EVANSTON, Ill. – Spurred by a strong second day performance, The Maryland wrestling team notched an eighth place finish (51.5) at the 52nd Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Northwestern University Tuesday.
The Terps (4-7, 0-3 Big Ten) featured four placers. Sophomore Shyheim Brown (141, 8th), redshirt junior Lou Mascola (157, 6th), junior Josh Snook (174, 4th) and unattached sophomore Dawson Peck (285, 5th) all earned first-time podium finishes at the prestigious event.
“It was a good day,” head coach Kerry McCoy said. “We got over some hurdles and gave ourselves good momentum to finish the year strong. We've got a lot to work on, but it was a good way to finish 2014.”
Snook, who advanced to the quarterfinals on day one, notched an 8-0 major decision over Scott Reilly of Air Force to begin his day. The Delaware native knocked off Wisconsin's Frank Cousins before receiving a medical forfeit to advance to the third-place match. Alex Meyer got past Snook in that bout to drop the junior to fourth.
After losing his opening round affair, Mascola battled through the consolation bracket to the tune of six victories to eventually finish sixth. The redshirt junior earned some hardware in his first bout of the day, pinning Wabash's Reece Lefever in just 22 seconds, a mark that would earn Mascola the award for the fastest fall of the tournament.
In his second match, Mascola avenged his opening round defeat to Purdue's Doug Welch with a 6-2 decision. After a razor thin 14-13 loss to Mike Kelly of Iowa, Mascola dropped the fifth-place match to Brown's Justin Staudenmayer, 4-3.
Brown's day began like Mascola's. The sophomore pinned Minnesota's Tommy Thorn in 5:56 to earn key bonus points for the Terps. He would drop his final two matches of the day to place eighth.
A transfer from Chattanooga, Peck put on a solid performance. After shutout wins over Indiana's Garret Goldman (3-0), and Columbia's Garrett Ryan (4-0), Peck fell to Ty Walz of Virginia Tech in the consolation semis. The sophomore rebounded with a 1-0 win over Evan Knutson of North Dakota State to place fifth.
Top ranked Iowa won the overall team title. The Terrapins will host the Hawkeyes on Friday, Feb. 6 at the XFINITY Center. It's the second straight top-10 finish for the Terps at the Midlands.
The Terps are back in action on Jan. 9 for Maryland's first-ever Beauty and the Beast event. The wrestling team will take on Harvard simultaneous to the gymnastics team's meet with George Washington and West Virginia. Action will begin at 7 p.m.
Midlands Results for Maryland
125 - Josh Polacek
Champ. Round 1 - Josh Polacek (Maryland) won by decision over Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion) (Dec 11-4)
Champ. Round 2 - Billy Watterson (Brown) won in tie breaker - 1 over Josh Polacek (Maryland) (TB-1 7-3)
Cons. Round 2 - J.R. Wert (Rider) won by decision over Josh Polacek (Maryland) (Dec 5-2)
133 - Geoffrey Alexander
Champ. Round 1 - Geoffrey Alexander (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Geoffrey Alexander (Maryland) won by decision over Brance Simms (South Dakota State) (Dec 11-9)
Champ. Round 3 - Geoffrey Alexander (Maryland) won by major decision over Dominick Malone (Northwestern) (Maj 8-0)
Quarterfinal - Zane Richards (Illinois) won by major decision over Geoffrey Alexander (Maryland) (Maj 12-1)
Cons. Round 6 - Caleb Richardson (Penn) won in sudden victory - 1 over Geoffrey Alexander (Maryland) (SV-1 3-1)
141 - Frank Goodwin
Champ. Round 1 - Frank Goodwin (Maryland) won by decision over Mitchell Bengtson (North Dakota State) (Dec 9-4)
Champ. Round 2 - Michael Shaw (Eastern Michigan) won by decision over Frank Goodwin (Maryland) (Dec 5-4)
Cons. Round 2 - Frank Goodwin (Maryland) won by major decision over Jacob Kingett (Old Dominion) (Maj 13-0)
Cons. Round 3 - Alex Kocer (South Dakota State) won by decision over Frank Goodwin (Maryland) (Dec 7-0)
141 - Shyheim Brown
Champ. Round 1 - Shyheim Brown (Maryland) won by tech fall over Jacob Kingett (Old Dominion) (TF 16-0)
Champ. Round 2 - Shyheim Brown(Maryland) won by tech fall over Samuel Gross (Northwestern - Unattached) (TF 16-0)
Champ. Round 3 - Shyheim Brown (Maryland) won in sudden victory - 1 over Joseph McKenna (Lehigh Valley Athletic Club) (SV-1 3-1)
Quarterfinal - Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) won by major decision over Shyheim Brown(Maryland) (Maj 17-9)
Cons. Round 6 - Shyheim Brown(Maryland) won by fall over Tommy Thorn (Minnesota - Unattached) (Fall 5:56)
Cons. Round 7 - Josh Dziewa (Iowa) won by decision over Shyheim Brown (Maryland) (Dec 4-2)
