COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland wrestling team travels to Evanton, Ill. for the 52nd Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. The tournament, featuring some of top teams in the nation, runs Dec. 29-30 at Northwestern University. 

Leading it off

• The Terps captured two individual titles at the Midlands last season with Jimmy Sheptock taking the 184-pound crown and Christian Boley winning at 197 pounds. It was the first time in program history that two Terp grapplers won titles at a single Midlands.

• Maryland finished 6th at last year's Midlands, tying the highest finish in school history (2009).

• No. 7 Geoffrey Alexander has been a consistent performer for the Terps with a 7-1 dual mark at 133 pounds. Alexander is first on the team in dual points (27) and is Maryland's highest seed at the tournament (5th). 

• Shyheim Brown is the seventh seed at 141 pounds. Dawson Peck, wrestling unattached, is seeded 11th. 

Follow the Terps

• The Midlands Session I and II will will commence Monday with the final sessions taking place Tuesday. Wrestling will start Monday at 10:30 a.m. with the second session to follow at 8 p.m. 

• All mats will be shown on BTN Plus.

• Tuesday's first session will begin at 1 p.m. The finals will take place Tuesday night beginning at 8 p.m. The finals will be televised live on BTN. 

• Live results can be seen via Track Wrestling here. 

Maryland probables

Scouting the Opposition

• The Midlands boasts some of the top competition in college wrestling each season. Notable competitors at the 2014 edition include Edinboro's AJ Schopp (133) and Mitchell Port (141), Northwestern's Jason Tsirtsis (149) and Mike McMullan (285), Penn's Lorenzo Thomas (184) and Virginia Tech's Devin Carter (141). 

• Iowa is expected to have the strongest team at the event with 9-of-10 wrestlers holding top-5 seeds. 

Terps ready for the b1gGest Show in wrestling

• "That's kind of every wrestler's dream to wrestle in the Big Ten." - Geoffrey Alexander to umterps.com contributer Michael Errigo, who outlined the Terps' exciting move to the Big Ten in his latest piece.

BROWN DELIVERS

• Sophomore Shyheim Brown is 17th TheOpenMat.com's individual rankings. Brown is t-2 on the team in dual points scored (26) and t-3 in wins (11).

• Brown had a breakout campaign last season at 141 pounds. The Pennsylvania native qualified for the NCAA Tournament and rose to as high as No. 8 in the nation. 

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 and Ryan Kail will combine to 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.

• McCoy was honored before the Terps' dual with Penn State on Dec. 11.

New Starters

• Multiple grapplers made their dual-match debut at the Terrapin Duals. Jhared Simmons (125), Daniel Sanchez (141), Justin Alexander (157), Arashdeep Gill (174/184). Rob Fitzgerald (197), Ryan Kail (285) and Sean Twigg (285) all saw action, going a combined 14-4. Fitzgerald has started every match for the Terps this season.

• Six (Simmons, Sanchez, Alexander, Gill, Kail and Twigg) are redshirt freshman.

OPENING STATEMENT

• Freshman Alfred Bannister leads the Terps in wins (15) after his standout performances at a number of open competitions this season. The 141-pounder captured the Wolfpack Open title and finished third at the Bearcat Open and fourth at the Clarion Open.

• Five Terps placed at the Nittany Lion Open, led by Tyler Goodwin's third place finish at 133 pounds. Adam Whitesell finished eighth behind Goodwin while Derrick Evanovich (157, 4th), Toby Hague (157, 7th) and Garrett Wesneski (197, 8th) also placed.

• Wesneski also won a title at the TCNJ Open. Dawson Peck (285) and Shyheim Brown (141) also took home first-place honors.

Strong Slate

• The Terps have already faced three ranked opponents this season; No. 19 Wisconsin, No. 13 Nebraska, No. 9 Pittsburgh and No. 4 Penn State.

• Nine of Maryland's 2014-15 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.

MARYLAND MAT CHAT Episode 4

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-