It happened nearly a month ago, but Terrapin wrestler and former ACC Champion Brian Letters left the team and the university.
Letters made an immediate impact as soon as he stepped on campus for former coach Pat Santoro. He was the Terps’ starter for most of the season, finishing 18-15. But his real accomplishment came in the ACC Tournament when he won the title and helped the Terps win their first conference championship since 1973.
As a sophomore, Letters made the jump up a weight class to 165, and struggled with the transition to larger opponents. He finished 23-11, including a 9-7 mark in dual meets. But he went just 2-3 in the ACC and finished third at the ACC Championships as the team repeated.
This season, coach Kerry McCoy had plans for Letters to move back down to 157 pounds, and had him penciled in as the starter as recently as the season opener.
But Letters never wrestled in a match.
Letters began the season hurt, but McCoy spoke as if he still figured into the team’s plans. There was talk of redshirting him again or potentially working him back into rotation as the year wore on.
But those plans never came to fruition, and it appears work ethic and attitude may have been the culprits.
“I think he is a terrific wrestler and could have been real good for us but he was the kind of kid that when things got tough, he kind of hit the brakes,” said 133-pounder Steve Bell, who has known Letters since they went to club practices together when they were 10. “The thing is wrestling is not for everybody. It’s tougher mentally than physically, and that’s what got to him I think.”
This was the fourth year that Letters and Terp star Hudson Taylor had been teammates, and Taylor had very similar things to say as Bell.
“The real thing was attitude. You see how we practice and how hard we work, and that can be tough,” said Taylor. “We had the choice of having him around and having him wrestle mediocre, or put someone in his place who is 100% committed and worked hard.”
That “someone” Taylor was referring to is redshirt sophomore Kyle John. The durable John is 26-8 on the season and has been solid and consistent, if unspectacular. He has wrestled in every one of the team’s dual meets this season and owns a victory over then-No. 12 Thomas Scotton of UNC.
Letters may have been the more talented wrestler, but at least one remaining Terp doesn’t see his departure as a bad thing.
“For us it was almost beneficial,” Bell said. “Kyle is a great wrestler and a hard worker, and when you have a kid who isn’t really into practice or the whole team aspect like Brian. It’s almost like having an infection gone from the team.”
Michael Lemaire is the Terrapin wrestling beat writer. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com.