Maryland wrestling defeats Wisconsin and extends conference win streak

Photo courtesy of Dylan Davies/Maryland Terrapins

The Terrapins (7-5, 3-0 Big Ten) added a conference win to their streak by defeating the Wisconsin Badgers, setting a program record for the most consecutive Big Ten victories on Friday in College Park.

Maryland led Wisconsin 18-13 going into the 197-pound bout, but Chase Mielnik sealed the victory for the Terps. Wisconsin redshirt freshman Dylan Russo led Mielnik 3-1 after the first period, but a well-timed shot to the legs helped Mielnik tie the bout. He took the lead with an escape early in the third period before sealing his victory with a takedown within the final minute.

“Coach told me before the match to spend everything, spend everything I have in my gas tank, and I believed if I did that, [erasing the deficit] wouldn’t be a problem,” Mielnik said.

Mielnik is one of the longest-tenured starters on the Maryland roster, surviving an extensive rebuild beginning in 2021. He has been on the team as Maryland has risen from the bottom of the totem to a Big Ten contender.

“To be a part of it is really exciting,” Mielnik said. “I’ve seen this team come from a pretty far other side of the spectrum to being at a point where everybody’s so close.”

Both Braxton Brown and Ethen Miller continued their undefeated streaks for the season, Brown doing so with a 10-2 major decision over Zan Fugitt and Miller with a 5-1 decision over Luke Melcher. Both wrestlers neither scored nor allowed any points in the first period, although Miller had a takedown at the edge of the ring that was called back.

“Just got to keep getting back to your positions,” Brown said. “Things might not go your way in the first period, but there’s always a second and third.”

On Jan. 19, it will have been a full calendar year since Ethen Miller has lost a dual meet bout. Braxton Brown must maintain his win streak until Feb. 16 in order to join Miller in that statistic.

Head coach Alex Clemsen has been pleased to see the fruits of his rebuild culminate into a program-record three consecutive Big 10 conference wins.

“We’re showing people some of what I promised, and some of what we envisioned,” Clemsen said. “Our kids are cashing checks that we wrote for them, and that’s not easy to do sometimes for young people, and I’m really proud of them.”

Maryland’s three conference wins tie last year’s conference win total. The team still has five Big Ten dual meets remaining on their schedule.

The Terps will have a full week before hosting the Fighting Illini on Jan. 24. It is the first time since 2024 that the team has had a full week to prepare for a meet.