Dec. 3, 2007

No. 24 Maryland Cruises Past Lehigh, 25-9

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The No. 24 Maryland wrestling team proved to be too much in its home opener against Lehigh on December 2 at Comcast Pavilion, winning 25-9 in front of a capacity crowd of over 1,000. The Terrapins won seven of the 10 matches with redshirt sophomore Hudson Taylor recording his eighth pin of the season.

The dual started at 184 pounds with Lehigh opening with a decision, but Taylor quickly turned the tables when he pinned Alex Iacocca in the second period to make it 6-3 in favor of the Terps. Taylor dominated the entire match with an early first period takedown and then riding Iacocca the rest of the way. In the second, Taylor chose neutral, scored the takedown 45 seconds in, and then recorded the fall. It was Taylor's fourth win in a row by way of fall.

Redshirt freshman Patrick Gilmore added to the lead in the next match at heavyweight by coming away with a 3-2 decision. Gilmore got on the board first with an early takedown but Justin Allen managed to escape to make it 2-1 after the first period. Allen chose down to start the second and escaped again to tie it. Neither wrestler could score a takedown the rest of the period but in the third, Gilmore chose down and escaped in 22 seconds to hang on for the win.

Virginia's Albright, Caponi Score Titles at Nittany Lion Open

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Virginia's Eric Albright (Jr., York, Pa.) and Rocco Caponi (Jr., Uniontown, Ohio) each won championships to highlight the Virginia wrestling team's day Sunday at the Nittany Lion Open, held at Penn State's Rec Hall in State College, Pa. Albright and Caponi each won six-consecutive matches to secure their titles. The Cavaliers finished impressively with placewinners at eight of the 10 weight classes.

Caponi, ranked eighth nationally in the latest USA Today/InterMat/NWCA rankings, improved to 17-0 this season with his second open championship of the season (Binghamton Open), highlighted by two falls and a major decision. The major decision was a 9-1 win over 18th-ranked Ryan Bomberger of Penn State. He clinched the title with a 7-2 win in the final over Kent State's Dustin Kilgore.

Ranked ninth nationally, Albright scored his first open title of the season and improved to 10-1 this year. Albright earned a hard-fought, 3-2 win over No. 12 Mike Grey of Cornell in the final.

• More from Virginia
• More from Virginia Tech