Two weeks after the team’s last competition at the Midlands Championships, Northwestern fell 29-15 against Maryland Sunday afternoon — the program’s first ever loss to the Terrapins. 

The Big Ten opener and second dual meet loss of the season began with a successful Wildcat technical fall for the 125-pound weight class, before being riddled with subsequent Terrapin technical falls and later a pin. 

Freshman 125-pounder Massey Odiotti was the first NU wrestler on the Maryland mat, only letting opponent Tommy Capul obtain four escape points across three periods. Odiotti led the match with takedowns throughout, and just before the buzzer marked the bout’s end, Odiotti scored one last takedown and secured a technical fall win. 

Despite Odiotti’s five-point tone setter, redshirt sophomore Patrick Adams fell short against opponent Braxton Brown. Four takedowns later, Brown tied the team score for the Terrapins with a technical fall with just over a minute left in the third period. 

Maryland 141-pounder Kal Miller’s win against NU freshman and dual debutant Luis Bazan furthered a Terrapin technical fall streak. After Bazan and Kal Miller cleared the mat, 149-pounder Ethen Miller succeeded in bringing Maryland’s team score up to 15. 

Redshirt senior and 157-pounder Trevor Chumbley’s match against Maryland’s Michael North began with a first-period 0-0 stalemate, but North’s decisive six-point third-period pin brought the Terrapin tally to 21. 

Redshirt junior Maxx Mayfield snapped Maryland’s winning streak against 165-pounder AJ Rodrigues, who made his dual debut. 

However, the Terrapins picked up right where they left off. A 6-3 decision loss from redshirt junior and 174-pounder David Ferrante — followed by a 4-2 decision victory from redshirt senior Troy Fisher at the 184-pound level — put Maryland firmly in the lead.  

Following redshirt sophomore 197-pounder Evan Bates’ technical fall loss, redshirt senior Jon Halvorsen bookended the afternoon with a 6-5 decision win over Maryland’s Kevin Makosy at 285 pounds. Still, the ‘Cats were too far behind to make much of a dent.

The team will travel to Champaign and face Illinois Saturday. 

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Twitter: @TheMicahSandy

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