Up nine points with three matches to go, and two of N.C. State’s top wrestlers left, it seemed as if the Wolfpack had a victory against highly-touted Maryland squarely in its sights.
“Locked away” is how head coach Carter Jordan described his feelings at that point in the match.
However, the Terrapins launched an unlikely comeback, culminating with the overtime pin of freshman Taylor Cummings in the final bout of the afternoon.
The loss leaves the Pack at 1-2 in conference, and 7-7 overall. Maryland improves to 3-0 in the ACC and 13-5 overall after handing State its third straight loss.
Garrett Cummings started the Wolfpack out on the right foot with a 5-1 decision of Maryland’s Jon Kohler in the 133 bout. Freshman Darrion Caldwell then defeated No. 13 Alex Krom by medical default, giving State a 9-0 lead.
State dropped 3 of the next four matches, and entered the 184 bout up only 12-9. Maryland’s Josh Haines seemed to have the upperhand, when junior Jeremy Colbert caught him off balance and pinned him at 4:38 in the match.
“That was huge,” Jordan said after the match. “It was more important for him, because he struggled.”
With the score 18-9, and No. 13 Ryan Goodman and No. 9 Jainor Palma still waiting for their turns, an N.C. State win seemed all but assured.
“At that point I thought really the match was over,” Jordan said.
In a battle of ranked competitors, Goodman faced off against No. 19 Hudson Taylor. This was the third meeting of the season between the two, having split bouts earlier in the year. The wrestlers were tied 4-4 when Taylor scored a takedown in the final seconds of the match.
“It sucks,” Goodman said after the match. “You never want to lose at the end of a match.”
The loss snapped Goodman’s 11-game win streak, but he sees the loss as motivation for him.
“Losing definitely keeps you on your toes,” he said. “It keeps you striving forward, and it just keeps you motivated, so you can set yourself another goal to shoot for.”
The senior heavyweight Palma entered his match with Maryland’s Jerry Afari as the No. 9 wrestler in the country and the clear favorite. However, Afari controlled the match and won with a 10-5 decision.
With consecutive defeats of two of N.C. State’s top wrestlers, and only a three-point lead, the Pack’s fortunes depended entirely on the outcome of the 125 bout, and freshman Taylor Cummings. Cummings fell behind to James Knox 0-2 in the first period, and no points were scored in the second. The bout looked like it was going to go the Terps way when, late in the third period, Knox was penalized a point for stalling. Cummings was then awarded another point for riding time and the match went into overtime, where Cummings very nearly scored a takedown, but got caught on his back and Knox pinned him at 7:31 in the bout. The pin gave Maryland 6 points, and a 21-18 victory in the match.
Despite the last second defeat, Jordan remained upbeat.
“It definitely serves as motivation, especially with the way we wrestled. I’m real proud of our kids today,” he said. “We’re continuing to outhustle our opponents, and that’s all I’m looking for. I was real pleased.”
Junior Kody Hamrah, who won his eighth straight match, echoed his coach’s sentiments. “The way we wrestled, I can’t really be mad. We left it all out there. It was a real close match that came down to one move,” he said. “The way we wrestled is great, so we just got to keep our heads up and move forward.”
