Hopes were high when the Terps sent seven qualifiers to the NCAA Division I National Championship tournament.

It took about 10 hours for those hopes to prove to be an illusion.

Of the seven wrestlers the Terps sent, just one - Josh Apser (165) - made it out of the first two rounds (plus his pigtail match) into the quarterfinals. And while the other six Terps tasted defeated early, the truly bad news is four of those six didn't even make it to today's action.

Shane Gentry (125) and Geoffrey Alexander (133) went 2-and-out, which frankly was to be expected given their unseeded status. But 8th seed Spencer Myers (285) and ACC champ Kyle John (157) went 2-and-out as well. That's a crushing blow for both, as John's career has now ended as a senior and Myers was a returning All-American.

Jimmy Sheptock (174) and Christian Boley (197) are still alive for All-American status in wrestlebacks and Asper will have a quarterfinals match as well. Action continues today, and can be viewed on WatchESPN.com or with the ESPN XBox app on XBox Live.

PHOTO: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/md/sports/m-wrestl/auto_action/7247801.jpeg