From: “Taylor R Smyth” <tsmyth1@umd.edu>
To: “wrestling” <wrestling@reflectors.mail.umd.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 1:40:47 AM
Subject: RECAP: Terps Finish Eighth, Nab Four Place Winners at Midlands
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Taylor Smyth (tsmyth1@umd.edu)
December 21, 2014
Terps Finish Eighth, Nab Four Place Winners at Midlands
Brown, Mascola, Snook, Peck at prestigious tournament
EVANSTON, Ill. – Spurred by a strong second day performance, The Maryland wrestling team notched an eighth placefinish at the 52nd Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Northwestern University Tuesday.
The Terps (4-7, 0-3 Big Ten) featured four placers. Sophomore Shyheim Brown (141, 8th), redshirt junior Lou Mascola (157, 6th), junior Josh Snook (174, 4th) and unattached sophomore Dawson Peck (285, 5th) all earned first-time podium finishes at the prestigious event.
“It was a good day,” head coach Kerry McCoy said. “We got over some hurdles and gave ourselves good momentum to finish the year strong. We’ve got a lot to work on, but it was a good way to finish 2014.”
Snook, who advanced to the quarterfinals on day one, notched an 8-0 major decision over Scott Reilly of Air Force to begin his day. The Delaware native knocked off Wisconsin’s Frank Cousins before receiving a medical forfeit to advance to the third-place match. Alex Meyer got past Snook in that bout to drop the junior to fourth.
After losing his opening round affair, Mascola battled through the consolation bracket to the tune of six victories to eventually finish sixth. The redshirt junior earned some hardware in his first bout of the day, pinning Wabash’s Reece Lefever in just 22 seconds, a mark that would earn Mascola the award for the fastest fall of the tournament.
In his second match, Mascola avenged his opening round defeat to Purdue’s Doug Welch with a 6-2 decision. After a razor thin 14-13 loss to Mike Kelly of Iowa, Mascola dropped the fifth-place match to Brown’s Justin Staudenmayer, 4-3.
Brown’s day began like Mascola’s. The sophomore pinned Minnesota’s Tommy Thorn in 5:56 to earn key bonus points for the Terps. He would drop his final two matches of the day to place eighth.
A transfer from Chattanooga, Peck put on a solid performance. After shutout wins over Indiana’s Garret Goldman (3-0), and Columbia’s Garrett Ryan (4-0), Peck fell to Ty Walz of Virginia Tech in the consolation semis. The sophomore rebounded with a 1-0 win over Evan Knutson of North Dakota State to place fifth.
Top ranked Iowa won the overall team title. The Terrapins will host the Hawkeyes on Friday, Feb. 6 at the XFINITY Center. It’s the second straight top-10 finish for the Terps at the Midlands.
The Terps are back in action on Jan. 9 for Maryland’s first-ever Beauty and the Beast event. The wrestling team will take on Harvard simultaneous to the gymnastics team’s meet with George Washington and West Virginia. Action will begin at 7 p.m.
-Maryland-