Terps Roll to Columbus for Big Ten Championships

3/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Maryland Athletics

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland wrestling team will head to Columbus, Ohio for its first-ever appearance at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, March 7-8, at St. John Arena.

Leading it off

Big Ten Championships Schedule (All times Eastern)

Saturday, March 7
9:00a        Doors Open
10:00a      Session 1
**building cleared between sessions
5:00p        Doors Open
6:00p        Session 2

Sunday, March 8
12:00p      Doors Open
1:00p        Session 3
3:00p        Session 4

• BTN and BTN Plus will provide extensive live coverage of the event. BTN Plus will provide coverage of all of Saturday's action and Sunday's consolation matches. BTN will broadcast all of Sunday's championship action live beginning at 3 p.m.

• Maryland features four wrestlers on the most recently released NCAA RPI rankings. Geoffrey Alexander, the No. 16 wrestler at 133 pounds leads the group, followed by 141-pound Shyheim Brown (20), 157-pound Lou Mascola (26) and 174-pound Josh Snook (33).

Maryland probables

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

Looking toward St. Louis

• Of the wrestlers competing this weekend, 86 will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships based on the qualifier allocations announced by the NCAA.

• The Big Ten's 86 spots outpace the EIWA's 43. The 133-pound weight class has the most bids with 12.

Alexander the great

• Redshirt junior Geoffrey Alexander has spent the majority of the season in the top-20 of most national polls.

• 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 third 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 5-3 since his return to the mat in January. He sits at No. 10 in InterMat's individual rankings.

• 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.

Tournament Legacy

• Saturday will mark Maryland's first appearance at the Big Ten Championships. The Terps captured 24 conference team titles as a member of the ACC, the most in that conference's history.

Conference Champions Since 2008 (ACC)

Steven Bell 2008, '09, '10 133

John Kohler 2008, '11 141

Brian Letters 2008 157

Mike Letts 2008, '11 174

Hudson Taylor 2008, '10 197

Brendan Byrne 2009 125

Alex Krom 2009, '10 141

Josh Asper 2011, '13 165

Corey Peltier 2011 184

Spencer Myers 2011, '12 285

Kyle John 2012 157

Christian Boley 2012, '13 197

Jimmy Sheptock 2012, '13, '14 174/184

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 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.

• Eight of those ranked opponents will be among the teams at the Big Ten Championships.

• 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.