Terps Travel to #14 Illinois Friday

1/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Maryland Athletics

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After an extended homestand, the Maryland wrestling team hits the road to take on No. 14 Illinois at Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill., Friday night. Action is scheduled to get underway at 8 p.m., and will be streamed live on BTN Plus.

Leading it off

• Maryland takes on No. 14 Illinois Friday at 8 p.m. at Huff Hall. Action can be seen live on BTN Plus.

• Despite wins from Lou Mascola (157 pounds), Josh Snook (174) and No. 11 Spencer Myers (285), Maryland fell to No. 4 Ohio State 31-9.

• The Terps last faced the Illini in 2012 at the Northeast Duals. Illinois won 31-6 and improved its all-time record against the Terps to 2-0.

• Maryland notched its second straight top-10 finish at the Midlands Championships, finishing 8th (51.5). The Terps boasted four placers: Josh Snook (4th, 174), Dawson Peck (5th, 285) Lou Mascola (6th, 157) and Shyheim Brown (8th, 141). Peck was wrestling unattached and his score was not added to the team total.

Maryland probables

Maryland's Probable Starters
Wt.	Wrestler	Yr.	Hometown	W-L	MD	TF	Falls
125	Josh Polacek	RJr.	Johnstown, Pa.	6-9	0-1	0-1	1-1
133	Geoffrey Alexander	RJr.	Pittsburgh, Pa.	12-5	2-2	1-0	1-0
141	Shyheim Brown	So.	Harrisburg, Pa.	16-8	0-1	4-0	2-1
149	Ben Dorsay	Sr.	Virginia Beach, Va.	2-6	0-1	0-0	0-1
157	Lou Mascola	RJr.	East Hanover, N.J.	12-9	3-2	2-0	1-1
165	Tyler Manion	Sr.	McDonald, Pa.	3-12	1-3	0-0	0-5
174	Josh Snook	So.	Bear, Del.	11-10	3-1	0-0	1-2
184	Tony Gardner	Sr.	Reisterstown, Md.	1-10	1-4	0-2	0-1
197	Rob Fitzgerald	Sr.	Downingtown, Pa.	9-11	3-2	0-0	2-2
285	Spencer Myers	Sr.	Selinsgrove, Pa.	4-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Scouting the Opposition

• No. 14 Illinois will welcome back two-time defending NCAA and Big Ten champion Jesse Delgado to the mat Friday. Delgado has missed the last two months due to injury but considered the top grappler at 125 pounds.

• Redshirt sophomore Zane Richards is 20-2 so far this season and sits at No. 3 in TOM's individual rankings. He defeated Geoffrey Alexander, 12-1, at the Midlands Championships in December.

• Redshirt freshman Isaiah Martinez has been a breakout performer for the Illini, sporting a 22-0 record and the No. 2 spot in TOM's rankings. Martinez won the Midlands and leads the country in wins by technical fall (7).

• Head coach Jim Heffernan is in his sixth season at the helm in Champaign. He also spent 17 years at the head assistant at Illinois under Mark Johnson. During Hefferman's tenure, Illinois has finished in the top-10 of the NCAA Championships 11 times and produced eight individual national champions.

Alexander the great

• Redshirt junior Geoffrey Alexander sits at 13th in TheOpenMat.com's individual rankings.

• Alexander notched his biggest win of his season on Jan. 11 against returning All-American No. 9 Mason Beckman

• Alexander leads Maryland in dual wins (10), dual points scored (39) and dual bonus points (21).

BROWN DELIVERS

• Sophomore Shyheim Brown is 19th in TOM's individual rankings. Brown is second on the team in dual points scored (29) and leads the team in technical falls (4).

• 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

• Heavyweight Spencer Myers continued his strong return to the mat with a 1-0 win over Ohio State's Ray Gordon. Myers also holds a victory against No. 13 Billy Smith of Rutgers.

• An All-American, Myers has qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of his non-redshirt seasons. He went 24-6 last year and is a two-time ACC Champion.

• Myers missed the opening part of the season while competing for the Maryland football team. He played in all 13 games at defensive end and notched 18 tackles.

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.

OPENING STATEMENT

• Freshman Alfred Bannister leads the Terps in wins (31) after his standout performances at a number of open competitions this season. He most recently won the Shorty Hitchcock and F&M Opens. The 141-pounder captured the Wolfpack Open title and finished third at the Bearcat Open and fourth at the Clarion Open.

• Tyler Goodwin also captured a title at the Shorty Hitchcock Open, winning at 133 pounds. Goodwin previously placed third at the Nittany Lion Open.

• The Terps boasted four other placers at the NLO. 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 faced five ranked opponents this season; No. 17 Wisconsin, No. 10 Nebraska, No. 13 Pittsburgh, No. 5 Penn State, No. 11 Lehigh, No. 22 Rutgers and No. 4 Ohio 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 as head coach at Penn. 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 6

• Volunteer assistant Josh Asper joins veteren wrestling journalist Jason Bryant to discuss his decorated career at Maryland. Asper also breaks down what it's like now to be on the coaching staff with many of the athletes who were his teammates just two years ago.

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-