Mix of veterans and new faces seek to keep Maryland wrestling trending in right direction

As fans slowly vacated the XFINITY Center Pavilion following Maryland’s annual Red-Black match, coach Alex Clemsen and his team appeared to be ready for the real matches to start. 

“Because the guys went out and tried to put on a show, we got to see some positions that we can continue to improve on, and we’re getting back to work tomorrow at 7:15 a.m. to address some of those technical areas,” Clemsen said. “Overall, I was really, really pleased with how the kids performed, how they fought, and the energy they brought the whole night.”

Clemsen’s team looks to bring that energy every meet as he continues to develop the program in his fourth season as head coach. The team finished with a 7-12 record last season — Clemson’s highest win total since taking over the program — and a welcome improvement from the winless 2020-21 COVID-19 shortened season. 

This year, the Terps appear to be in a great position to improve upon that record with a strong mix of returners and newcomers. 

The returners are guys who can compete with anyone in the Big Ten — a conference with eight schools in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) preseason Top 25. 

Redshirt freshman John Martin Best, who looked impressive in the Red-Black match, makes his return to the mat this season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament against Duke last season. Redshirt sophomore Jackson Cockrell, coming off a strong season, will enter the lineup at 133 pounds. 

Dominic Solis looks to build on his memorable 2021-22 campaign, when he finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships and competed as an automatic qualifier at the 2022 NCAA Championships. 

The biggest name out of the returners is Jaron Smith, who made the move to bump up from the 197 pound weight class to heavyweight. Smith picked up strong victories against ranked opponents last year, including a win over Michigan’s then-No. 6 Patrick Brucki, and finished 1-2 at the 2022 NCAA Championships with a win over Utah Valley’s Evan Bockman. Coming into his final season, Smith — ranked 27th by Intermat at heavyweight — is confident in his ability to succeed.

 “I visualize myself winning every time I go in to wrestle,” Smith said. “One of the things we started doing was, kind of as a symbolic and team-forming gesture, we have a special thing we do after every practice and every other lift every time we leave. It’s really about visualizing yourself being a winner. Definitely visualizing All-American this year. That’s my absolute goal.”

The Terps will use last year’s eighth-ranked recruiting class (per Intermat) to retool the lineup, which lost four starters in Danny Bertoni (141 pounds), Kyle Cochran (184), King Sandoval (133) and Zach Schrader (285).

Braxton Brown, ranked 29th by Intermat in the 125 pound weight class, looks to make an impact after finishing his redshirt season with a 16-5 record. Brown is in a position to help the Terps pick up their first dual win at 125 since 2020. 

True freshman Kal Miller — who will be wrestling in the 141 pound weight class — was a multi-time state champion in high school and ranked 82nd in the FloWrestling Class of 2022 Rankings. His brother Ethen Miller — ranked 32nd in the 149 pound weight class by Intermat — finished his redshirt campaign with a record of 26-6 and will lengthen an already deep lineup. 

Jaxon Smith — the top ranked redshirt at his weight class by FloWrestling — had a massive summer. Smith won the 2022 U20 US Open, Challenge Tournament and the Pan-American Championships, along with a fifth-place finish at the U20 World Championships. Smith appears primed to challenge any opponent this year in the 197 pound weight class.

The Terps have some tough tests ahead of them this season as they are set to face five teams in the NWCA preseason Top 25. Maryland will take on No. 18 Pittsburgh in late November, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan in January, as well as No. 22 Rutgers and No. 1 Penn State in February. 

By the time March rolls around, the team will look to build off of last year’s postseason success and perform well at the Big Ten Championships while qualifying more wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. 

 “We’ve had the capabilities to do it in the past, but this year, every year it’s been better, and this year we feel like we have a real solid lineup just up and down,” Jaron Smith said. “There’s a lot of youth in our lineup too, so 2-3 years down the road we’re gonna be really solid, so I’m just happy that I get to be a part of it.”