WIN Magazine Pegs Terps #15 in 2012-13
9/14/2012 8:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Sept. 14, 2012
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland wrestling team was tabbed No.15 in WIN Magazine's 2012-13 Preseason Tournament Power Index (TPI) released on Thursday. Five Terrapin wrestlers appeared in the publications weight class rankings headlined by two-time All-American Josh Asper who is ranked fourth nationally at 165 pounds.
The Parkton, Md., native is the highest ranked of the five Terps in the preseason poll. Asper went 28-4 last season and 15-0 in duals en route to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Junior Jimmy Sheptock begins the season at No. 6 at 174 pounds after finishing one win shy of All-America status in 2012. Sheptock went 27-6 with a team-high nine wins via technical fall on his way to his first ACC title.
At 197 pounds, junior Christian Boley burst onto the scene with a team-high 31 wins last year and begins the season ranked 10th. Boley completed 2012 with a 31-3 record with five of the wins coming against nationally-ranked opposition. He wrapped up an ACC championship with a 13-3 major decision over North Carolina's Zac Bennett in March.
After compiling a 21-7 record last season, junior Spencer Myers begins the 2012-13 campaign ranked 13th at 285 pounds. Myers won his second consecutive conference title with a 3-1 decision over Virginia Tech's Chris Penny.
At 125 pounds, junior Shane Gentry returns after posting a 14-8 record last season. A 2011-12 All-ACC selection, Gentry is ranked 18th in the TPI.
Two-time defending national champion Penn State is the top-ranked team to begin the season in the WIN Magazine poll. The Nittany Lions are followed by Iowa at No. 2, Oklahoma State at No. 3, and Minnesota at No. 4. Ohio State, which the Terps will face at the Grapple at the Garden on Dec. 16, rounds out the top 5.
The two-time defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions are one of three conference programs ranked in the top 25. Virginia Tech is ranked 13th and Virginia is ranked 21st.
The Terps begin their season on Nov. 4 with the Terrapin Duals against John Hopkins, Kutztown and West Virginia.
-Terps-
