Maryland wrestling falls 37-6 to No. 6 Minnesota, remains winless in conference play

Photo courtesy of Rose Fernandes/Maryland Athletics.

Maryland wrestling started their season-ending stretch of home games against No. 7 Minnesota at the Stephen M. Schanwald Pavilion on Sunday.

The Golden Gophers lead the all-time series 6-0, but  the two teams hadn’t met at College Park since 2018. Both teams lost their last time out – coincidentally, both losses came against Rutgers. 

The Terps couldn’t find their first win in program history against Minnesota. Maryland (4-8, 0-7 B1G) lost their seventh straight match – both on the season and to the Golden Gophers (10-5, 4-3 B1G) – 37-6. 

Sunday’s dual started at the 125 pound class with Maryland sophomore Abram Cline against Minnesota senior Jore Volk. The tenth-ranked Volk controlled the first round, landing a takedown to take a 3-0 lead. 

A quick get up and a stalling point gave Volk a 5-0 advantage. Cline got on the board after an escape from the bottom position, but Volk kept the pressure on. He landed two late takedowns in quick succession and took a 14-3 victory over Cline.

133 pounds matched up No. 14 Braxton Brown and Brandon Morvari. In a high pace first period, Brown was able to land a takedown within the final minute for a 3-0 lead. The second was highlighted by a heavy mat return from Brown, preventing Morvari from escaping. 

Brown got the escape from the down position, extending his lead, then survived a late push from Morvari for the 4-0 victory, bringing the overall score to 4-3 after two matches.

Dario Lemus was next up at 141 pounds against No. 9 Vance Vombaur. Vombaur landed a takedown with 30 seconds to go in the first, and made it 4-0 with a getup early in the second. 

Vombaur landed three takedowns in the second round, taking a 13-2 lead. He mounted two more takedowns for a 19-4 technical fall victory, giving the Golden Gophers a 9-3 lead.

At 149 pounds, Carter Young was ruled out. Clayton Gabrielson stepped up for Maryland against No. 17 Drew Roberts, who was able to land three takedowns and take a 9-2 lead after the opening three minutes of play. Roberts then got two points off a reversal and then landed another two takedowns, picking up a 20-4 technical fall victory. This gave the Golden Gophers a 14-3 advantage. 

Mekhi Neal competed against No. 19 Charlie Millard at 157 pounds. Millard landed two takedowns and dominated the control time for a 6-0 lead after one. Millard landed a takedown and ripped Neal to his back, getting the pin and giving the Golden Gophers a 20-3 lead.

165 pounds saw AJ Rodrigues take on No. 11 Andrew Sparks. Sparks came out aggressively,  with three early takedowns and took a 9-3 lead over Rodrigues. A couple of nearfall points gave Sparks a 17-3 lead, and he eventually found the 19-3 technical fall win to extend the lead to 25-3.

Seth Digby took No. 24 Ethan Riddle at 174 pounds. Riddle was able to mark a takedown early in the first, and a get up followed by a takedown late in the second gave him a commanding 7-0 lead. A couple of getups for Digby were not enough – he fell in an 11-2 major decision, giving the Golden Gophers wins in five straight matches. 

184 pounds saw the ever dangerous Sepanta Ahang-Elias against a Gold Medalist in the U-20 World championships – No. 4 Max McEnelly. McEnelly had four takedowns in round one and his experience seemed to be all too much for Ahang-Elias – he twisted and turned for a 19-4 technical fall win in the second.

Down 34-3, the Terps sent out No. 17 Branson John at 197 pounds against No. 25 Gavin Nelson in the only ranked matchup of the night. John sprung into action in the final 10 seconds of the opening round and landed a huge takedown, taking a 3-0 lead into the second, where he surrendered one getup point to take a 3-1 lead into the down position to start the final period. 

John was able to hang on, despite Nelson’s best efforts, making it 34-6 in favor of the Golden Gophers heading into the final matchup.

The heavyweight matchup was Oscar Williams and No. 11 Koy Hopke. Hopke looked explosive,  landing three straight takedowns in the first. He led 9-2 after one, but Williams found his offense in the second, picking up a big takedown. Both men landed takedowns in the third, but Hopke took the win and gave the Gophers the 37-6 win. 

“[we need] Much better effort. Much better fight, frustrated, disappointed,” coach Alex Clemsen said. “Guys are having opportunities and they are not embracing it and capitalizing on it.” 

Maryland will return to action in a week’s time against the Ohio State Buckeyes.