Good afternoon here from the Comcast Center Pavilion as the Terrapin wrestling program prepares for their first ACC dual meet of this season.
It has been awhile since the Terps have been home, and since then they have spent pretty much every weekend competing on multiple days in national tournaments. Currently the Terps sit at 13-3 on the season and 1-0 in the conference.
But they are coming off a surprising loss to Navy last night in Annapolis. The Terps didn’t use all of their starters including top 10 guys, Steve Bell, Alex Krom, and Mike Letts. But the 19-14 loss was still slightly shocking and Coach McCoy sounded disappointed in his team’s effort.
The Terps will start with NC State at noon, and then they will take on the Duke Blue Devils at 2:00 p.m.
The starting 10, at least against NC State is this:
125- James Knox
133- Mookie Golden
141- Matt Bogusz
149- Dex Lederer
157- Kyle John
165- Josh Asper
174- Owen Smith
184- Corey Peltier
197- Hudson Taylor
HWT- Pat Gilmore
Maryland will be staked a six point lead as the Wolfpack are forfeiting at 197 pounds.
Stay with me after the jump for match-by-match analysis.
125 James Knox major dec. Mike Moreno, 11-2 (4-0 UMD)
The Wolfpack are really young. Talented, but young. Moreno is one of their more experienced starters and he is only a redshirt sophomore. Knox’s experience was evident as he scored a two-point takedown right out of the whistle. After suffering a stinger to his shoulder that paused the match briefly, Knox easily controlled the rest of the period as NC State coach Carter Jordan vocally showed his displeasure with Moreno’s strategy.
The rest of the match can be summed up by Jordan yelling for Moreno to score a takedown and urging his young wrestler to be more aggressive. Which was followed by Knox stonewalling him at every turn.
My favorite fan reaction of the day so far: An older Terp fan sitting close to the action took the opportunity during a lull in the action to yell out, “You can’t score on him, he is from the college of hard knocks!”
He then proceeded to blow a plastic trumpet and was promptly silenced by athletic administrators.
133- Mookie Golden major dec. Scott Norris, 9-0 (8-0 UMD)
I can already tell a common theme this afternoon will be the vocal Jordan voicing his displeasure with his young team. He was frustrated with Moreno throughout the opening match, and he quickly became disgusted with Norris’ opening technique as Golden scored an early takedown.
Norris is a true sophomore, wrestling a senior, and Golden is frankly having his way with perhaps the Wolfpack’s weakest starter. Golden scored four takedowns in the first two period and held nearly 1:30 in riding time.
Jordan tried to use the period change to set-up an easy point for Norris, but he was unable to escape Golden’s grasp, and the Terps picked up another four points as the Terps super-sub improved to 12-6 and scored four more points for his team.
141- Dale Shull dec. Matt Bogusz, 10-9 (8-3 UMD)
So I have decided Jordan is just too entertaining not to have his own running feature during this live blog. So I introduce: The Carter Jordan Theme of the Match.
In this edition it was the officiating that drew the early wrath of Jordan and his assistants. The Wolfpack staff had more than a few issues with some of the early takedowns Bogusz scored and made sure to let them hear about it.
Everyone seemed to gather their poise in the second period, including both wrestlers. Bogusz has been inconsistent this season in big matches and often doesn’t get warmed up until the final two periods. He almost caught Shull in a pin at the end of the first period, instead settling for three points.
Shull regained those points by riding Bogusz out for most of the second period and scored two quick points to start the third. Bogusz found himself on his stomach as Shull worked for the pin. After a restart Bogusz scored a quick takedown, but Shull countered with one of his own and held on for the victory.
141- Bobby Ward dec. Dex Lederer, 8-2 (8-6 UMD)
The Carter Jordan Theme of the Match: This match Jordan’s vocal chords got a rest as Ward was clearly the better wrestler. So instead the NC State coach used the match as a teaching moment for some of his younger wrestlers. He spent a lot of the match pointing out what Ward was doing so well.
The Wolfpack made this contest interesting when Shull snuck past Bogusz. Ward came in ranked No. 22 in the country and Lederer is a redshirt sophomore with five matches under his belt this season. Ward basically just overpowered Lederer from the start, scoring a number of takedowns throughout and spending the rest of the time riding out his inexperienced opponent.
