"We are wrestling with confidence and are winning matches that we weren't winning earlier in the season," head coach Pat Santoro said. "We need to keep getting better and eliminate some mistakes, but these are good results."
With the victories, the Terps extended their winning streak to five duals and improved to 6-7 overall and 4-0 in the conference. The four conference victories are the most since 1993 and puts Maryland in position to win the ACC dual meet title. The Terps final conference dual will be on the road against Virginia on Feb. 17.
Five Maryland wrestlers won both matches on the day: James Knox (125), Brendan Byrne (133), Adam James (157), Adam DeCosmo (165) and Jerry Afari (197).
Against North Carolina, the match started at 197 pounds where there were three consecutive forfeits (two by UNC, one by Maryland). The first contested bout of the day was at 133 pounds, where Brendan Byrne won 10-6 over Jared Royer. Byrne used a strong second period in which he scored an escape, a takedown and two nearfall points to pull away.
The Tar Heels then picked up nine points in the next two matches to tie the dual at 15-15. At 141, UNC's Vincent Ramirez controlled his match with Alex Krom and won 5-1, and Isaiah Britton tossed Andrew Schlaffer to his back in the first period and got the fall at the 1:55 mark.
Adam James ended UNC's run with an 8-3 decision over Brian Baglio at 157 pounds, and Adam DeCosmo scored a takedown in the second and third on his way to a 5-1 win over Deon Barrett to give the Terps a 21-15 lead in the dual with two matches left. Mike Maceroli put the dual away with his 5-3 win over Jake Puckett. Maceroli scored a takedown in the second period and one on the edge of the mat in the third to give the Terps a 24-15 lead, clinching the win for Maryland.
In the last bout against the Tar Heels, North Carolina's Justin Dobies scored the only offensive points on his way to a 6-3 win over Luke Stauffer, making the final dual score, 24-18.
Against Duke, Afari started the dual off with an 11-7 win over Konrad Dudziak. After a scoreless first period, Afari exploded for four takedowns in the second to take command of the match. In the third, Afari registered an escape and a takedown to take the victory.
A forfeit at heavyweight gave Duke a 6-3 lead, but the Terps ripped off six straight decisions to take a 21-9 lead. Knox's takedown proved to be the difference in his 4-1 win over Kellan McKeon at 125 pounds and Byrne notched five takedowns in his 9-6 victory over Mike Degli Obizzi at 133 pounds.
In the next two bouts, the Terps used third period rallies to collect decision to help them extend their lead. Krom trailed his match 7-5 late in the third, but scored an escape with 36 seconds left and then scored a match-winning takedown with 20 seconds left. At 149 pounds, Schlaffer trailed by three points with 10 seconds left, but was awarded a point for stalling on Daniel Shvartsman and then promptly tied the match with a takedown as regulation expired. He needed just 20 seconds in the one minute sudden victory period to score the winning takedown.
At 157 pounds, James trailed 2-0 after the first period, but outscored Cameron Harms 7-2 the rest of the way and picked up the riding time point to win 8-4. DeCosmo won another close match late for the Terps as he edged Aaron Glover. DeCosmo trailed 4-3 late in the third, but scored a takedown with just 17 seconds on the clock and held on to take the 5-4 decision.
The Blue Devils closed the dual with a pair of victories as Levi Craig (174) defeated Maceroli 8-2, and Dan Tulley outlasted Stauffer, 6-4.
Maryland 24, North Carolina 18
Wt. Name, Result MD UNC
197: Jerry Afari (MD) won by forfeit 6 0
HWT: Spencer Nadolsky (UNC) won by forfeit 6 6
125: James Knox (MD) won by forfeit 12 6
133: Brendan Byrne (MD) dec. Jared Royer (UNC), 10-6 15 6
141: Vincent Ramirez (UNC) dec. Alex Krom (MD), 5-1 15 9
149: Isaiah Britton (UNC) pinned Andrew Schlaffer (MD), 1:55 15 15
157: Adam James (MD) dec. Brian Baglio (UNC), 8-3 18 15
165: Adam DeCosmo (MD) dec. Deon Barrett (UNC), 5-1 21 15
174: Mike Maceroli (MD) dec. Jake Puckett (UNC), 5-3 24 15
184: Justin Dobies (UNC) dec. Luke Stauffer (MD), 6-3 24 18
Maryland 21, Duke 12 Wt. Name, Result MD DU 197: Jerry Afari (MD) dec. Konrad Dudziak (DU), 11-7 3 0 HWT: Wade Van Sickle (DU) won by forfeit 3 6 125: James Knox (MD) dec. Kellan McKeon (DU), 4-1 6 6 133: Brendan Byrne (MD) dec. Mike Degli Obizzi (DU), 9-6 9 6 141: Alex Krom (MD) dec. Philip Wrightman (DU), 8-7 12 6 149: Andrew Schlaffer (MD) dec. Daniel Shvartsman (DU), 9-7 (sv) 15 6 157: Adam James (MD) dec. Cameron Harms (DU), 8-4 18 6 165: Adam DeCosmo (MD) dec. Aaron Glover (DU), 5-4 21 6 174: Levi Craig (DU) dec. Mike Maceroli (MD), 8-2 21 9 184: Dan Tulley (DU) dec. Luke Stauffer (MD), 6-4 21 12
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