7th Place Match - Brandon Wright (Grand View) won by decision over Shyheim Brown (Maryland) (Dec 3-2)
149 - Ben Dorsay
Champ. Round 1 - Joe Randazzo (Indiana) won by decision over Ben Dorsay (Maryland) (Dec 3-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Ben Dorsay (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 - Laike Gardner (Lehigh) won by decision over Ben Dorsay (Maryland) (Dec 6-4)
157 - Justin Alexander
Champ. Round 1 - Justin Alexander (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Mike Kelly (Iowa) won by decision over Justin Alexander (Maryland) (Dec 4-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Justin Alexander (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Francesco Fabozzi (Princeton) won by decision over Justin Alexander (Maryland) (Dec 9-3)
157 - Lou Mascola
Champ. Round 1 - Lou Mascola (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Doug Welch (Purdue) won by major decision over Lou Mascola (Maryland) (Maj 9-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Lou Mascola (Maryland) won by major decision over Dustin Schultz (Purdue) (Maj 12-3)
Cons. Round 3 - Lou Mascola (Maryland) won by decision over Chase Delande (Edinboro) (Dec 7-2)
Cons. Round 4 - Lou Mascola (Maryland) won by tech fall over Devin Geoghegan (Old Dominion) (TF 16-1)
Cons. Round 5 - Lou Mascola (Maryland) won by decision over Jake Danishek (Indiana) (Dec 7-3)
Cons. Round 6 - Lou Mascola (Maryland) won by fall over Reece Lefever (Wabash) (Fall 0:22)
Cons. Round 7 - Lou Mascola (Maryland) won by decision over Doug Welch (Purdue) (Dec 6-2)
Cons. Semi - Mike Kelly (Iowa) won by decision over Lou Mascola (Maryland) (Dec 14-13)
5th Place Match - Justin Staudenmayer (Brown) won by decision over Lou Mascola (Maryland) (Dec 4-3)
165 - Tyler Manion
Champ. Round 1 - Tyler Manion (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Taylor Walsh (Indiana) won by fall over Tyler Manion (Maryland) (Fall 1:01)
Cons. Round 2 - Tyler Manion (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) won by decision over Tyler Manion (Maryland) (Dec 4-2)
174 - Josh Snook
Champ. Round 1 - Josh Snook (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Josh Snook (Maryland) won by decision over Steven Schneider (Binghamton) (Dec 2-1)
Champ. Round 3 - Josh Snook (Maryland) won in sudden victory - 1 over Josh Thomson (Messiah College ) (SV-1 3-1)
Quarterfinal - Johnny Sebastian (Northwestern - Unattached) won by major decision over Josh Snook (Maryland) (Maj 11-2)
Cons. Round 6 - Josh Snook (Maryland) won by major decision over Scott Reilly (Air Force) (Maj 8-0)
Cons. Round 7 - Josh Snook (Maryland) won by decision over Frank Cousins (Wisconsin) (Dec 3-1)
Cons. Semi - Josh Snook (Maryland) won by medical forfeit over Brock Gutches (Southern Oregon) (MFF)
3rd Place Match - Alex Meyer (Iowa) won by major decision over Josh Snook (Maryland) (Maj 13-5)
197 - Rob Fitzgerald
Champ. Round 1 - Rob Fitzgerald (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Nathan Burak (Iowa) won by fall over Rob Fitzgerald (Maryland) (Fall 6:40)
Cons. Round 2 - Rob Fitzgerald (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Rob Fitzgerald (Maryland) won by major decision over Troy Hembury (Columbia) (Maj 10-1)
Cons. Round 4 - Rob Fitzgerald (Maryland) won by decision over Jake Tindle (SIU-Edwardsville) (Dec 4-1)
Cons. Round 5 - Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion) won by major decision over Rob Fitzgerald (Maryland) (Maj 10-2)
285 - Sean Twigg
Champ. Round 1 - Sean Twigg (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Evan Knutson (North Dakota State) won by fall over Sean Twigg (Maryland) (Fall 5:25)
Cons. Round 2 - Sean Twigg (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Chris Lopez (Illinois) won by decision over Sean Twigg (Maryland) (Dec 6-1)
285 - Dawson Peck
Champ. Round 1 - Dawson Peck (Maryland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Dawson Peck (Maryland) won by major decision over Chris Johnson (SIU-Edwardsville) (Maj 14-2)
Champ. Round 3 - Dawson Peck (Maryland) won by decision over Anthony Edgren (UW-Whitewater) (Dec 7-0)
Quarterfinal - Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) won by fall over Dawson Peck (Maryland) (Fall 3:28)
Cons. Round 6 - Dawson Peck (Maryland) won by decision over Garret Goldman (Indiana) (Dec 3-0)
Cons. Round 7 - Dawson Peck (Maryland) won by decision over Garrett Ryan (Columbia) (Dec 4-0)
Cons. Semi - Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Dawson Peck (Maryland) (Dec 6-5)
5th Place Match - Dawson Peck (Maryland) won by decision over Evan Knutson (North Dakota State) (Dec 1-0)
-Maryland-