To Lederer’s credit he showed a lot of fight in the third period. The NC State staff was looking for Ward to be even more aggressive and go for the pin. But Coach McCoy clearly told his young wrestler to change up the pace and Lederer surprised Ward by attacking throughout the period and making sure things didn’t get too out of hand.
157- Kyle John dec. Juan Stimpson, 14-7 (11-6 UMD)
Yet another battle between youthful talent and experienced talent. John is just a redshirt sophomore, but has already wrestled in 30 matches this season to Stimpson’s nine.
The Carter Jordan Theme of the Match: Patience. I admit, I am impressed with Jordan. Just when it seemed he was strictly a blood and vinegar coach, the 14th year man preached patience with Stimpson, who has a terrific body and a lot of potential, but limited technique.
Stimpson is significantly longer than John, but unfortunately it worked as a disadvantage as John attacked Stimpson’s legs at every opportunity. The third period got a little wild and woolly, especially considering John had been in control for most of the match. Jordan urged his freshman to keep wrestling when he was clearly tiring, and it worked as Stimpson scored a few late points. But it was not enough to come all the way back.
165 Josh Asper major dec. Ray Ward, 11-0 (15-6 UMD)
Asper is quietly putting together one of the best seasons for the Terps. At No. 15 in the country as just a redshirt freshman, Asper improved his record to 24-6 with a systematic dismantling of Ward, yet another Wolfpack under classman.
There was not a lot of scoring in the first period, Asper scored one takedown and content to ride Ward out for the rest of the period. He then scored again with a escape to begin the second period and got behind his opponent for two more points and finished the period with two more points as he nearly missed a pin.
The Carter Jordan Theme of the Match: Don’t make it a major. Jordan didn’t get really animated until there were 30 seconds left in the final period. He desperately wanted Ward did score a point and keep the match in reach, instead Asper turned the tables and if he had five more seconds, would have pinned Ward.
174- Quinton Godley major dec. Owen Smith, 11-2 (15-10)
The Carter Jordan Theme of the Match: Pressure. It was pretty simple really, Godley was the stronger and faster than Smith, who has been seeing a lot of meaningful action as Letts gets healthy for March. Jordan knew this, and urged his 174-pound sophomore to keep the pressure on Smith and the move paid dividends.
Godley scored quickly and often, dominating riding time and relegating Smith to almost a bystander. The NC State staff hollered for the refs to call Smith for stalling at a few points but mainly they just wanted Godley to keep scoring. Godley also proved to be the better conditioned of the two wrestlers, ending with nearly four minutes of riding time and an 11-2 major decision victory.
184- Corey Peltier pins Cedric Moore, 2:22 (21-10 UMD)
There was sadly no Carter Jordan Theme of the Match in this one as it was over far too soon. Moore is a true freshman and just 2-7 on the season. He is built like a truck and you can tell why Jordan and his staff are high on the kid and ok with the growing pains he clearly is going through.
Peltier wasn’t able to solve Moore for the early parts of the match, but got a takedown early and before anyone could even make adjustments Peltier had flipped his inexperienced opponent and quickly pinned him to put the match out of reach.
197- Hudson Taylor wins by forfeit (27-10 UMD)
HWT- Pat Gilmore dec. Eloheim Palma, 3-0 (30-10 UMD)
The Carter Jordan Theme of the Match: The referees are going to hear from me. Jordan knew it was his last chance to get a word in with the referees who he hasn’t exactly loved this afternoon. He yelled at them that Gilmore was stalling and he and his assistants were livid when they awarded Gilmore a takedown right as the buzzer sounded.
Palma is one of the most promising young wrestlers in the conference, and entered the match at 17-10 on the season. While Gilmore is long and wiry, Palma is built like a dump truck, short and stocky, but also thick and muscular. The difference was experience again.
Gilmore didn’t attack very often, but he chose his spots well and managed to hold off a furiously late attack from Palma to win 3-0 and finish the Wolfpack off for good.
Mike Lemaire is the Terrapin wrestling beat writer. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com