Maryland wrestling defeats Binghamton, 19-12

At the halfway point of Maryland’s dual match with Binghamton, the Terps seemed to have things locked up. Maryland had a 13-3 lead, with wins from Braxton Brown, Kal Miller, Ethen Miller, and Michael North. Three matches later, the score was 13-12, and Binghamton appeared to have all the momentum heading into the final two matches of the night. 

Jaxon Smith and Jaron Smith came up huge for the Terps on Friday night, closing things out in Maryland’s 19-12 victory over Binghamton. The Terps had lost three straight, but Jaron and Jaxon righted the ship with back-to-back decision wins. With the win, Maryland has ten dual wins in a season for the first time since 2012-13. 

At 125, No. 15 Brown got things started for the Terps in a matchup with sophomore Micah Roes. After two scoreless periods, the redshirt freshman went to work. Brown got a quick escape to open the third, and then gave himself some breathing room with a takedown to make it 3-0. Roes escaped in the closing seconds of the match, giving Brown the 3-1 decision to put Maryland up 3-0. 

In a battle of redshirt seniors, King Sandoval represented the Terps against Anthony Sobotker at 133. Down 2-0, Sandoval started and stayed on top in the second period, with Sobotker appearing content to remain grounded. Sobotker’s lack of pressure continued into the third, where he was docked a point for stalling, but Sandoval still needed a takedown for the lead. After multiple failed attempts, a desperation shot from Sandoval turned into a Sobotker takedown to reach the final score of 4-1. Sobotker’s win tied things up for Binghamton at three. 

The freshman Miller came out for Maryland at 141, looking to break his seven-match losing streak. Facing senior Christian Gannone, Miller scored first with a takedown in the opening period. Miller expanded his lead to 3-0 with an escape in the second, and a third period takedown gave him a 5-0 lead. Gannone escaped, but couldn’t get anything else going, losing a 5-1 decision that gave Maryland the lead, 6-3. 

Coach Alex Clemsen liked what he saw from Miller tonight. 

“He was aggressive,” coach Clemsen said. “He got to his offense, and he was constantly going forward, taking ground, going to his positions. He’s tough on top, so when he does those two things well, good things will happen.”

No. 18 Miller went up against graduate student Michael Zarif at 149, looking to grow Maryland’s lead. The redshirt freshman dominated from the opening whistle, getting takedowns at will and applying relentless pressure throughout the entire match. Miller completely shut Zarif out, taking an 11-0 major decision to bring Maryland’s lead up to 10-3. 

At 157, North competed for the Terps against sophomore Conner Decker. The first two periods were scoreless, with North starting on top in the second and riding out the whole period. In the third, North escaped and then proceeded to hold Decker off on his way to a 2-0 decision win that put the Terps up 13-3. 

Redshirt freshman John Martin Best wrestled for Maryland, taking on No. 31 Brevin Cassella at 165. The sophomore took the lead in the first with a takedown, but Best responded with an escape to bring the score to 2-1. In the third, Cassella escaped, and the riding time he picked up earlier gave him the 4-1 victory. The win shrunk Maryland’s lead to 13-6. 

Sophomore Dominic Solis battled for the Terps at 174, going up against redshirt junior Sam DePrez. Solis fell behind early, with DePrez getting multiple takedowns in the first to take a 4-1 lead. A Solis escape in the second made it 4-2, but DePrez responded with an escape in the third to go up 5-2. Solis found a late takedown to make it 5-4, but DePrez escaped and fended Solis off to get a 7-4 decision win that brought Binghamton within four at 13-9. 

184 was a battle of redshirt juniors in Kevin Makosy and No. 23 Jacob Nolan. Makosy went down 2-0 in the first after a powerful takedown from Nolan. Makosy tried to generate offense of his own, but Nolan read all of his shots and defended well. Nolan continued to pick up points throughout the match, keeping Makosy off the board in a decision win that sent the score to 13-12, with Maryland clinging to a one-point lead. 

No. 13 Jaxon Smith looked to give the Terps a little breathing room at 197, going up against sophomore Dimitri Gamkrelidze. The redshirt freshman built a 4-1 lead in the first with two takedowns, and he grew his lead throughout the match. A takedown in the third brought Smith’s lead to 7-2, and he went on to win 8-2. The win gave the Terps a four-point lead heading into the final bout of the night. 

No. 24 Jaron Smith looked to close things out for the second straight week, taking on No. 26 Cory Day. The graduate student came away with a reversal in the second after a scoreless first to take a 2-0 lead. In the third, the redshirt junior got a takedown and came close to nearfall points, but Smith held him off to keep the score at 2-2. At the end of the match, Smith had the riding time advantage, which gave him a 3-2 win. Smith’s clutch victory gave the Terps a 19-12 win.