With a 9-3 beatdown of No. 6 seed Eric Lapotsky of Oklahoma, Terrapin 197-pound star and No. 3 seed Hudson Taylor advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament earlier this afternoon.
The first period started quickly with both wrestlers scoring takedowns, but it quickly became a drawn out ground battle and ended with Taylor on top 3-2 after an escape late in the period.
Taylor chose down to begin the second period and scored two points with a quick reversal. And after Lapotsky escaped, Taylor scored another two with a take down to take a commanding 7-3 lead.
The third period was all Taylor. His passion and ability to get pins has been well-documented, and he very nearly got one more but Lapotsky managed to keep his shoulder off the ground and Taylor had to settle for two points on a near fall.
The match was nearly over but Taylor spent the remainder of the third period riding Lapotsky tough, erasing his counterpart’s advantage in riding time.
The rest of the day has been up and down for the Terps and coach Kerry McCoy. Both 133-pound Steve Bell and 165-pound Josh Asper are through the fourth round of the consolation round with back-to-back wins, but 157-pound Kyle John and 141-pound Alex Krom were eliminated from the tournament entirely.
Bell, the No. 8 seed, started the day by pinning Flint Ray of Utah State in 5:22 and then used a dominate second period to outlast Ohio State freshman Ian Paddock.
His next match will be with No. 10 seed Nicholas Fanthorpe of Iowa State, whom he beat 3-2 at the National Duals in January.
Despite Bell’s pin, Asper actually had the most impressive win for a Terp wrestler not named Hudson Taylor.
No. 8 seed Shane Onufer of Wyoming entered the tournament 28-6 on the season and yet after losing yesterday, Onufer ended up on the wrong end of another blowout when Asper withstood an early flurry and dominated from there.
John faced a stiff test from No. 12 seed Steve Brown of Central Michigan and despite a valiant effort, the redshirt sophomore couldn’t match the senior, losing 10-7.
Krom won his first match 11-6 against Binghmaton’s Anwar Goeres. But facing Virginia Tech’s Chris Diaz, whom he beat 6-4 to win the ACC title, Krom never found a rhythm and ended up losing 4-1.
Stay with us today and tomorrow as we continue to provide updates and hear from McCoy.
Michael Lemaire is the Terrapin wrestling beat writer. He can be reached at lemaire@umdbk.com