Letts’ loss spells end for wrestling in match vs. No. 18 Pride

With No. 9 Mike Letts coming to the mat for the Terrapin wrestling team, coach Kerry McCoy felt the Terps were in prime position to take control of Saturday's match against No. 18 Hofstra. Trailing 13-10 before their stalwart 174-pounder was set to start, the Terps would — at the least — tie the host Pride with a win as they neared the end of their toughest duals match yet.

Hofstra's No. 16 Ryan Patrovich had a different idea, though, pinning Letts in the first round and staking the Pride a 19-10 lead that all but ended the Terps' victory hopes.

The Terps closed out two of the final three matches with victories, but the pin of Letts proved to be too much for the No. 29 Terps to overcome, as they fell to Hofstra, 22-17.

"There was a big swing at 174," McCoy said. "We expected to win that match, but we got caught in a tough situation. ... It's kind of a tough pill to swallow because I think we had the opportunity to win, but we fell a little short."

"Everybody went out and battled hard," 157-pound Kyle John said. "Unfortunately, Mike wound up getting caught, but you can't hinge our performance on that. I think if we go out there and wrestle them again, we win the match."

Even with the loss, there were positives in the Terps' (5-3) match against the Pride (3-2-1). The teams split the 10 individual matches, and McCoy said the Terps' performance showed they have the ability to compete with any of the top teams in the nation. 165-pound Josh Asper also raised his individual record to 16-0 on the season, continuing his torrid pace on the mat.

"We controlled the pace of the match, and we were in better shape than their guys," McCoy said. "Overall, the results unfortunately don't line up with the effort a lot of times. To compete that way and go 5-5 against a top-20 team proves that we are at that level, but we have to get wins in those situations."

The Terps have two and a half weeks until their next competition, so there will be plenty of time for the team to contemplate its performance Saturday. But with the Midlands Championships approaching at the end of December, John said the loss should be added incentive for the Terps to raise their intensity level.

"This is a loss that hurts," John said. "We should've won and could've knocked off a ranked team, so hopefully this motivates us to work hard through the winter break and come back next semester going strong."

vitale@umdbk.com