Terps to Philly for 2011 NCAAs
3/16/2011 8:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 16, 2011
COLLEGE PARK, MD. - Six University of Maryland wrestlers are heading to this week's NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. The tournament begins on Thursday and ends with the championship finals, to be televised live on ESPN, on Saturday night.
Coach Kerry McCoy and the Terps are ready to earn a third top-20 finish at the championship. In 2009, McCoy's first year at Maryland, the Terrapins finished in 10th-place overall, the second-best in program history. Last season, Maryland tied for 20th with 29.5 team points.
"I am very excited for the tournament to start," said McCoy. "This is what we have been working towards all year and it's here. I believe the guys we have here all have the potential to get on the awards stand. It's going to be fun."
Riding the momentum of their third Atlantic Coast Conference championship in four seasons, the Terps will be represented by No. 14 Jon Kohler (141 pounds), No. 15 Kyle John (157), No. 4 Josh Asper (165), No. 10 Mike Letts (174), Corey Peltier (184) and Spencer Myers (Heavyweight). Kohler, Asper, Letts, Peltier and Myers all won their respective individual ACC titles while John finished runner-up last Saturday.
Maryland's highest-ranked wrestler, Asper earned the four seed at 165 pounds and will face Boise State's Kurt Swartz in his first match. If Asper were to win his 32nd bout of the season, the Parkton, Md., native would likely face Penn's Stephen Burak, whom Asper topped 14-5 on Nov. 27.
After picking up his first ever conference title, Asper is looking to grab national honors after coming up just short in last year's heartbreaking loss to Old Dominion's Chris Brown for All-American status.
The 2011 ACC Tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler, Letts is the eighth seed at 174 pounds. In his first match, Letts will take on unseeded Scott Giffin of Penn.
If Letts were to defeat Giffin, as he did earlier this season by a score of 6-2, he would take on either No. 9 Ethan Lofthouse of Iowa or the winner of Rob Morrison Rider or No. 17 Dorian Henderson of Missouri. Letts lost at the hands of Lofthouse 6-4 at the Midlands Championship, but defeated Henderson 3-0.
Despite winning his second ACC title, Kohler is not seeded at 141 pounds and will challenge Penn's 12-seed Zack Kemmerer, whom Kohler shut out 4-0 earlier this year, in his first match. If Kohler were to advance, he would take on the winner of Iowa's No. 5 Montell Marion and Lehigh's Stephen Dutton.
In his second NCAA appearance, John will go up against American's Steve Fittery in the first match. Ranked No. 1 in the country by Intermat, Fitter topped John 13-4 in Maryland and American's `Battle of the Beltway' dual earlier this season.
The winner of the John-Fittery bout will face the victor between Edinboro's Johnny Greishemer and Cal Poly's Barrett Abel.
Making their first appearances at the NCAA tournament after winning individual conference titles, Peltier and Myers will both face challenges early on in the 2011 championship.
Peltier will wrestle in the pigtail match at 184 pounds against Iowa's No. 11 Grant Gambrall. The winner of that bout, just the eighth match of the tournament, will take on No. 15 Austin Trotman of Appalachian State.
Myers will challenge No. 16 Ricky Alcala of Indiana in his first match and, if he were to advance, the true freshman would go up against No. 3 Jarod Trice of Central Michigan.
Maryland's hunt for a third consecutive top-20 finish begins Thursday, Mar. 17 at 11 a.m. Session II continues Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.
-ES-
