Maryland wrestling falls in brutal showing against No. 1 Penn State, 44-3

After beating Purdue on Friday for their first Big Ten win since the 2015-16 season, the Terps were reminded that there’s still a long way to go in order to compete on a nightly basis in college wrestling’s toughest division. 

Maryland wrestling ran into the buzzsaw known as No. 1 Penn State on Sunday, losing 44-3. Resting some regular starters after a short recovery period, the Terps only came away with one win in their final Big Ten match of the season. Maryland will finish with a 1-7(.125 win percentage) record in conference duals, its highest win percentage since the 2013-14 season. 

No. 15 Braxton Brown opened the match for the Terps, taking on redshirt freshman Gary Steen. After two scoreless periods, Brown got an escape to take a 1-0 lead, and then the redshirt freshman held Steen off to win a 1-0 decision. Brown’s 15th win in dual matches this season gave Maryland a 3-0 lead. 

At 133, redshirt senior King Sandoval went up against No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young. This was a high-scoring affair, with Bravo-Young jumping out to a 14-6 lead after the first period. The graduate student stayed on the attack, expanding his lead to 22-10 in the second and eventually getting the tech fall win in the third to put Penn State up 5-3. 

Freshman Kal Miller faced a tough opponent in No. 6 Beau Bartlett at 141. Miller held off the junior in a scoreless first, but Bartlett got a reversal after starting on the bottom in the second to take a 2-0 lead. In the third, Miller got an escape point, but Bartlett got a takedown to give himself some breathing room. Bartlett eventually took a 5-2 decision, pushing the Nittany Lions’ lead to 8-3. 

No. 18 Ethen Miller represented Maryland in a ranked matchup with No. 13 Shayne Van Ness in a battle between redshirt freshmen. The first period was extremely competitive, but the next two were all Van Ness. Van Ness expanded his lead to 9-3 in the second with 2:42 of riding time, and got a six-point swing in the third with a takedown and near fall points to take a 19-4 tech fall victory. The win gave Penn State a 13-3 lead. 

At 157, redshirt freshman Kevin Schork filled in for redshirt junior Michael North for the Terps. Against No. 8 Levi Haines, Schork was simply overpowered. The freshman built up a 6-0 lead in the first before he locked up a cradle from a fireman’s carry to force the pin after 1: 42 in the first. The pin gave the Nittany Lions a 19-3 lead as the match headed to intermission. 

Action resumed at 165, with redshirt junior Lucas Cordio taking on No. 9 Alex Facundo. Cordio had no answers to the redshirt freshman’s relentless pressure, with Facundo obtaining an 8-3 lead in the first that grew to a 15-5 mark in the second. In the third, Facundo dragged Cordio to the ground with a seatbelt-like hold to force him onto his back and get the pin. Facundo’s win by fall brought Penn State’s lead up to 25-3. 

Sophomore Dominic Solis took on No. 1 Carter Starocci at 174. Starocci registered three takedowns in the first to take a 6-3 lead, and then another two in the second along with 1:29 of riding time to go up 10-5. The junior continued to apply pressure in the third, getting two more takedowns to get the 14-6 major decision win and grow Penn State’s lead to 29-3. 

At 184, redshirt junior Kevin Makosy wrestled for the Terps against junior Donovon Ball. Ball got two takedowns in the first to take a 4-1 lead, and the second and third were more of the same. Ball built his lead up to 9-2 in the second, and came away with a 10-3 decision win that put the Nittany Lions up 32-3. 

After a forfeit from the Terps at 197, action concluded at heavyweight with junior Jordan Gabriel. Taking on senior Seth Nevills, Gabriel was quickly forced to the ground with a takedown, and then it was all over. Nevills drove Gabriel to his back after a failed escape attempt at the 1:56 mark in the first, getting the pin victory to reach the final score of 44-3. 

Maryland will look for a better showing next time on the mat, Friday against Binghamton.