Maryland wrestling falls to Northwestern, 23-16

Maryland wrestling wrapped up its home schedule on Friday as the Terps hosted Northwestern. It was also Senior Night for Maryland’s Billy Rappo and Shyheim Brown. However, the Terps (2-13, 0-8 Big Ten) were unable to pull out the overall match victory, losing 23-16.

Brown was ineligible to wrestle this season, but he finished his Maryland career with 88 wins and 22 dual meet wins. Rappo, with an even 10-10 record this season going into Friday’s match, also had 55 career wins going into Friday’s match.

From the outset, the Terps were without Alfred Bannister for the fourth straight match due to injury.

The Terps fell into an early 4-0 hole in the 125-pound class, but Rappo was able to bring the match even to 4-4 in the 133-pound class. Unfortunately for Maryland, as has been the case in several other matches this season, they fell victim to a multi-game match win streak.

Northwestern rattled off two straight wins before Maryland turned it around in the 157-pound class as Justin Alexander pulled out a win.

The Terps got life in the 174-pound class as Josh Ugalde, who moved up from 165, pinned Braxton Cody.

Northwestern then won another two straight matches, clinching the overall match victory. The Wildcats are 7-6 overall and 1-6 in the Big Ten.

Maryland was able to close the match on a high as Youssif Hemida won for the ninth time in his last 11 matches. With Bannister still out, Hemida is the top wrestler for the Terps going into the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament.

The Terps’ next match will be arguably their biggest of the season, a matchup against No. 2 Penn State in Happy Valley on Sunday. Then, they will close out the season on the road against Rider and Drexel.