On Jan. 10, 2016, a freshman Jaron Smith contributed to Maryland’s 26-10 win against Michigan State with a decision victory at 184. Little did Smith know that more than seven years later, he would give the Terps their first Big Ten win since that match by taking home a 3-2 decision win at heavyweight on senior night.
“It means a lot. It kinda means more than any win I’ve had this year,” Smith said. “Winning for my team has always meant more to me than winning for myself. Giving a Big Ten win to Clemsen, which is something that I had a certain amount of goals, a lot of them were team-oriented, getting our first Big Ten win is one of them.”
Smith was one of the five Terps to get wins in Maryland’s 19-18 victory over Purdue. No. 18 Ethen Miller, John Martin Best, Dominic Solis, and Jaxon Smith all came away with wins to put the man coach Alex Clemsen refers to as “The Closer” in a position to give the Terps a victory, and Smith delivered. The win breaks a 63-match losing streak in Big Ten duals for the Terps.
No. 15 Braxton Brown opened things up for the Terps in a matchup with No. 3 Matt Ramos. The redshirt freshman Brown was on the offensive for most of the first, but Ramos displayed excellent defense and turned a Brown single leg attempt into his own takedown to grab an early 2-0 lead. A Brown escape made it 2-1, but the redshirt sophomore built his lead up to 5-1 in the second with an escape and a takedown. Brown got an escape in the third to make it 5-2, but two more Ramos takedowns sealed the deal in an eventual 10-3 decision win. Brown’s first loss in dual matches this year gave the Boilermakers a 3-0 lead.
At 133, redshirt senior King Sandoval took on redshirt freshman Dustin Norris. This matchup was a defensive battle, with both wrestlers failing to put points on the board in the first two periods. In the third, Norris got an escape point, as well as a takedown to take a 3-0 decision and extend Purdue’s lead to 6-0.
Freshman Kal Miller looked to break out of his slump in a matchup with No. 13 Parker Filius at 141. The graduate student first put points on the board with a takedown in the first, and grew his lead in the second with an escape and a takedown. A Miller escape made it 5-1 heading into the third, and a second escape brought Miller within three. Filius responded with a quick takedown to put him up 7-2, and held Miller off in the final minute of the match to get an 8-3 decision that put Purdue up 9-0.
No. 18 Ethen Miller went up against redshirt freshman Jaden Reynolds at 149 in a must-win matchup for the Terps. After a scoreless first, Reynolds got an escape after starting the second on the ground. Miller then shot and finished a single leg takedown, bringing the Pav to life for the first time of the dual, and he wasn’t done there. The redshirt freshman Miller dominated the third, piling on 10 straight points with takedowns and near fall points to take a majority decision win that shrank Purdue’s lead to 9-4.
Redshirt junior Michael North wrestled against No. 6 Kendall Coleman at 157. The redshirt senior made quick work of North, getting an early takedown and smoothly transitioning to top control after a scramble to take the fall victory in the first. The win put Purdue up 15-4 as the match headed to intermission.
Action resumed at 165, with redshirt freshman John Martin Best taking on junior Cooper Noehre. Noehre got the first takedown of the match, but Best responded with a smooth reversal to tie things at two in the first. Best took the lead in the second with an escape, but Noehre evened things up at three with an escape in the third. Neither wrestler could find the deciding point in the third so the match headed to overtime. After a scoreless first overtime, Best went ahead in the second with a quick escape. Noehre evened things up at five, but Best had the riding time tiebreaker to take the 6-5 decision win. The clutch performance brought the score to 15-7, Boilermakers.
Sophomore Dominic Solis competed against freshman Brody Baumann. Baumann obtained a 4-1 lead after the first period thanks to multiple takedowns. Solis got an escape in the second, bringing the score to 4-2. In the third, Solis was a man on a mission, fighting and eventually getting a massive takedown — as well as a point for stalling — to get the 5-4 decision victory. The second-straight win for the Terps brought Purdue’s lead down to five at 15-10.
Redshirt junior Kevin Makosy looked to keep Maryland rolling in a matchup with redshirt freshman Ben Vanadia. Vanadia built up a 4-1 lead in the first period, and the rest of the match was more of the same. Makosy had no answer to Vanadia’s attack, getting taken down two more times in an eventual 8-3 decision loss that brought the score to 18-10, Boilermakers.
No. 13 Jaxon Smith looked no worse for wear in his return to the mat for the Terps. Facing redshirt freshman Hayden Filipovich, the redshirt freshman was dominant. Filipovich had no answers for Smith’s relentless attack, and eventually folded when Smith dragged him to the ground and flipped him on his back. Smith’s pin victory in the first brought the whole pavilion to their feet, and more importantly, brought the Terps within two at 18-16.
No. 25 Jaron Smith had a chance to win it for Maryland, taking on redshirt freshman Hayden Copass. The graduate student jumped out to an early 2-1 lead with a takedown in the first, and an escape in the second put Smith up 3-1. Copass got an escape in the third to make it 3-2, but Smith held him off to secure the decision win and give Maryland the 19-18 victory.
The Terps will be back in action on Sunday, taking on No. 1 Penn State on the road.
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