GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Maryland wrestling team finished in eighth place with 71.5 points this weekend at the Southern Scuffle hosted by UNC Greensboro. Four Terrapins placed in the tournament led by sophomore Alex Krom who finished second at 141 pounds.

Freshman Mike Letts had an impressive outing against the nation's top talent with a third place finish at 174 pounds. Redshirt freshman Hudson Taylor took fourth place at 197 pounds and senior Jason Kiessling finished eighth at 165 pounds.

Krom used a 14-1 major decision against Joe Schick of East Stroudsburg in the first round and an 8-5 decision against David Emison of George Mason to face third-seeded Vincent Ramirez of North Carolina who is ranked No. 13 in the nation. Krom pulled off the upset in impressive fashion with a pin at 6:24 to advance to the quarterfinals at the end of day one. He then got off to a fast start today with a pin in 1:09 to advance to the semis. After an 8-3 decision against Clint Bonspeller of Kent State, Krom faced top-seeded Manuel Rivera of Minnesota in the finals. Rivera slipped by Krom with a tight 7-6 win.

Pinto, the fourth seed at 141, advanced to the quarterfinals as well. He beat Joel Webster of Edinboro by fall in 3:29. Then he took down Sean Carr of East Stroudsburg, 20-5, in 5:15. In the round of 16, Pinto won by decision, 14-10, against Drew Lashaway of Kent State.

Fourth-seeded Letts used a pair of wins to propel himself into the quarterfinals after the first day. Both wins came by way of major decision as he beat Derrick Morgan of Lock Haven 16-4 and Mike Grogan of Virginia 10-0. In today's action, he bested fifth-seeded Phil Moricone of Edinboro, 11-4, to advance to the semis, where he lost to Missouri's Ben Askren, ranked No. 1 in the country.

Letts rebounded and won 8-1 in the consolation semis to square off against second-seeded Gabe Dretsch of Minnesota in the finals, ranked No. 8 in the nation. Letts got the best of him with a 6-2 decision.

Taylor, also seeded fourth at 197, won his first match by fall against Eric Cassidy of Pittsburgh. Taylor ended the bout with a pin at 3:23. He then went on to beat Yura Malamura of No. 1 Minnesota, 8-3, advancing to the quarterfinals in day one. Taylor won his first match today to advance to the semis before falling to Max Askren of Missouri, ranked No. 1 in the country. Taylor gave the eventual champ all he could handle but lost, 6-3. He then posted a 3-0 win in the semis of the consolation bracket but lost in the finals to finish fourth.

Kiessling, the fifth-seed in his bracket, won his first two matches yesterday. He beat Pete Puckett of Central Michigan, 12-1, and then Trebor Clavette, 13-11. After losing his next match, Kiessling rattled off three-straight wins in the consolation bracket before losing the seventh-place match, 5-2, to Jeremy Larson of Minnesota.

The Terps will get back on the mat for dual action on Sunday, January 7 when they travel to Pittsburgh for duals against Duquesne and Delaware State. After that, Maryland returns home to the Comcast Pavilion on January 10 to host Navy at 7:00 p.m.