COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Senior Spencer Myers punctuated his home career with an 8-6 win over Michael Kroells at heavyweight, but the Maryland wrestling team dropped a 34-12 decision to No. 3 Minnesota on Senior Day at the XFINITY Center Pavilion Sunday afternoon.
The Golden Gophers jumped on the Terps (5-14, 0-8) from the beginning, notching the first 30 team points of the dual. Maryland finished strong with wins in three of the last four matches. Before the match, Maryland's coaching staff honored seniors Myers, Ben Dorsay, Rob Fitzgerald, Tony Gardner, Frank Goodwin, TJ Guidice, Sean O'Malley, Josh Polacek and team manager Arlin Delgado.
“You never like losing, but our guys fought hard,” head coach Kerry McCoy said. “Most of the guys put themselves in a position to win the match. Things are moving in the right direction.”
After a Minnesota decision to start the dual at 149 pounds, redshirt junior Lou Mascola and No. 1 Dylan Ness engaged in a minute of wrestling that lit up the Pavilion. Mascola took down Ness and just missed a fall after locking in a cradle. Ness was able to reverse the position and pinned Mascola at 1:07.
Minnesota stretched the lead to 20-0 with a technical fall at 165 pounds and a fall at 174. Gardner then dropped a 14-3 major decision to No. 11 Brett Pfarr. At 197 pounds, Fitzgerald was able to turn No. 5 Scott Schiller at the start of the second period, but ultimately was pinned at 5:40.
Myers put the Terps on the board with a dramatic win. After going behind via a Kroells reversal at the beginning of the second period, Myers scored two takedowns to lead 5-4 after two. The Pennsylvania native clinched the match with a takedown of Kroells in the first sudden victory period.
The Terps won two of the last three matches through a forfeit at 133 pounds and Shyheim Brown's 3-2 victory over Conrad Rangell.
Maryland finishes off its Big Ten slate with a road contest against No. 25 Northwestern Friday. Action is scheduled to being at 8 p.m.
No. 3 Minnesota 34, Maryland 12
Match started at 149 pounds
125: Ethan Lizak (MINN) decision over Josh Polacek (MD), 11-0 (34-3)
133: No. 20 Geoffrey Alexander wins by forfeit (MD), (34-9)
141: Shyheim Brown decision over Conrad Rangell (MD), 3-1
149: Jake Short (MINN) decision over Ben Dorsay (MD), 7-4 (3-0)
157: No. 1 Dylan Ness (MINN) fall over Lou Mascola (MD), 1:07 (9-0)
165: No. 17 Nick Wanzek (MINN) technical fall over TJ Guidice (MD), 22-4 (14-0)
174: No. 4 Logan Storley (MINN) fall over Sean O'Malley (MD), 2:56 (20-0)
184: No. 11 Brett Pfarr (MINN) decision over Tony Gardner (MD), 14-3 (24-0)
197: No. 5 Scott Schiller (MINN) fall over Rob Fitzgerald (MD), 5:40 (30-0)
285: No. 13 Spencer Myers (MD) decision over No. 12 Michael Kroells (MINN), 8-6 SV-1 (30-3)
-Terps-
