Wrestling places six in NCAA Championships field

The brackets have been filled out, the matchups are finalized and March's NCAA Championships are all set to begin — the NCAA Wrestling Championships, that is.

Last night, the Terrapin wrestling team learned six wrestlers had officially qualified to compete at next week's national championships in Philadelphia: 141-pound Jon Kohler, 157-pound Kyle John, 165-pound Josh Asper, 174-pound Mike Letts, 184-pound Corey Peltier and heavyweight Spencer Myers.

But with an elite level of talent set to compete at the championships, coach Kerry McCoy understands how tough the going will be for the Terps.

"We get to the tournament, and all bets are off — everybody is 0-0," McCoy said. "It doesn't matter what happened before; it matters what happens now. We have tough guys, and we have to be ready for battle right out the gate."

Though the national championships may be unfamiliar territory for some Terp wrestlers, many of the faces they'll see early in the tournament won't be new. Kohler, John and Letts will all compete in rematches of earlier bouts in the first round, and Asper could potentially face one of two previous opponents in the second round.

Kohler and Letts will both stage rematches from the Terps' Nov. 27 victory over Pennsylvania. Kohler will face No. 12 seed Zack Kemmerer, whom he defeated, 4-0, while the eighth-seeded Letts will take on Scott Giffin, whom he beat, 6-2.

John will face the toughest first-round test of any Terp, taking on No. 2 seed Steve Fittery of American. John fell to Fittery, 13-4, on Feb. 13.

"In the matches we won, we have the confidence that we beat them already, and we have to beat them again," McCoy said. "In the matches that we lost, we have to learn from it and try to make improvements. ... Whether [rematches are] a positive or negative thing will be determined by how we prepare and how we perform."

Asper, who is the highest-seeded Terp at No. 4, will likely also face an early-season opponent in the tournament. Should he get by Boise State's Kurt Swartz as expected in the opening round, Asper would face either Stephen Burak of Penn or Thomas Scotton of North Carolina, both of whom he defeated earlier this season. Asper also defeated Burak, 5-1, in the first round of last year's championships.

"I like where I'm at," Asper said. "I have to wrestle every match like it's the last one I'm going to wrestle, take everybody seriously and not look ahead."

Rounding out the Terps' qualifiers are Peltier and Myers, who are competing in their first NCAA Championships. Peltier has the longest road to the championship of any Terp, as he faces 12-seed Grant Gambrall of Iowa in the pigtail match for the right to face Appalachian State's Austin Trotman in the first round. Myers will face Indiana's Ricardo Alcala.

With a week until the championships begin, the Terps will have plenty of time to think about the brackets and their matchups. But McCoy said any concerns should be focused on the lone task at hand: their first opponent.

"The number one thing is to not overanalyze," McCoy said. "If you get caught up in who's supposed to wrestle and what's going to happen … you get yourself out of rhythm, out of sync. Our guys have to focus on preparing for this first match, and whatever happens after that, happens."

vitale@umdbk.com