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    Maryland defeats Rider, Rutgers

    COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The No. 23 Maryland wrestling team dominated its competition on December 8, beating Rider,42-6, before handling Rutgers, 39-4, at Comcast Pavilion. The Terrapins won 18 of the 20 matches in the two duals with freshman Eric Medina and redshirt junior Josh Haines taking down a pair of Rider wrestlers ranked in the top 15 in their respective weight classes.

    Medina, ranked No. 17 in the nation at 149 pounds, pinned No. 14 Don Fisch of Rider, a senior All-American, in the second period. He won his second match of the day by major decision. Haines, ranked No. 20 at 184 pounds, toppled his second top 10 opponent this season in Rider's Doug Umbhauer with a 2-1 decision.

    Redshirt sophomore Brendan Byrne won both of his matches, one by fall and the other by major decision, while classmate Steven Bell won both of his bouts with major decisions. Both sophomores Mike Letts and Hudson Taylor competed in the match against Rutgers and earned a pin in their respective contests.

    The Terps won nine of their 10 matches against the Broncs en route to their first win of the day. Byrne got things going for Maryland at 125 with a pin in the third period over Mitch Fenton. Bell then earned a 16-4 major decision at 133, recording six takedowns and a near fall in the match.

    Medina pulled off his huge win when he pinned Fisch in the 149 pound match. In the first period, Medina held off a pair of takedown attempts by Fisch and the two went scoreless into the second. Fisch chose to start down and Medina rode him for most of the way. Fisch then tried to escape, but Medina caught him and eventually scored the pin with eight seconds remaining.

    Redshirt sophomore Mike McGill won by technical fall at 165 pounds, 19-3, in the third period. He recorded four near falls, three takedowns, and a reversal for the win.

    Haines earned his third win this season against a ranked opponent and second against a top 10 foe at 184 pounds, this time against No. 10 Doug Umbehauer. After a scoreless first period, Umbehauer chose down to start the second and Haines rode him out to accumulate 2:00 of riding time. Haines chose down in the final period and escaped in 10 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. A penalty evened the score at 1-1, but Haines' bonus point for riding time gave him the 2-1 victory.

    In the Terps' win against the Scarlet Knights, Byrne and Bell gave Maryland an 8-0 lead when they both won by major decision. After a major decision win for Rutgers at 141, Medina got the four points back with a major decision of his own to make it 12-4.

    Freshman Brian Letters recorded a 7-5 decision win in overtime against Chris Norell at 157 pounds. Letters scored an early takedown and rode Norell out the rest of the first period, accumulating over two minutes of riding time. He then chose down to start the second and reversed the hold to give him a 4-0 lead. Before the end of the period though, Norell countered with a reversal of his own and a two-point near fall to tie the match, 4-4. Norell started down to start the third and escaped to give himself a 5-4 lead, but he did it with just 52 seconds left which gave Letters the bonus point to send it into overtime.

    In the first overtime, Letters scored the winning takedown just 19 seconds in for the win.

    Maryland recorded three-straight falls from 174 pounds to 197. Letts notched his second pin of the season just 1:14 into his match at 174 and then redshirt freshman Bradley Nielson scored one of his own with just 15 seconds left in the third. It was his first dual win of the season at 184 pounds. Taylor recorded his ninth pin this year, beating Lamar Brown in the third period for his fifth-straight fall.

    The Terps (7-3) are off for final exams but resume action on December 20 and 30 at the prestigious Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C.

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