No. 4 ranked Ohio State will travel to Maryland on Sunday for what is technically a home dual meet for the Buckeyes. Undefeated heavyweight (and Olympic champion) Kyle Snyder will be honored as the dual with the Maryland Terrapins will take place at his alma mater, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, Maryland.
Though Snyder will be featured, the meet between the Buckeyes and Terrapins will be largely one-sided as Ohio State is going into the match as heavy favorites. Maryland enters the match with just a single ranked wrestler and no team victories within the Big Ten Conference.
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2-10 OVERALL, 0-5 BIG 10 ROSTER | SCHEDULE |
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1:00 PM – SUNDAY, JAN 22 GOOD COUNSEL HIGH SCHOOL OLNEY, MARYLAND |
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UMTERPS.COM |
The action will take place at 1 p.m. from Maryland, but the match will only be seen by those in attendance as the Big Ten Network will not have camera crews on site. Those wishing to follow along with the action can do so by following Ohio State Wrestling on Twitter.
Let's take a look at what to expect when the Buckeyes head to the Old Line State on Sunday.
Maryland terrapins (2-10 overall, 0-5 b1G)
Head Coach: Kerry McCoy
McCoy is in his ninth season as the head coach of the Terrapins, but has yet to find the kind of success as a coach that he enjoyed as a wrestler himself. McCoy has coached just four wrestlers that were able to qualify for the NCAA tournament and the Terps have just a single Big Ten Conference dual win in the last two years. McCoy was a two-time Olympian and won a pair of NCAA titles at heavyweight for Penn State and ended his collegiate career with an 88 match winning streak. McCoy’s assistants are Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland), Mike Catulo (West Virginia), and Ganbayar Sanjaa (American).
Ohioans on the Maryland Roster
Wade Hodges (So, 157)
Hodges was a four-time state placer for Wauseon High School, winning 177 matches along the way. Hodges was the Terp starter at 149 a year ago, but will redshirt this season.
Hunter Lucas (Fr, 125)
Lucas was twice a runner-up for Lima Central Catholic High School, with just a single point deciding the match each time.
David-Brian Whisler (RS Fr, 197)
Whisler was a 2015 state champion for Howland High School in addition to a fourth and seventh place finish. Whisler is the Maryland starter at 197.
Notable Terrapin Wrestlers
Bannister actually has one up on fellow Maryland native Kyle Snyder in that Bannister set the Maryland state record with 272 high school victories. Bannister was the Maryland starter at 141 as a redshirt freshman, but failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. He holds a record of 21-3 at this point in the season.
Bannister is the only Maryland wrestler currently ranked in the InterMat rankings.
| #4 Ohio State | WT | Maryland |
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| #16 Jose Rodriguez | 125 | Michael Beck or Alex Vargas |
| #1 Nathan Tomasello | 133 | Billy Rappo |
| #14 Luke Pletcher | 141 | Jhared Simmons |
| #5 Micah Jordan | 149 | #15 Alfred Bannister |
| Jake Ryan | 157 | Justin Alexander or Danny Boychuck |
| Cody Burcher | 165 | Josh Ugalde or Patrick Gerish |
| #1 Bo Jordan or Justin Kresevic | 174 | Sam Rowell or Idris White |
| #10 Myles Martin | 184 | Sam Rowell or Idris White |
| #5 Kollin Moore | 197 | David-Brian Whisler |
| #1 Kyle Snyder | HWT | Youssif Hemida |
Key Matchups
HWT: No. 1 Kyle Snyder vs Youssif Hemida
This dual is centered around Snyder, who is a Maryland native and competed at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. If you’d like a detailed prediction of the heavyweight match, it’ll probably go something like this: Snyder scores a takedown. Snyder lets Hemida escape. Repeat those steps 10-12 times in the first period, then Snyder will likely score a takedown and get a pin.
149: #5 Micah Jordan vs #15 Alfred Bannister
Jordan is undefeated on the season and has never met Bannister on the mat. At this point last season, Micah looked to be struggling with a tough weight cut. Now that he’s up at 149, he looks strong every time he steps on the mat, which is not necessarily good news for Bannister. Bannister, who is known as Baby J, is an energetic wrestler with fantastic technique, but Jordan’s technique and strength and overall Jordan-ness is going to be too much for the lone ranked Terrapin.
165: Cody Burcher vs Josh Ugalde or Patrick Gerish
Burcher is going to have a tough stretch ahead of him with Joey Gunther (Iowa) and Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) coming up in the next two weeks. This is absolutely a winnable match for Burcher, who is going to need a strong late-season push to advance to the NCAA tournament in March. A win here would help him out with seeding at the Big Ten tournament, which could set him up for a trip to St. Louis.
Match Outlook
Maryland may be on their own turf, but the Buckeyes could legitimately hand the Terps their first shutout loss of the season. Bo Jordan has been slowed by a foot injury, but even reserve 174 Justin Kresevic could get his hand raised with relative ease if he wrestles aggressively against Sam Rowell.
In the past, Tom Ryan generally doesn’t place much emphasis in easily winnable dual meets, sitting his starters at a number of weight classes. I have a feeling that the Buckeyes will work to put a ton of points on the board in a dual that is being used as a showcase for Kyle Snyder.
The Terps just lost on Friday night 29-6 against lowly Purdue, so the Buckeyes should coast through this match before setting their sights on upcoming matches with Iowa, Penn State, and Rutgers in the next two weeks.
