Rutgers Wrestling travels to Maryland for their final regular season dual

After a layoff due to COVID-19 issues within the program, Rutgers wrestling returns to action for what will be their final dual meet of the regular season. The Scarlet Knights will travel tomorrow to take on the Maryland Terrapins, where Rutgers will be heavily favored to pick up their first dual meet win of the season.

Coming off a program layoff and searching for their first win is not exactly an ideal situation that head coach Scott Goodale and his staff have had to deal with.

“It’s not ideal, but you got to be professional about it”, Goodale told members of the media Thursday afternoon. “You got to keep yourself prepared”.

Preparing for Maryland is not the only hurdle Goodale and his team have had to face due to the program shutdown. The abbreviated season, along with cancelled matches, has not allowed much room for evaluation of weight classes where Rutgers has multiple wrestlers jockeying for the starting spot in the post-season.

“That hurts the evaluation process from a coaching stand point”, Goodale responded when asked about how cancelled matches have effected his decision making for the post-season. “All you could really do is go by what we’re seeing in the room. It’s probably been the hardest part – who should be the guy?”.

The other conundrum Goodale faces is whether or not to wrestle starters who have their four required matches for the national tournament. The question is does Goodale risk rust over illness, as anyone who contracts the COVID-19 virus over the next week could be in jeopardy of being eligible for the Big Ten Tournament.

““It’s a tricky area, right? Because we haven’t wrestled in three weeks. So, what’s the best way to prepare for the Big Ten Tournament? And that is to wrestle a match. So, part of me says let’s go wrestle if we’re healthy. And then there is a part of me saying if we’re not totally ready because they just got back a week ago, do we wrestle them?”.

For those who have four matches at the conclusion of tomorrow’s dual will most likely be done for the regular season. No plans are scheduled to make up one of the four cancelled duals that Rutgers had missed.

There is a possibility of getting some wrestlers up to Penn State for “extra” matches, but it is unlikely any starter who has four matches will make the trip. Ultimately, Goodale’s priority is keeping his team safe and healthy leading into the Big Ten tournament.

“My job is to get these guys to the Big Ten (tournament). We still have some guys who hopefully they get their fourth match Friday night”, Goodale said when asked about the possibility of wrestling Penn State. “We’ll deal with it as professional as possible, and let’s try and figure out the best possible lineup for the Big Ten and National tournament”.

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