Jimmy Sheptock ended an outstanding junior season with a 39-6 record, a sixth place in the NCAA D1 tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, and the status of All-American.

"Jimmy had a great season," said Maryland coach Kerry McCoy. "In the offseason we made the decision to move him up to 184 in order to have both him and Josh Asper in the lineup. He doesn't cut any weight and just finished sixth in the NCAA tourney. I am really proud of him.

"I met Jimmy in seventh grade when I was coaching at Lehigh. I went to Stanford (to coach), and never lost touch with him, and when I came back and took the Maryland job, he was my first recruit. He was my number-one guy, to see him become an All-American is great."

Despite his success, in his last match of the tournament he dropped a 6-2 decision to Ethan Lofthouse of Iowa to secure sixth.

It left a sour taste in his mouth.

"I am a competitor. This isn't how I wanted to finish this tournament," Sheptock said. "I am not satisfied. I have another year, and I am going to be better next year."

As a seventh seed, Sheptock won his opening bout convincingly, 12-4. He tallied three, first period takedowns against the overmatched Shane Woods of Wyoming. Woods got two escapes, and the first period ended 6-2. There was only a Sheptock escape in the second period, but then he had three takedowns in the third.

Sheptock was familiar with Woods, too.

"I wrestled him earlier in the year, and beat him 12-3, so I was pretty confident coming in."

Sheptock then won 3-2 over Jacob Schwartz of Boise State. After a scoreless first period, he escaped and got a takedown to go up 3-0. Schwartz escaped, and the period ended 3-1. Schwartz would escape again in the third, but never really mounted any attack on Sheptock.

"I have a lot of confidence in my offense, and even more in my defense," Sheptock said. "At this level, sometimes you only get one good shot, and you have to make it count, and defensively I think I have a rubber leg."

Sheptock would lose is next bout, 1-0, to Ben Bennett of Central Michigan. It was the same score he lost to Bennett earlier this season. Bennett was the number-two seed in the tourney and his only point was a second-period escape.

Sheptock officially earned All-American status with a thrilling OT win over Kevin Steinhaus.

Sheptock got a first period takedown, and then gave him an escape. Steinhaus returned the favor, and Sheptock got an escape to end the first period tied 3-3. After both wrestlers got escapes in the second and third periods, the score was tied at 4-4 after regulation.

In overtime, about 15 seconds into the period, Sheptock took a great shot and had Steinhaus in trouble. After about a 10-second scramble, Steinhaus somehow managed to avoid the takedown, and kicked out.

"I got to admit, I thought that was my chance," Sheptock admitted after the match. "I was exhausted, but I wasn't going to quit."

Late in the one minute period, with both wrestlers exhausted from a very tough match, Steinhaus took an ill-advised shot, and Sheptock countered perfectly, and fell right into the takedown for the win.

"The early takedown gave me some confidence. Once I took him down, I just felt like I could do it again," Sheptock said. "I am thankful to my coaches, and my family. I have 10 family members that came here to support me, and that means a lot. A lot."

Sheptock would win again, moving him into the top-six. He defeated Ryan Loder of Northern Iowa in the third overtime. The two exchanged escapes during regulation and the first overtime, then Loder rode out Sheptock in the second overtime. Loder then got an escape, but Sheptock got a dramatic takedown right at the end of the third overtime to secure the win.

Sheptock would lose in the consolation semifinals to defending national champion Steve Bosak of Cornell. Bosak got a takedown in the first period, an escape in the third, and that was all the scoring.

Despite already looking forward to improving next year, Sheptock has loved his time at Maryland.

"I made the decision to go to Maryland because of the great coaches," He said. "I got less money to go there, but I felt that if I wanted to achieve this, become an All-American, I had to go to a program where there were great coaches, and Coach (Kerry) McCoy is one of the best."