Wrestling falls 28-10 in dual meet at 19th ranked Michigan

Despite some encouraging signs from last weekend's Midlands Championships, the Maryland Terrapin wrestling team continued to struggle - dropping seven of ten matches in falling to the nineteenth ranked Michigan Wolverines 28-10 in Ann Arbor.

The Terps have generally fared best in the upper weight classes and perhaps hoped to build some momentum when the dual meet opened with heavyweight Spencer Myers taking on Adam Coon. Third ranked Coon was already a familiar foe for the seventh ranked Myers as the two had faced off in the semi finals at the Midlands. The undefeated freshman repeated his victory by an identical 4-1 margin scoring on two second period escapes and a third period takedown.

Moving into the 125 pound weight class, Wolverine redshirt freshman Conor Youtsey also repeated a Midlands victory defeating the Terrapins' Billy Rappo. Rappo had an early lead but Youtsey scored on a takedown late in the first, a reversal in the second and a ride time bonus in the third ultimately taking the bout 6-2.

The match continued to go south for Maryland when Rossi Bruno earned a technical fall over Paul O'Neill winning 22-7 at 133 pounds. The win and the two bonus points gave the home squad an 11-0 lead in the meet.

Shyheim Brown, who has been an early bright spot for Maryland got back on the winning track and got the Terps on the board with a narrow 7-6 decision over Angelo Latora. However, the Wolverines would wrap up the dual meet over the three ensuing matches. Frank Goodwin dropped a major decision to twelfth ranked Eric Grajales at 149 pounds earning another bonus point for Michigan. At 157 pounds, the Terps Ben Dorsay wrestled evenly with sixteenth ranked Brian Murphy until midway through the third period when Murphy scored a takedown that withstood a Maryland challenge to win his match 3-1.

The Wolverines then scored more bonus points in both the 165 and 174 pound matches. In the first, Daniel Yates scored a fall over Josh Snook and Colin Zeerip won a major decision over Tony Gardner in the second.

Once again, the upper weights salvaged some dual points for the Terps. Jimmy Sheptock, ranked second nationally at 184 pounds to defending NCAA champion Ed Ruth, won his eighteenth consecutive match of the season registering a 10-2 major decision over Domenic Abounader. At 197 pounds, tenth ranked Christian Boley needed overtime to score a 3-1 sudden victory win over Michigan's Chris Heald.

In recognition of Sheptock's accomplishments, the ACC named him its Wrestler of the Week Tuesday. Sheptock together with Christian Boley, became the first Maryland wrestlers since 2009 to win a title at the Midlands Championships. Sheptock's win over then number two Ethan Lofthouse coupled with Sunday's win over Abouander combined to vault the senior to the top spot in the individual rankings per InterMat and Wrestling Report. Thus far, Sheptock has compiled an 18-0 record while defeating four ranked opponents.

The Terps, who will not wrestle at home again until February 8^th, continue as road warriors when they make the shrt trip to Annapolis to face Navy on Saturday.