Terps on the verge of bigger things

For the last 42 years, East Coast wrestling programs have had little hope of winning a national title.

During that time only six schools, mostly located west of the Mississippi River, have won team wrestling championships.

But thanks to a stable lineup of experienced veterans, an up-and-coming head coach and a strong recruiting class, the Terrapin wrestling team is poised to make a run at ending the Midwest's domination.

Entering the first meet of the season this weekend against Drexel and York, the Terps are ranked No. 6 in the country by D1collegewrestling.net, the highest ranking ever for the program.

But while expectations for the team are high, the goals the team has set for itself are even higher. "National championship," are usually the first two words wrestlers mention. Even coach Kerry McCoy can't help but dream of ending the supremacy of Iowa, Minnesota and Oklahoma State, the only three teams to win a national title since 1989.

"Realistically, I think there are about seven or eight teams in the country who have the potential to win a NCAA Championship, and we are one of them," McCoy said. "We finished 10th in the country last season with four guys scoring points. Now, if we can get seven or eight guys scoring points, it is definitely possible."

There is no question the team has the talent and veteran leadership to make a run. The starting 10 this weekend will feature six wrestlers who have been in the program for at least four years, and two others who have been on campus for three.

Led by All-Americans Steven Bell, Alex Krom and Hudson Taylor, the Terps boast one of their deepest and most talented teams in years. In addition to the trio of stars, John Kohler, Brian Letters and Mike Letts are all former ACC champions, and Josh Asper and Corey Peltier both showed flashes of great things to come as freshmen last season.

While it's safe to say everyone within the program knows exactly how special this season could be, McCoy and his veterans have tried to temper expectations so everyone focuses on improving on a daily basis.

"It was a little bit different from last year where we had high expectations for ourselves," Krom said. "This year, we have been focused on that national championship. We didn't care where we were ranked. We didn't care how it was going to happen. We were just concentrated on working hard and getting everyone on the same page."

Although the Terps are expected to handle Drexel and York easily, McCoy has made it clear through his scheduling that the Terps won't be shying from elite competition.

After Saturday's dual meet, the Terps have less than two weeks to prepare for a trip to Ithaca, N.Y., to square off with No. 4 Cornell. Just eight days after that, the Terps will compete in the Northeast Duals where they will face No. 12 Central Michigan and No. 17 Lehigh, led by former Terp coach Pat Santoro. The ACC schedule won't start until the end of January but the Terps will have already faced at least four ranked teams.

"We have really killed ourselves," Taylor said. "We've put in a lot of work, a lot of sweat and a lot of pain. And everybody who's here right now deserves to be here and can get the job done if called upon."

lemaire@umdbk.com