Terp wrestlers head to ACC Tournament looking for NCAA bids

The addition of Mike Letts into the Terrapin wrestling team's lineup was supposed to provide the missing ingredient to the team's national championship hopes.

Considered one of the best wrestlers in his weight class and a potential All-American, the 174-pounder redshirted last season and dominated open tournament competitions, finishing 26-3 with four titles and a fifth-place finish at the Midlands Championships, giving coach Kerry McCoy and the team a reason for optimism coming into this season.

Tomorrow, the Terps will be in Raleigh, N.C., shooting for their third-straight ACC Championship without the services of one of their best wrestlers. Letts' last match came at the National Duals on Jan. 10. Since that meet, he has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury, and McCoy has been forced to experiment with different wrestlers, trying to find the right replacement.

Owen Smith got the first chance to prove he could fill the void, but after an uninspiring 1-6 record in team meets, the task of replacing Letts fell to Bradley Nielson. Competing in the team's final three meets, Nielson finished 1-2, including a 15-0 technical fall loss to Virginia's Chris Henrich on Feb. 20.

Although repeating as ACC champions is important to the team, the tournament serves as a qualifier for the NCAA Tournament, which begins in Omaha, Neb., on March 18. During the season, wrestlers have a chance to earn an automatic NCAA Tournament bid for their weight class based on a number of criteria, including wins over ranked wrestlers, winning percentage and ranking in the National Coaches' Poll.

The ACC earned 24 automatic qualifying bids, but there will only be one automatic bid on the line at 174 pounds. Nielson will have to win the tournament if he hopes to help the Terps pursue a National Championship. That's a tall order for a wrestler entering the weekend with a 3-12 career record in dual meets.
 

"It isn't going to be easy, and he is going to need to get through the guy from Virginia," McCoy said of Henrich, who is ranked No. 3 nationally. "He has to believe in himself first and foremost. I have been saying it all year long that anything can happen in wrestling. As long as he goes out there and wrestles hard, good things will happen."

Losing Letts may not even make a difference in the team's quest for a three-peat, according to McCoy. Terp wrestlers will be favored in at least four weight classes, and they should be a top-three seed in five other weight classes.

Other than the 174-pound class, McCoy pointed to 149 pounds and the 184 pounds as two weight classes that will be crucial to the Terps' success this weekend and beyond. The ACC earned just two automatic bids in both classes, and Terps' starters Jon Kohler and Corey Peltier will have a tough battle securing them.

McCoy expected Peltier to be the No. 3 seed, behind Virginia Tech's Tommy Spellman and Virginia's Mike Salopek. Peltier lost a close decision to Salopek two weekends ago, and McCoy hopes the past two weeks have given Peltier ample time to prepare for the rematch.

"That match was really close and evenly-matched," McCoy said. "[Salopek] scored a takedown early that we thought was questionable. Then in the third period we chased him all over the mat and just couldn't finish it off. I still like our chances at 184, though."

Although the Terps will be favored to repeat, the margin for error is slim. The No. 10 Terps and No. 14 Virginia Tech both finished with 4-0 conference records, and their head-to-head match earlier this season was canceled because of snowstorms.

Also, Virginia has finished second to the Terps in each of the past two tournaments, and there is little doubt among Terps' wrestlers they'll be itching to reverse that trend.
Eight Terp starters already have two conference titlesand have made it clear the NCAATournament is the highest priority.

"Yeah, the NCAA Tournament is the big goal, but we want to win every time we step on the mats," said 141-pound Alex Krom, who will be looking for his third straight individual conference title. "I think we want to win this one more just because it will the last chance for a couple of us. We have been working and training hard, and we want to make sure we leave our mark in the conference as well as in the NCAA Tournament."

lemaire@umdbk.com