Maryland to Host No. 6 Michigan Friday

2/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Maryland Athletics

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland men's wrestling team (4-10, 1-6 Big Ten) will be back in the XFINITY Center Pavilion Friday when the team hosts No. 6/8 Michigan (10-2, 5-1 Big Ten). Match time is slated for 7:00 pm.

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Setting the staGe

Maryland came up short its lone dual meet last weekend, falling to Navy 24-18 in Annapolis, Md. The Terps were originally scheduled to wrestle Wisconsin at home on Sunday, January 24, but the match was postponed due to winter storm Jonas.
Maryland fell to Rutgers 30-3 in its last outing on January 29. Redshirt senior Geoffrey Alexander (133) picked up the lone win for the Terps, knocking off No. 18 Anthony Giraldo 9-2. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native remains undefeated (5-0) in duals this season.
The Terps posted four victories against Navy on January 22, which included pins from freshman Brendan Burnham (165) and redshirt sophomore Dawson Peck (285). Alexander (133) earned a 6-4 decision victory, while redshirt junior Billy Rappo (141) won his team-best 16^th match of the season with a tiebreaker decision.
Three Maryland wrestlers (Geoffrey Alexander, Lou Mascola & Dawson Peck) were ranked in the first of four coaches' panel rankings for the 2015-16 season released by the NCAA last month.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Diehl and redshirt junior Shyheim Brown both posted undefeated records in the 149-pound weight class to highlight Maryland's day at the Shorty Hitchcock Invitational hosted by Millersville University on January 16. Diehl now sports a 13-5 record on the season, and has won nine of his last 10 bouts, while Brown holds an 11-1 mark.
Maryland wrestling secured the program's first head-to-head B1G victory as a member of the conference over Michigan State on January 10. The Terps won seven bouts, including the final three of the match to get the historic 26-10 win. Check out video from behind the scenes.
It was a day of firsts for the Terps in their win over the Spartans, which included the first Big Ten dual match victories for freshman Wade Hodges (141), redshirt-freshman Garrett Wesneski (197) and freshman Youssif Hemida (285).
Redshirt-sophomore Tyler Goodwin (133) and freshman Jaron Smith (184) also tabbed their first dual win against Big Ten opponents, as the pair secured victories against Minnesota on January 8. Goodwin notched another win against Purdue, picking up an 11-7 decision to move to 7-2 on the year. Smith is now 3-2 in the Big Ten, and notched his third fall as a Terp at Indiana.
Alexander remains ranked top 20 in the latest InterMat Wrestling NCAA Division I Rankings, currently the No. 16 wrestler in his weight class nationwide. Alexander has been ranked every week since December 15 after he made his season debut against Nebraska.
The Terps took 21^st in the field at the 53^rd Ken Kraft Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern December 29-30.
Redshirt-sophomore Dawson Peck (285) placed sixth in the field in the heavyweight division at the event, while capturing the Midlands Most Falls Award with a tournament-best four pins. Peck finished 5-3 overall at the two-day tournament, which featured some of the top wrestlers from around the country.
Peck was just the second Terp to win the Midlands Most Falls Award, after Hudson Taylor also earned the honor in 2008 with four pins. Taylor finished seventh overall in the 197-pound weight class that year. Peck now boasts a team-best eight falls on the season.
Redshirt-junior Billy Rappo (141) continues to lead the Terps in total victories this season, now 16-8 on the year. Rappo is also tied for second on the team with Adam Whitesell (141) in falls with five.
Freshman Brendan Burnham (165) delivered the Terps' biggest surprise in Iowa City on November 20 when he took out the Hawks' Burke Paddock, 9-5.

Maryland Probables

scouting michigan

(Michigan Wrestling Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule) (Stats)

Michigan is ranked inside the top-10 in both the latest Intermat Wrestling (No. 6) and the NWCA (No. 8) Division I rankings. The Wolverines are 10-2 and 5-1 in the Big Ten, and suffered their first loss since November 22 when the squad dropped a 35-7 decision to Penn State last weekend. Michigan rattled off seven consecutive victories before then, including wins over No. 6 Ohio State, No. 13 Illinois, No. 19 Central Michigan and No. 21 Indiana.
The Wolverines boast one of the strongest upper weight contingents in the nation, as the team's 184, 197 and heavyweight starters are all ranked inside the top-6 in the Intermat Individual rankings. Junior Domenic Abounder is currently 16-1 and is slated fourth in the nation at 184 pounds, and is a year removed from qualifying for the NCAAs.
Graduate student Max Huntley (197) and junior Adam Coon (285) are both reigning 2015 All-Americans and have a combined 23-0 dual match record this season. The pair are ranked sixth and fourth in their weight classes (respectively) and have posted eight total falls between them.
Projected to wrestle for Michigan: Conor Youtsey (125); Rossi Bruno (133); George Fisher or Zac Hall (141); No. 7 Alec Pantaleo (149); No. 9 Brian Murphy (157); Garrett Sutton (165); No. 13 Davonte Mahomes (174); No. 4 Domenic Abounder (184); No. 6 Max Huntley (197); No. 4 Adam Coon (285).

Last meeting

Maryland is 1-2-1 all-time against the Wolverines, with Michigan winning the last head-to-head meeting 28-10 back on January 5, 2014. Maryland's last victory came on November 24, 2007 when the team earned an 18-16 win. This is Michigan's first trip to College Park since the 1970-71 season.

next up

The Terps will also have a pool of wrestlers entered in the Messiah Open in Grantham, Pa. on Saturday, February 6. UMD will return to dual match action on February 14 when the squad battles Wisconsin (1-5, 0-3 Big Ten) and George Mason (6-8, 1-3 EWL).

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