The Terps (15-4), whose last home loss was on Jan. 11, 2009, won seven out of 10 matches against both NC State (5-8) and Duke (2-4) to extend their winning streak at Comcast Pavilion to eight matches. Maryland was led by six wrestlers - Mookie Golden, Kyle John, No. 15 Josh Asper, Corey Peltier, No. 3 Hudson Taylor and Patrick Gilmore - who all went 2-0 on the day.
"It's good to see the guys improve and make adjustments from match to match," said head coach Kerry McCoy. "There are still areas where we need to improve, but I thought we fought harder and looked better today than we did last night."
Early on, the Terps looked like they would cruise to a win against NC State, as James Knox (125 pounds) and Golden (133) took major decisions in the first two matches of the day.
Knox used a late flurry in the final period to turn what had been a close match into an 11-2 major decision. Golden used the momentum to dominate at 133 pounds, scoring a takedown and a near-fall early in the match. Golden didn't allow his opponent, Scott Norris, to score a point and took a 9-0 major decision to give Maryland an early 8-0 lead.
But the Wolfpack won the next two matches to get within two points of the Terps. At 141 pounds, Matt Bogusz battled back from a 7-2 deficit against Dale Shull of NC State, tying the match at 9-9 late in the third period, but ultimately lost 12-9. No. 22 Bobby Ward of NC State took an 8-2 decision over Dex Lederer, who was wrestling in his first career dual meet for the Terps, as the Wolfpack brought the score to 8-6.
Maryland got some breathing room after John earned a 14-7 decision over Juan Stimpson at 157 pounds. John, who improved to 24-8 on the season, got out to an early 7-1 lead and cruised from there.
At 165 pounds, Asper provided another dominant performance for the Terps by controlling his match with Ray Ward throughout. Asper had near-falls twice in the final stanza, and went on to shutout Ward 11-0 as Maryland increased its lead to 15-6.
Owen Smith lost 11-2 to Quinton Godley at 174 pounds, but Peltier pinned Cedric Moore in 2:22 at 184 pounds as Maryland put the match out of reach.
Taylor won by forfeit and Gilmore got a hard-fought 3-0 win over Eloheim Palma to bring the final tally to 30-10.
Against Duke, the Terps found themselves in a similar position - leading 8-6 after four matches. At 125 pounds, Peter Terrezza got the Blue Devils out to an early lead with a 10-4 decision over Pat Strizki.
Golden gave Maryland its first lead with a 15-0 technical fall to bring the team score to 5-3 in favor of Maryland. Golden, a senior who has wrestled in place of No. 11 Steven Bell in spurts throughout the season, proved to be a more than capable replacement on Saturday. He earned nine points total for Maryland on the day and didn't allow an opponent to score on him.
Matt Bogusz nearly pinned Mike Bell in the first period of the matchup at 141 pounds and went on to an 11-5 decision. Chris Piccolella of Duke took an 8-6 decision over Dex Lederer at 149 pounds, but the Blue Devils had to forfeit matches at 157 and 165 pounds, giving Maryland a commanding 20-6 lead.
Peltier, Taylor and Gilmore all capped off their perfect days by winning the final three matches. Peltier took a 7-3 decision over Diego Bencomo at 184, Taylor pinned John Barone in 1:12 at 197 and Gilmore earned an 8-2 decision over Robert Holbrook at heavyweight.
"I just told the guys, there are probably only two or three teams in the country that have gone through as tough of a stretch over the last month that we have," said McCoy. "To come out of that stretch nearly unscathed tells me we're ahead of schedule."
Maryland next returns to action on Friday, Jan. 29 when it travels to Fairfax, Va., to take on George Mason at 7:00 p.m.
No. 7 Maryland 30, North Carolina State 10
125 - James Knox (MD) major dec. Mike Moreno, 11-2 (4-0)
133 - Mookie Golden (MD) major dec. Scott Norris, 9-0 (8-0)
141 - Dale Shull (NCST) dec. Matt Bogusz, 12-9 (8-3)
149 - No. 22 Bobby Ward (NCST) dec. Dex Lederer, 8-2 (8-6)
157 - Kyle John (MD) dec. Juan Stimpson, 14-7 (11-6)
165 - Josh Asper (MD) major dec. Ray Ward, 11-0 (15-6)
174 - Quinton Godley (NCST) major dec. Owen Smith, 11-2 (15-10)
184 - Corey Peltier (MD) pinfall over Cedric Moore, 2:22 (21-10)
197 - No. 3 Hudson Taylor (MD) wins by forfeit (27-10)
HWT - Patrick Gilmore (MD) dec. Eloheim Palma, 3-0 (30-10)
No. 7 Maryland 32, Duke 9
125 - Peter Terrezza (DUKE) dec. Pat Strizki, 10-4 (0-3)
133 - Mookie Golden (MD) tech. fall over Nick Adamo, 15-0 (5-3)
141 - Matt Bogusz (MD) dec. Mike Bell, 11-5 (8-3)
149 - Chris Piccolella (DUKE) dec. Dex Lederer, 6-2 (8-6)
157 - Kyle John (MD) wins by forfeit (14-6)
165 - No. 15 Josh Asper (MD) wins by forfeit (20-6)
174 - Voris Tejada (DUKE) dec. Owen Smith, 8-3 (20-9)
184 - Corey Peltier (MD) dec. Diego Bencomo, 7-3 (23-9)
197 - No. 3 Hudson Taylor (MD) pinfall over John Barone, 1:12 (29-9)
HWT - Patrick Gilmore (MD) dec. Robert Holbrook, 8-2 (32-9)
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