Maryland Wrestling NCAA Championship Live Blog
3/15/2018 1:28:00 PM | Wrestling
The following is a live blog providing updates from Maryland wrestling's trip to the NCAA Championships in Cleveland. Recaps and future match updates will be provided throughout the day. Enjoy!
2:05 p.m. -- No. 12 seed Youssif Hemida came up short in his quarterfinal match against fourth-seeded Jacob Kasper of Duke. Hemida's loss was his first of the event and moves him into the consolation bracket where he'll need a victory to secure a spot on the podium and All-American status.
Kasper was in control at the beginning of the match, securing a pair of takedowns and a 4-1 lead after the first period. Hemida tallied an escape in the second, making the score 4-2 heading into the final two minutes of regulation.
Hemida was in a good position to start the third, and appeared to have a hold locked in to potentially secure near fall points. However, Kasper was able to withstand Hemida's hold, earn an escape point and pull out the decision victory.
Hemida's opponent for his Blood Round bout will be decided following the conclusion of two consolation rounds.
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12:45 p.m. -- Ryan Diehl and Alfred Bannister each fell in tight matches to conclude their 2018 NCAA Championships.
Diehl fell by decision to Nebraska's Chad Red, 8-3. The two were close throughout, but Red scored a takedown in the final seconds to pull away from Maryland's 141-pounder. The loss concluded Diehl's run in the championships, which was headlined by a pin over Penn State's eighth-seeded Nick Lee in the first round.
Bannister dropped his consolation bout to Lehigh's Cortland Schuyler. Bannister took control early, securing a takedown in the opening minute. Schuyler was able to stay in the bout, and kept Bannister's lead to 5-4 after one period.
Schuyler escaped to start the second, and with no more scoring in the rest of the period, the two were knotted up at five going into the third. It was Schuyler who took control in the third, grabbing a takedown in the final minute and holding off Bannister's attack to win the bout.
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DAY 1
9:00 p.m. -- After a takedown and four-point near fall in the final 20 seconds of the bout, junior heavyweight Youssif Hemida upset fifth-seeded Sam Stoll of Iowa to advance to Friday's quarterfinals matches.
Hemida trailed the Iowa heavyweight 2-0 entering the final minute of the third period. He got on the board following a second stalling violation on Stoll, and then quickly took advantage with a takedown and near fall to seal the victory. It was his sixth win over a ranked opponent this season.
Hemida will now face fourth-seeded Jacob Kasper in the quarterfinals on Friday.
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7:55 p.m. -- No. 16 Alfred Bannister and Ryan Diehl each fell in their second round matches to begin Thursday's night session.
Bannister fell via pinfall to undefeated and top-seeded Zain Retherford of Penn State, while Diehl dropped his match to Sa'Deria Perry of Eastern Michigan. Diehl fell behind early, but battled back and cut into Perry's lead in the final period. Despite Diehl's late push, Perry sealed the win with a takedown in the closing seconds to take a decision victory.
Both wrestlers will now wrestle in Friday morning's consolation session, which begins at 11 a.m.
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4:00 p.m. -- Junior heavyweight Youssif Hemida joined his Terrapin teammates after picking up an opening round victory in Thursday's afternoon session. Hemida, who's seeded 12th in the heavyweight bracket, knocked off Virginia's Tyler Love 9-1 in the opening round.
Hemida was in control from the beginning, securing a takedown less than 10 seconds into the bout. After tallying a second takedown in the final seconds of the opening period, the Mamaroneck, New York, native took a 4-1 lead into the second frame.
The junior continued to control the match in the final two periods and became the third Terp to advance to the second round of the championship bracket. He will face fifth-seeded Sam Stoll of Iowa in the second round, which will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
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2:30 p.m. -- 16th-seeded Alfred Bannister opened his NCAA Championships with a win, beating Sam Turner of Wyoming in the opening round of the 149 pound bracket.
After a scoreless opening frame, Turner put the first point on the board with an escape to begin the second. Bannister quickly responded, scoring a takedown to get ahead, 2-1.
Turner was able to escape Bannister's control to end the second, and after a scoreless third period the two headed into sudden victory.
Neither wrestler secured a point in the first sudden victory period, which put the two into a pair of 30 second tiebreak periods. Bannister began the first 30 seconds on bottom, and quickly scored a reversal to take a 4-2 lead into the second 30-second period.
After cutting Turner loose, Bannister held off his attack and took a 4-3 decision victory.
Bannister has advanced to the second round of the 149 pound bracket and will wrestle top seeded Zain Retherford of Penn State.
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1:36 p.m. -- 141-pounder Ryan Diehl started Maryland's run at the NCAA Championships with a bang on Thursday, pinning eighth-seeded Nick Lee of Penn State.
After Lee secured the first takedown of the bout, Diehl was able to quickly escape and trim his deficit to 2-1. Lee struck again shortly after, taking Diehl to the mat and extending his lead to 4-1.
Off a restart, Diehl quickly secured a reversal, put Lee on his back and picked up the fall to earn the match victory. It was his fourth win by pinfall this season.
Diehl, who placed eighth in the 2018 Big Ten Championships, will move on in the championship bracket and face Sa'Deria Perry of Eastern Michigan in Thursday night's session.
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Players Mentioned
