at noon. The matches were moved due to a water-pipe problem at Comcast Gymnasium.
The Terps are 1-3 in dual matches so far this season, having won the first dual of 2004 in a 24-22 victory over Slippery Rock in the ACC / East Region Challenge at Duquesne. The Terps lost to Duquesne, 27-16, in the second dual match at Pittsburgh, then have lost at Navy and at NC State.
The Terrapins are fielding a young squad under first-year head coach Pat Santoro. Maryland has only two seniors on the 2003-04 roster, with one in the regular starting lineup. The Terps have put as many as five underclassmen in the lineup over the course of the past couple weeks.
In Santoro, Maryland attracted one of the brightest young coaches in the nation to College Park. A two-time NCAA national champion and four-time All-American, Santoro is at Maryland after serving the past nine seasons as the assistant coach at Lehigh University. There, he was named the National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2003 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
Maryland is currently led by junior Jason Gribschaw, who has posted a 13-9 record at 141 pounds. He is one of three Terps with double figures in victories, being joined in that category by sophomore Jason Kiessling (11-6 at 157) and senior Matt Pandullo (11-7 at 125).
Pandullo, a Terrapin co-captain along with John Antonelli, has three dual-match victories so far this year. Pandullo has won five of his last six matches at 125 pounds and won his weight class at the Hitchcock Classic in early January. Kiessling also won the 157-pound division at the Hitchcock Classic in Millersville, Pa.
Junior 184-pounder Dan Scheets and sophomore heavyweight Barry Stein lead the Terps in wins by fall with four apiece. Scheets has scored 12 points in dual matches coming into this weekend's action.
The duals against North Carolina and American are the first two in a stretch of five straight home dates for the Terrapins over a two-week period. Maryland hosts McDaniel College from Westminster, Md., on Wednesday evening at 7:30 and hosts Virginia Military Institute on Friday, Jan. 30 at 5 p.m.
The Terps' home schedule ends on Saturday, Feb. 7 when Maryland hosts Duke and Rutgers in a double-dual match.
NORTH CAROLINA
The Tar Heels are the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champions, having won last year's tournament held at Boone, N.C. Three Carolina wrestlers return after qualifying for last year's NCAA Championships - 125-pounder Chris Rodrigues, 184-pounder Mark Canty and 197-pounder David Dashiell.
Senior heavyweight Ryan Adams leads North Carolina thus far with an 18-9 record, including a 3-2 mark in the Tar Heels' duals. Canty leads three other UNC wrestlers who have posted double figures in wins with a 15-12 mark. Junior Venroy July is 14-12 at 197 pounds, while redshirt freshman Bobby Shaw is 10-15 at 133 pounds.
North Carolina has posted dual-meet victories over the Terrapins in the last three meetings on the mat between the schools, with the Terps' 21-19 win in the 1999-2000 season standing as the last Maryland team win over the 'Heels.
AMERICAN
The Eagles are led by junior Daniel Waters, who was 19-4 at 197 pounds before Thursday night's match with Slippery Rock, and sophomore 149-pounder Tom Kniezewski, who entered Thursday's match at 15-8. Senior heavyweight Jared Hyman was 10-9 through Wednesday's action.
American, directed by second-year coach Mark Cody, were 0-6 in dual matches before Thursday's match.
Maryland defeated American, 38-6, in the dual match between the teams held in Washington, D.C., last February.
