Media Day Kicks Off Wrestling Season
10/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland wrestling team welcomed the cameras to its inaugural media day at the XFINITY Center Tuesday afternoon.
With their entry into the Big Ten, the Terrapins will compete in arguably the best wrestling conference in the country. Maryland head coach Kerry McCoy was excited to usher in a new era of Maryland wrestling.
“We've got a really exciting schedule and a bunch of guys that are really excited about the transition,” McCoy said. “Coming from being the top team in the ACC and transitioning into having to battle to get up to those ranks in the Big Ten; it's a really exciting opportunity. Our guys have stepped up.”
Notable home opponents for the Terps include No. 5 Penn State, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 1 Minnesota and No. 2 Iowa. 141-pounder Shyheim Brown, a breakout performer for the Terps last season, anticipates a major rise in the level of competition.
“You've got to go out there and make sure you're on your game,” Brown said. “You can't take anyone lightly. Everyone is good.”
McCoy will look to replace two main contributors from last season, two-time All-American and 2014 NCAA runner-up Jimmy Sheptock and two-time ACC champion Christian Boley. The former Penn State standout is confident that the attitude of the new conference will raise the performance of his returning athletes.
“The level is definitely elevated,” McCoy said. “The biggest thing I talk about with the Big Ten Conference is that it's a lifestyle. It's a mindset of being in an elite premier conference.”
In addition to Brown, the Terps possess NCAA qualifiers in Geoffrey Alexander (133) Frank Goodwin (141), Tyler Goodwin (133) and Spencer Myers (285). Tyler Goodwin will move down to 125 pounds with Alexander returning after a redshirt year. Myers will appear after his commitments with the Maryland football team are over, and the older Goodwin will battle it out with Brown to determine the starter at 141.
“It's always a battle with Shy,” Goodwin said. “We wrestle a lot alike and we push each other. We want to push each other to All-American status or whatever we can get. It's helped a lot.”
Brown and Goodwin will continue their battle at the Red & Black Wrestle-Offs on Oct. 26. McCoy hopes the meet will just be the start of the big things he has planned for the Terps in their first year in a new conference.
“We want to finish in the top half of the Big Ten,” McCoy said. “You could finish in the top-5 of the Big Ten Tournament and then finish in the top-5 of the NCAA Tournament. We want to carry the success we had in the ACC into the Big Ten. We know we can compete at the highest level. We're not taking a backseat to anybody.”
