Alexander Readies for NCAA Championships

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Redshirt senior Geoffrey Alexander (133) will wrestle for the final time in his Terrapin career this weekend at the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The event, hosted at Madison Square Garden in New York City, will span three days from Thursday, March 17 to Saturday, March 19.

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2016 NCAA Championship Brackets

SETTING THE STAGE

Alexander is Maryland's lone qualifier at 133 pounds after finishing eighth at the Big Ten Championships March 6.
Maryland entered the 2015-16 postseason 5-13 overall in dual matches on the year. The squad went 1-8 in Big Ten Competition, and was 21st in the field at the Midlands Championships December 29-30. Maryland finished 14th in the field at the Big Ten Championships March 5-6, scoring 7.5 points.
Alexander (133) is seeded 14th in the 133-pound field, and will wrestle Northern Illinois University's Austin Eicher (19-11) in the first round. Should he win, Geoff will face the winner of No. 3 seed Zane Richards (Illinois) and Joey Palmer (Oregon State).
Geoffrey Alexander is now a four-time NCAA qualifier after receiving an automatic bid with his finish at the Big Ten Championships. He is 3-6 all-time at the NCAA Championships.
2012: Alexander lost both his matches at the 2012 NCAA tournament as a true freshman, dropping matches to Harvard's Steven Keith (8-0) and Penn's Bryan Ortenzio (8-2).
2013: He made some noise as a sophomore at his second NCAA Tournament, finishing 3-2 at the 2013 tournament. He took down Devon Lotito (Cal Poly) in his opening bout, then lost to No. 3 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) in his following match. Alexander then won twice in wrestle-backs, beating Brian Owen (Boise State) and Derek Steeley (Binghamton). Alexander dropped his final match to No. 11 George DiCamillo (Virginia).
2015: After serving a redshirt season, Alexander made his return to the NCAA Championships last season. He dropped both of his matches by decision, losing to Drexel's Kevin Devoy (9-4) and Edinboro's AJ Schopp (2-1).

WHAT GEOFF'S SAYING

On how he's feeling coming into the weekend:

“Everything is great. My body is feeling good. The training staff really kept me feeling great throughout this whole process. The coaching staff has really been pushing me, just getting me ready to go up [to New York] and get my hand raised. I've got to give a credit my teammates who stuck around during spring break this week. They've been in here keeping me company outside of the room as well, so it's been a great effort all-around.”

On what he's looking forward to as a four-time NCAA qualifier:

“Well the other three times I didn't get on the podium, so this time this is what I want to do. I just want to get on the podium like I've had my goals set on this whole year.”

On who he wants to thank for impacting his career:

“There's an incredible amount of people I have to thank. My parents, my brothers, my sister; I have to thank all of them. My dad has taken me around the country for 18 years now. He's been my biggest supporter as well as my family. I have to give a shout out to all my teammates from when I was little all the way up to now. They've been so supportive, not only in my career as a wrestler but in my college career…It's incredible to have the people I have surrounding me and blessing me with everything, just allowing me to develop as a person, mature as a person and grow into a young man.”

scouting THE FIELD

(NCAA Preview) (2016 NCAA Championship Brackets)

The road to a podium spot in the 133-pound bracket will be as grueling as ever, as the top four seeds have surrendered a combined four losses this season.
Leading the pack is Cornell's Nahshon Garrett, who enters the weekend as the No. 1 overall seed with a 32-0 record. Defending National Champion Cody Brewer of Oklahoma will also be among the favorites in the field, holding a 21-2 record on the season as the No. 4 seed. 2015 finalist and Big Ten Champion Cory Clark (Iowa) is seeded second at 22-1 on the year, while Zane Richards (Illinois) owns the No. 3 seed after finishing second in the B1G.
2015 All-Americans Rossi Bruno (Michigan), Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin) and Mason Beckman (Lehigh) also all return to the field this season. Alexander defeated both Bruno (14-11) and Taylor (9-5) in dual matches during the regular season.

AT LAST YEAR'S EVENT

Maryland was 39th in the field at the 2015 NCAA Championships, recording 6.0 points. In addition to Alexander, Lou Mascola and Spencer Myers qualified for Maryland in 2015.

-Terps-

Players Mentioned

Geoffrey Alexander

Lou Mascola

Spencer Myers

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