EVANSTON, Ill. – Senior Rob Fitzgerald (197 pounds) earned a fall over No. 16 Alex Polizzi, but the Maryland wrestling team fell just short against Northwestern 26-18 at Welsh-Ryan Arena Friday night.
Redshirt junior Lou Mascola (157 pounds) also notched a pin for the Terps (5-15, 0-9 Big Ten), who fell behind early and couldn't overcome the Wildcats at the end.
Fitzgerald's pin of Polizzi came at 1:01. The Terp senior took Polizzi down and cinched the pin in to make the team score 23-18. Needing a tech fall to at least send the match to criteria, senior No. 12 Spencer Myers fell to No. 4 Michael McMullan, 4-2.
Redshirt junior Josh Polacek got the dual started at 125 pounds taking on Garrison White. Polacek's razor thin 4-3 loss started a three-match string of tight defeats for the Terps. No. 20 Geoffrey Alexander dropped a 5-3 decision to Dominick Malone while Shyheim Brown lost 4-0 to Jameson Oster at 141 pounds.
Mascola blitzed Ben Sullivan from the start at 157 pounds. The redshirt junior eventually recorded the fall at 1:39 to make the team score 14-6 heading to intermission. The win is Mascola's 12th in his last 17 matches after starting the year 2-6.
The Big Ten Championships await Maryland March 7-8. The tournament is set to take place in Columbus, Ohio and will be shown live on BTN and BTN Plus. The Terps will then travel to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis March 19-21, with coverage on the ESPN family of networks.
Northwestern 26, Maryland 18
125: Garrison White (NU) decision over Josh Polacek (MD), 4-3 (3-0)
133: Dominick Malone (NU) decision over #20 Geoffrey Alexander (MD), 5-3 (6-0)
141: Jameson Oster (NU) decision over Shyheim Brown (MD), 4-0 (9-0)
149: #3 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) technical fall over Ben Dorsay (MD), 18-1 (14-0)
157: Lou Mascola (MD) fall over Ben Sullivan (NU), 1:39 (14-6)
165: #7 Pierce Harger (NU) fall over TJ Guidice (MD), 4:32 (20-6)
174: Josh Snook (MD) Win by Forfeit (20-12)
184: Mitch Sliga (NU) decision over Tony Gardner (MD), 6-2 (23-12)
197: Rob Fitzgerald (MD) fall over #16 Alex Polizzi (NU), 1:01 (23-18)
285: #4 Mike McMullan (NU) decision over #12 Spencer Myers (MD), 4-2 (26-18)
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