Terps Open Season with Terrapin Duals Sunday
10/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland wrestling team opens its 2014-15 season with the annual Terrapin Duals at the XFINITY Center Sunday. The Terps welcome Alderson-Broaddus, Davidson, Kutztown and Johns Hopkins with action set to get under way at 10 a.m.
Scouting the Opposition
• Davidson finished 5-14 last season and placed T-66 at the NCAA Championships. 184-pounder Scott Patrick, a national qualifer and 2014 SoCon Champion, is the Wildcats' top returner.
• Kutztown went 11-5 last season competing mostly at the Division II level. The Bears boast Ziad Haddad, who earned 2014 Division II Wrestler of the Year honors after going undefeated (25-0) and winning the national title at heavyweight.
• Division III Johns Hopkins finished last season with a 10-5 dual mark and placed t-22 at the NCAA Championships. Senior Paul Bewak notched a seventh-place finish at 125 pounds at NCAA's last season.
• Alderson-Broaddus debuted its wrestling program last season under head coach Mitch Smith and finished 3-17. The Battlers first-ever dual contest came at the 2013 Terrapin Duals.
Ready Replacements
• The Terps will look to replace two-time All-American Jimmy Sheptock and two-time ACC champion Christian Boley. Sheptock was the national runner-up at 184 pounds last season while Boley 25-6 went at 197 pounds and missed All-American honors by one match.
• Tony Gardner will move back up to 184 to fill Sheptock's spot, with Arashdeep Gill providing cover at the weight. Rob Fitzgerald will slide in for Boley at 197 pounds.
• Josh Snook will move up from 165 pounds to 174 to fill the place vacated by his brother Ty. Tyler Manion, an occasional starter at 165 last season, will take over the role to start the 2014-15 season.
Brotherly Love
• Tyler and Frank Goodwin, both NCAA qualifiers, will play big roles for the Terps this season.• Tyler, the only Maryland true freshman to compete in a dual last season, will move down to 125 pounds after making nationals at 133 last season.
• Frank Goodwin is expected to move back down to challenge Shyheim Brown for the starting spot at 141 pounds. Goodwin qualified for NCAA's at 141 in 2013 after starting at 149 pounds last season.
Brown Delivers
• Sophomore Shyheim Brown had a breakout campaign last season at 141 pounds. The Pennsylvania native started the season 11-0 and rose to as high as No. 8 in the nation.
• Brown finished his season as a national qualifier, going 1-2 in Oklahoma City.
redshirt no more
• After serving redshirt seasons last year, Geoffrey Alexander and Lou Mascola will both reenter the Terrapin lineup.
• A two-time NCAA qualifier, Alexander dominated open competition at 133 pounds last season to the tune of a 25-2 recordand four open tournament titles. He is a consensus top-15 133-pounder entering the season.
• Mascola transitioned to 157 pounds during his redshirt campaign and is expected to start at that weight for Maryland. He went 14-6 last season and claimed the Wilkes Open title.
myers matters
• Spencer Myers, currently playing for the Maryland football team, will be an anchor in the Terps' lineup. An All-American, Myers has qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of his varsity seasons. He went 24-6 last year and is a two-time ACC Champion.
• Sean Twigg or Ryan Kail will handle the heavyweight load until Myers finishes his football commitments.
hall of fame status
• Head Coach Kerry McCoy was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2014 in July in Stillwater, Okla.
• A two-time national champion at Penn State, McCoy was also inducted into the NACDA/John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation Hall of Fame alongside University of Maryland Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson.
New Starters
• Multiple grapplers could make their dual-match debut this weekend. Jhared Simmons (125), Daniel Sanchez (141), Justin Alexander (157), Arashdeep Gill (174/184). Rob Fitzgerald (197), Dylan Devine (197), Ryan Kail (285) and Sean Twigg (285) are included in the Terps' probable starters.
• Six (Simmons, Sanchez, Alexander, Gill, Kail and Twigg) are redshirt freshman.
Strong Slate
• The Terps will take on 10 teams included the preseason Intermat Dual Meet Division I Poll. Eight of those are Big Ten squads, with No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Iowa and No. 5 Penn State all visiting College Park for dual matches this season.
• The Terps will travel to No. 7 Nebraska, No. 11 Illinois, No. 14 Wisconsin. No. 15 Pittsburgh and No. 16 Northwestern.
• Nine of Maryland's opponents finished with the Terps in the top-20 of the 2014 NCAA Championships. Pittsburgh (22nd), Duke (29th), Rutgers (34th), Hofstra (t-40th), Navy (t-40th) and Harvard (58th) rounds out the NCAA team placings.
Enter Eiter
• Former Penn head coach Rob Eiter is in his first season as an assistant coach, joining fifth-year assistant Mike Catullo and volunteer assistant Josh Asper on the coaching staff.
• Eiter produced four All-Americans in his six years at the helm. Eiter also served the Quakers as an assistant for three seasons.
• A 1991 graduate of Arizona State, Eiter's glittering interational credentials are highlighted by an eigth-place finish at the 1996 Olympics Games in Atlanta. Eiter also was a standout international coach, guiding the 1999 United State women's team to a first-place finish at the World Championships.
Media Madness
• Head coach Kerry McCoy and select Maryland wrestlers faced the cameras at Maryland wrestling's first ever media day on Oct. 7.
• McCoy's discussed a wide variety of subjects at his press conference. His comments can be viewed below.
-Maryland-
