The Terps entered Sunday losers of four straight. They hadn’t won since Jan. 14.
Maryland wrestling snapped that streak against Michigan State. The Terps rallied around the three technical falls of the afternoon to defeat the Spartans, 28-15, notching their second Big 10 win for the first time since moving from the ACC.
Maryland (4-6, 2-5 Big Ten) took advantage of some big victories, as well as a six-point forfeit victory for Tommy Capul. Despite mounting a comeback late in the meet, the Spartans (9-5, 2-5 Big Ten) were unable to overcome Jaxon Smith and Seth Nevills, extending the team’s losing streak to two.
In the first real bout of the meet, Braxton Brown racked up enough back points against 133-pound Andy Hampton to claim a technical fall victory in the first period. Brown secured a takedown within the first 20 seconds of the bout and never let go.
Kal Miller’s passive approach in the 141-pound bout against No. 29 Jordan Hamdan did not pay off, giving up a 6-1 decision. Hamdan did all the attacking in the first period, but Miller was able to shrug them off, leading to no score after one. Then Hamdan started landing his attacks, first with a reversal from down position in the second period and again with a takedown in the third.
“[Kal’s] on a little bit of a slide, it’s alright.” coach Alex Clemsen said. “He’s had a really good couple weeks at practice, I’m not too worried about it.”
Ethen Miller secured the second shutout technical fall of the afternoon, defeating Braden Stauffenberg after less than two periods. Miller never left Stauffenberg’s back, securing a takedown within seconds of the first period starting and then securing a reversal in the second.
After the one-sided 149-pound bout came a back-and-forth scrape between Michael North and No. 21 Chase Saldate. The two wrestlers exchanged takedowns to draw to seven points apiece after the first period. The matchup stayed tied through the second, during which Saldate couldn’t escape from down position, giving North riding time advantage — which he used to push the match to overtime, where a quick takedown gave Saldate the 13-10 decision.
“[North] has to wrestle smarter,” Clemsen said. “He gave up a soft takedown at the end of a period and he had a guy who was completely out of gas take his shot in the first ten seconds of overtime.”
AJ Rodrigues’ directive against No. 9 Caleb Fish was to allow as few points as possible, and in that regard he delivered. Fish logged a 14-0 major decision against Rodrigues, one shy of the 15 needed for a technical fall.
Neither Dom Solis nor DJ Shannon were particularly aggressive in the 174-pound bout, and after three periods the score was tied at one. The match consisted mostly of the two wrestlers feeling each other out, with the occasional scrape resulting in a stalemate. Solis took advantage of a fatigued Shannon in the extra period, going into a single-leg hold and securing the takedown.
“I’m the type of wrestler that if we can go deep and it’s close in the third, even overtime, I’m probably on top,” Solis said. “That’s just the style of wrestler that I am.”
The Terps ran away with the match after a technical fall victory for Smith over the Spartans’ wins leader Kale Wisler and a major decision shutout victory for Nevills in the heavyweight class.
The win marked the first time Maryland has secured multiple Big 10 victories since the Terps joined the conference in 2015. They have a chance to pick up a third on the road against No. 14 Rutgers next Friday.
