Maryland Set to Face Northwestern in Season Finale

2/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Maryland Athletics

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland wrestling team heads to Illinois for its last dual of the season against Northwestern Friday at Welsh-Ryan Arena with action set to get underway at 8 p.m.

Leading it off

• Maryland travels to Northwestern for its final dual of the season Friday at the Welsh-Ryan Arena. Action is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m., and will be streamed live on BTN Plus.

• This is not Maryland's first stop in Evanston this season. The squad finished eighth at the Midlands Championships in December.

• Redshirt junior Lou Mascola defeated No. 15 Michael Kelly at 157 pounds to record the Terps' lone win against Iowa Friday night. Mascola has won 11 of his last 16 matches since starting the season 2-6.

• Senior Spencer Myers defeated the second ranked opponent of his season when he knocked off Minnesota's No. 12 Michael Kroells in the Terps 34-12 loss to the Golden Gophers. Geoffrey Alexander (141 pounds) and Shyheim Brown (141) also claimed victories.

Maryland probables

Maryland's Probable Starters
Wt.	Wrestler	Yr.	Hometown	W-L	MD	TF	Falls
125	Josh Polacek	RJr.	Johnstown, Pa.	6-12	0-2	0-2	1-1
133	Geoffrey Alexander	RJr.	Pittsburgh, Pa.	13-6	2-3	1-0	1-0
141	Shyheim Brown	So.	Harrisburg, Pa.	17-10	0-1	4-0	2-1
149	Ben Dorsay	Sr.	Virginia Beach, Va.	3-8	0-2	0-0	0-1
157	Lou Mascola	RJr.	East Hanover, N.J.	13-11	3-2	2-1	1-2
165	TJ Guidice	RJr.	Hillsborough, N.J.	5-6	0-1	0-1	2-2
174	Josh Snook	So.	Bear, Del.	11-12	3-2	0-0	1-2
184	Tony Gardner	Sr.	Reisterstown, Md.	1-13	1-6	0-2	0-1
197	Rob Fitzgerald	Sr.	Downingtown, Pa.	9-14	3-2	0-0	2-3
285	Spencer Myers	Sr.	Selinsgrove, Pa.	5-2	0-0	0-0	0-0

Scouting Northwestern

• Jason Tsirtsis is the headliner for Northwestern at 149 pounds. The redshirt sophomore won the national championship and Big Ten championship last season. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and finished with a 32-3 record.

• Northwestern's Mike McMullan is a three-time All-American at heavyweight and was the runner-up in 2013.

• Head coach Drew Pariano has nurtured three individual NCAA champions since becoming an assistant coach at the school in 2005. He assumed the head job in 2010..

Alexander the great

• Redshirt junior Geoffrey Alexander sits at 20th in InterMat'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 (11) and dual points scored (45).

BROWN DELIVERS

• Sophomore Shyheim Brown has been a solid contributer so far this season. He is second on the team in dual points scored (32) and leads the team in technical falls (4). He finished eighth at the Midlands Championships.

• 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 is 5-2 since his return to the mat in January.

• 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 (35) after his standout performances at a number of open competitions this season. He most recently won the Messiah, 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. In addition to Banister's title at the Messiah Open, Daniel Sanchez (149), Justin Alexander (157), Inan Sikel (174), Phil Robilotto (184), Dawson Peck (285) captured championships.

• 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. Peck (285) and Shyheim Brown (141) also took home first-place honors.

Strong Slate

• The Terps have faced 10 ranked opponents this season; No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 10 Nebraska, No. 14 Pittsburgh, No. 5 Penn State, No. 11 Lehigh, No. 21 Rutgers, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 12 Illinois, No. 1 Iowa and No. 4 Minnesota.

• 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 international credentials are highlighted by an eighth-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.