Jan. 26, 2013

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After trailing 9-0 through three matches, four consecutive victories including back-to-back pins by 18th-ranked Christian Boley and Dallas Brown propelled the Maryland wrestling team past North Carolina, 21-16, Saturday night at Comcast Pavilion.

In support of Boley and Brown, fifth-ranked Josh Asper and seventh-ranked Jimmy Sheptock each recorded wins during the comeback. The Terps (10-6, 1-1 ACC) also received a victory from Geoffrey Alexander at 133.

“I thought the effort tonight was good,” said head coach Kerry McCoy. “Our goal is to get better every time and I think we were better tonight than we were yesterday, and we were better tonight than we were last week. We just have to keep on improving and moving forward.”

Boley gave Maryland the lead for good at 197 with his fourth pin of the year and third in dual action. The junior attacked early and often against the Tar Heels' Frank Abbondanza. Boley tallied eight takedowns during the match and appeared on his way to a major decision. But with 10 seconds remaining in the match, Boley took Abbondanza down and flipped him onto his back for the fall giving the Terps a 12-9 lead.

Brown followed Boley at heavyweight in a match that lacked the early period action of the 197-pound affair. The first period saw a couple of scrambles, but neither wrestler was able to score a takedown.

North Carolina's Cody Klempay choose to start the second period in the down position. Working from top, Brown got Klempay to his back and pinned him 17 seconds into the period.

The Tar Heels stayed alive with a win at 125 by eight-ranked Nathan Kraisser, but Alexander sealed the win for the Terps with an 8-4 decision at 133.

Alexander, who has three pins and a major decision in his last four matches, again took the mat looking to score. The sophomore picked up a takedown 26 seconds into the match and looked to flip UNC's Pat Owens for the pin. Owens withstood the pressure and Alexander settled for 2:26 of riding time. Alexander would add one more takedown to his match tally before it was over.

With the dual starting at 149 pounds, the Tar Heels picked up the first three victories of the match all by decision. Looking to stem the tide, Asper took to the mat at 174 and overcame Tanner Eitel's defensive tactics to record an 8-1 decision.

At 184, Sheptock picked up Maryland's second win of the night with a 9-5 decision over Alex Utley to improve to 16-0 in dual competition. The junior scored a takedown in each period and added a reversal in the third as the two teams headed to the intermission.

The Terps close out their ACC home slate on Friday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. against 11th-ranked Virginia.

Maryland 21, North Carolina 16

149: Christian Barber (UNC) dec. Lou Mascola (MD), 3-1 SV (0-3)
157: Chris Mears (UNC) dec. Brady Massaro (MD), 6-2 (0-6)
165: John Staudenmayer (UNC) dec. Domenic DeRobertis (MD), 5-0 (0-9)
174: #5 Josh Asper (MD) dec. Tanner Eitel (UNC), 8-1 (3-9)
184: #7 Jimmy Sheptock (MD) dec. Alex Utley (UNC), 9-5 (6-9)
197: #18 Christian Boley (MD) fall over Frank Abbondanza (UNC), 6:57 (12-9)
285: Dallas Brown (MD) fall over Cody Klempay (UNC), 3:17 (18-9)
125: #8 Nathan Kraisser (UNC) dec. Shane Gentry (MD), 8-4 (18-12)
133: #16 Geoffrey Alexander (MD) dec. Pat Owens (UNC), 7-3 (21-12)
141: #7 Evan Henderson (UNC) maj. dec. Shane Arechiga (MD), 14-4 (21-16)