Maryland wrestling finishes eighth in Southern Scuffle

A theme for Maryland wrestling this season has been improvement as a program. The amount of ranked wrestlers has improved from last year. Their record, currently 5-0, is an improvement from last year, where at this point in the season they were 2-3. Their performance in the Southern Scuffle over the past two days is another clear indicator that the Terps’ program is on the rise. 

Maryland finished eighth, which is a step up from the Terps’ 13th place finish last year. This performance demonstrates how much the team has improved, with multiple Terps surpassing their previous win totals at the event.  

At 125, redshirt freshman Braxton Brown looked to stay hot for the Terps. Brown quickly took care of his first opponent, Gardner Webb’s Jeffery Jacome, getting a first round fall victory. In the 2nd round of the tournament, Brown faced Minnesota’s Troy Spratley, who defeated Brown in a 5-1 decision. The loss only seemed to motivate Brown, who dominated his next two opponents by a combined score of 24-0 to send him to the fifth round of consolation play. There, Brown received a 5-2 decision win over Virginia Tech’s Cooper Flynn to send him to the consolation round of four, where he fell to Appalachian State’s Caleb Smith in sudden victory. The loss put him in a position to compete for seventh place, but his opponent forfeited, giving Brown the seventh place finish. 

Redshirt freshman Jackson Cockrell and sophomore Conner Quinn wrestled for the Terps at 133. Quinn struggled to find success, losing both his matches to Chattanooga’s Brayden Palmer and Little Rock’s Josh Sarpy. Cockrell didn’t fare any better, losing his first round matchup to Iowa State’s Zach Redding, where he obtained an injury that forced him to forfeit his next match. 

Kal Miller competed at 141 for Maryland. The freshman lost his first round matchup in a close contest against Virginia’s Jack Gioffre, and then won his next three bouts with three commanding decisions, where he controlled his opponents all throughout. In the consolation round of eight No. 1, Miller fell to Rider’s McKenzie Bell, ending his tournament with a solid performance overall. 

At 149, redshirt freshmans Ethen Miller and Kevin Schork represented Maryland. Miller dominated his first opponent, CSU-Bakersfield’s Johnathon Viveros, but then lost his second match in a close decision to Oklahoma State’s Jordan Williams. In similar fashion to Brown, Miller won his next few matches with a tech fall, major decision and decision, giving him a chance at a medal the next day. On day two, Miller came out with a vengeance, getting three impressive decision wins to propel him to the third place bout. There, Miller lost a tight contest to Stanford’s Jaden Abas to finish fourth. Schork struggled on the day, losing his first match by a major decision and his second one by technical fall. 

Michael North looked to stay rolling for the Terps at 157. The redshirt junior won his first bout against Binghamton’s Conner Decker, but then lost a decision to Iowa State’s Issac Judge. North took two convincing decisions against Virginia’s Gavin Cagle and Gardner Webb’s Tyler Brignola, and later fell in the consolation round of 16 to Northern Colorado’s Nathan Moore. 

The Terps sent out John Martin Best and Lucas Cordio at 165. Best was defeated in his first round matchup against Oklahoma State’s Chance McLane, but went on to beat Hofstra’s Jurius Clark to get into the consolation round of 16 No. 1. There, the redshirt freshman lost a decision to Purdue’s Stoney Buell to end his tournament. Cordio’s day ended quickly, when the redshirt junior dropped two close decisions to Duke’s Gaetano Console and Oklahoma State’s Jalin Harper. 

At 174, sophomore Dominic Solis looked to improve on his performance at the Southern Scuffle last year, where he won one match. Solis beat Northern Colorado’s Derek Matthews in the first round with a 10-3 decision win to get off to a strong start, but proceeded to drop his next two matches in heavily contested bouts where a single takedown decided both matches. 

Sophomore Chase Mielnik attempted to continue his solid string of performances as a replacement for the injured Kevin Makosy at 184. Mielnik lost a decision to Missouri’s Colton Hawks, and was on the verge of ending his tournament in his second round matchup against Duke’s Jack Wimmer. Mielnik was down heading into the third, but then staged a comeback to take the decision. This became a common theme for Mielnik, who obtained come-from-behind wins in his next two matches to move onto the second day of the Southern Scuffle. Mielnik wouldn’t find the same success on the second day, getting pinned by Oklahoma State’s Kyle Haas, but his performance in the Southern Scuffle is a great sign for the Terps at 184 moving forward.  

Jaxon Smith looked to remain dominant against competition at 197. The redshirt freshman, who has shot into the top 10 of the rankings, had no trouble against his day one opponents. Smith won all three matches, with two decision wins and a win by fall to propel him into the 197-pound semifinals. There, he fell in a match that came down to tiebreakers against Binghamton’s Lou Deprez, which put him in the consolation bracket. Smith won his match in the consolation bracket to send him to the third place match, where he medically forfeited to finish fourth.  

At 285, Jaron Smith and Jordan Gabriel competed for the Terps. Smith defeated his first round opponent, Virginia’s Ethan Weatherspoon, with a 14-0 major decision, but that was the only win he notched on the day. The graduate student lost his next two matches against Stanford’s Peter Ming and Bucknell’s Dorian Crosby. Gabriel also struggled, as the junior suffered a decision loss and a fall loss in his only two matches. 

Maryland’s performance at the Southern Scuffle is a good sign for the rest of the season. 10 wrestlers for the Terps earned wins during the event, an indication of the depth Maryland has throughout its lineup. This depth will be essential to Maryland’s success in the coming weeks, with some tough Big Ten opponents coming up that will test the Terps in different ways. The conference schedule gets underway with Indiana, when the Hoosiers come to college park on Jan. 9.