After more than a month of struggles, 141-pound Alfred Bannister grew increasingly fed up. His hard work in practice with the Terrapins wrestling team wasn’t paying off on the mat, and the frustration from losing was mounting.
After six losses in seven battles, the redshirt freshman was ready to taste success. When it finally arrived at about 7:30 p.m. Friday night against No. 8 Michigan, Bannister’s emotions poured out. He flailed his arms to the crowd and pounded his chest as the referee raised his arm high in the air.
As he looked up at the Xfinity Pavilion crowd, Bannister only had one word running through his brain.
“Finally, finally and finally again,” Bannister said.
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The 3-1 win in sudden victory provided Bannister his first victory since Dec. 5, 2015. The stretch of struggles represented the greatest hurdle of Bannister’s wrestling career, as even he admits that he can’t remember the last time he struggled so much.
“He’s on his little roller coaster emotionally, dealing with the ups and downs — it’s been tough for him,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “It’s good for our team to see that the hard work is paying off, even if you’re not 100 percent.”
The victory gave Bannister an immediate boost of confidence. Two matches later, he went over to 157-pound Lou Mascola, a fellow captain, and comforted him after Mascola’s narrow defeat. Bannister shared his thoughts on his recent struggles with Mascola, telling him “don’t let the losses swallow you up.”
Prior to the match, Bannister remembers walking into the pavilion and seeing the bleachers slowly fill with familiar faces. Whether it was teammates, die-hard fans or his family, the support from his community provided that extra motivation.
“You see the people come in, you see more and more faces of people that supported you along the way,” Bannister said. “I’m tired of letting these guys down, seeing me lose. If I could put a smile on my team’s face, I could put a smile on anyone’s face.”
Those smiles were readily apparent after the match ended. After the team met with McCoy, they dissipated throughout the arena. Some wrestlers went to get food or change, but Bannister lingered in the corner of the arena, sharing hugs with his father, sisters and a number of other relatives.
“When I suffer, my whole family suffers,” Bannister said. “When I lose, they’re just as mad and sad as I am. Felt good to get it for them.”
It’s not just Bannister’s family that’ll benefit from his victory; some believe the ripple will be felt among the Terps. With this mental hurdle completed, as 133-pound Geoffrey Alexander said, Bannister is in a prime position to come back to practice on Monday with even more fire and energy than they’ve seen from him before.
“That spark is going to turn not only in match time, but in practices and in the weight rooms,” Alexander said. “Everything is going to change, and it’ll be for the better.”
Amid his four-match losing streak, Bannister continued to maintain his faith that the success he experienced his whole career would return. It took extra time, but he bounced back against Michigan.
“You gotta have faith, faith in God, faith in yourself,” Bannister said. “The average person, when they’re losing like this, may succumb to it. After every loss, I asked myself what’s going on. It felt unnatural. This isn’t me; this is not the way I wrestled. I win, I leave it all out on the mat and I do it for my team and for my family.”
