Photo courtesy of Ian Cox/Maryland Terrapins
Maryland’s comeback effort against No. 12 Rutgers came up just short as the Terps dropped a 20-21 meet to the Scarlet Knights.
Of the five bouts the Terps (8-8, 3-3 Big Ten) dropped, three were technical falls. Despite giving up two technical falls going into the 197-pound bout, the Terrapins trailed 14-16. But Chase Mielnik gave up a technical fall to No. 17 John Poznanski, mathematically sealing the victory for Rutgers.
When asked what wrestlers need to do to mitigate costly technical falls, Clemsen replied “Try harder.”
The Terps would not have been in the match in the way they were had it not been for the efforts of Branson John. Facing No. 23 Jackson Turley, John ended the first period down 1-3 after a review determined that Turley did not secure a second takedown. But Turley was visibly exhausted heading into the second period, and after getting an escape point, John secured the winning takedown.
“My coaches were saying ‘If you get out, this kid will be breaking, you can beat him,’” John said. “I felt him, he was tired, and he didn’t want to wrestle.”
John’s parents were in the Pavilion to watch him get his third-ranked victory this season. He is undefeated against ranked opponents since Jan. 5.
Braxton Brown had his revenge game against Dylan Shawver, picking up a 6-3 decision against the wrestler who defeated him at the Big 10 championships. Shawver appeared to betray his strategy in the first period, as Clemsen started calling out to his wrestler.
Clemsen said he and Brown planned for a specific approach from Shawver and he was reminding him to stick to the plan.
“I just wanted to remind him that the game plan is in effect,” Clemsen said.
Brown won the bout in the third period when he wrestled to position to get a takedown. His previous match against Shawver went into sudden victory, in which he gave up a last-minute takedown.
The Terps will have short rest before taking on Penn State Sunday, the top wrestling squad in the country.
