July 18, 2012

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland wrestling team Wednesday announced its 2012-13 schedule, which includes matches against nine teams that finished in the top 25 at the 2012 NCAA Championships and a historic trip to Madison Square Garden for the first-ever collegiate wrestling event at the famous arena.

In addition to facing Big Ten powers Nebraska and Ohio State in the Grapple at the Garden, the Terps will travel to Columbia, Mo., for the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/Cliff Keen National Duals to challenge Missouri, Northwestern and Wyoming.

The schedule also includes notable mainstays in the Brockport /Oklahoma Gold Classic, the Northeast Duals and the Midlands Championships.

"The schedule is a combination of trying to get more home competitions and put ourselves in a position to have success at the end of the year,” said head coach Kerry McCoy. “We wanted to have a good mix of challenging opponents, a good mix of experiences -- travel to places we haven't been before and wrestle some teams we haven't wrestled before -- and keep the traditional opponents on the schedule. Some different opportunities popped up and made the schedule more challenging and more exciting. That ultimately will help us at the end of year. "

Maryland unofficially opens its season Saturday, Oct. 27 with the Red-Black Wrestle-Offs to help determine the starters for the Terrapin Duals which will be Sunday, Nov. 4 against Johns Hopkins, Kutztown and West Virginia.

The following weekend, Maryland will travel to upstate New York for the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic (Nov. 10). The Terps have a week off before heading to Troy, N.Y., for the Northeast Duals (Nov. 24) where Maryland will face off against Illinois, which finished seventh at Nationals last year and returns all four of its All-Americans, Purdue and Columbia.

The Terps spend the entire month of December on the road. Their first stop is the Nittany Lion Open on Dec. 2 followed by a meet against future ACC-rival Pittsburgh (Dec. 7) and local-rival American (Dec. 9).

Following the annual meeting with the Eagles, Maryland heads to the Grapple at the Garden at Madison Square Garden to wrestle Nebraska and Ohio State (Dec. 16). The Buckeyes placed fifth at the 2012 NCAA Championships and return four All-Americans including 133-pound national champion Logan Stieber.

Maryland closes the year with the prestigious Midlands Championships (Dec. 29-30) at Northwestern University.

Maryland kicks off 2013 with a trip to Bloomsburg (Jan. 5) before the Terps play host to Brown, Harvard and Stanford in a tri-meet at Comcast Pavilion (Jan. 12). One week later, Maryland welcomes in-state rival Navy to College Park (Jan. 19) for its annual matchup with the Midshipmen.

The Terps close the month with three consecutive home conference meets against Virginia Tech (Jan. 25), North Carolina (Jan. 26) and Virginia (Feb. 1), which was the only team to defeat the Terps in ACC dual action last season.

The following weekend, a doubleheader is scheduled with Duke and NC State (Feb. 9). The Terps will take on the Blue Devils in Durham and face the Wolfpack in Raleigh later that day.

Maryland heads to the University of Missouri on Feb. 17 for the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. The Terps are guaranteed two matches against the trio of Missouri, Northwestern or Wyoming. Should Maryland win both matches in Columbia, it will advance to the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals finals in Minneapolis, Minn., on Feb. 23-24.

In between the national duals, the Terps tangle with George Mason (Feb. 21) at Comcast Pavilion in their final home dual meet of the season.

The ACC Championships will be held at Comcast Center on March 9.

The NCAA Championships are scheduled to take place March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa.

-Terps-