Trailing 15-14 in his conference opener yesterday, 197-pound Christian Boley brought the crowd inside Comcast Pavilion to its feet, scoring a takedown in the final seconds to give the Terrapin wrestling team its first lead of the match against visiting Virginia Tech.
But not 10 minutes later, the Terps had their first taste of defeat in 2011, falling to the No. 16 Hokies, 18-17, after Terp heavyweight Spencer Myers fell by decision.
"In a match of this caliber, we knew it was going to come down to the last match," coach Kerry McCoy said. "We thought we had a chance to win, but it just didn't go our way."
The Hokies, who feature six top-15 wrestlers, built an early 15-4 lead over the No. 33 Terps. Four straight victories by Terp wrestlers, however, gave the team a two-point edge going into the final match. But Myers' loss handed the Terps a close setback against arguably the conference's toughest foe.
The defeat was a first for the Terps (10-4, 0-1 ACC) in the new year. Coming into yesterday's contest, the Terps had finished 13th out of 44 teams at the Midlands Championships and won five straight duals matches, four of them against top-50 competition.
The loss marked a step back for the Terps, according to McCoy. With just more than a month until the ACC Championships and only four conference matches remaining, the Terps will have to find a way to regain the momentum they had gathered during their five-match win streak.
"This loss hurts a lot," McCoy said, "But we've gotten better every match. ... We need to keep this momentum going, but ultimately it's all getting ready for March. It's nice to build some confidence, get some wins and just go out there and keep doing what we do."
The Terps will have a chance to start a new winning streak Saturday, when they host North Carolina. A loss in the ACC opener hurts, but McCoy believes it is imperative the Terps find a way to move past it.
"This match is over and done with," McCoy said. "We just have to go out tomorrow and wrestle better than we did today."
vitale@umdbk.com
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