The Terrapin wrestling team hasn't competed since January, ample time off for a squad preparing for what might be its toughest weekend of competition this season.
After a two-week hiatus, the No. 26 Terps (11-5, 1-1 ACC) will host ACC rival No. 32 Virginia (15-6, 2-1) today before taking a short trip to face No. 11 American (13-6) on Sunday.
"Two tough matches, two tough teams," coach Kerry McCoy said. "It's a battle, but we're up for it."
"If everyone wrestles tough, wrestles how they're supposed to and how they can wrestle, I think it'll be a good weekend for us," 165-pound Josh Asper said. "We have the ability to beat both the teams."
Actually doing so will be no easy feat for the Terps, however. Both teams boast lineups filled with nationally ranked wrestlers, providing the Terps with plenty of difficult competition throughout each match. Virginia and American feature three and five top-20 wrestlers, respectively.
And while the Terps feature four ranked wrestlers of their own, McCoy believes that most people see the Terps as underdogs in each match.
"On paper, we're probably expected to lose both of them," McCoy said. "But if we wrestled the matches on paper, it wouldn't even be
worth going out there. They're huge matches, and we got to be ready to go out there and perform."
One wrestler eager to compete this weekend will be Asper, who saw his early-season 16-match win streak end at the hands of American's Patrick Graham in December's Midlands Championships. But Asper (24-2) understands the mistakes he made in that match, and he is determined not to let them happen again.
"I have to wrestle my pace," Asper said. "I let [Graham] dictate the match, and most of my matches I control the pace. ... If I can do that and just wrestle my way, I think I can win."
McCoy knows his team has the ability to compete at the highest level. Still, he maintains the Terps must be ready to compete for the entirety of each match if they want a chance at victory.
"This is the time of year we really have to focus on wrestling seven minutes," McCoy said, referring to the length of a match. "We have to wrestle complete matches. Don't worry about the rankings, don't worry about what you're supposed to do, and just go out there and wrestle."
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