Maryland wrestling entered Sunday facing its toughest test yet. Losers of two straight, the Terps dualed No. 1 Penn State.
The undefeated Nittany Lions dominated. Only two Terps, Braxton Brown and Ethen Miller, won their individual matches. The result was a 42-6 Penn State (7-0, 4-0 Big Teb) victory over Maryland (3-5, 1-4 Big Ten).
Brown commanded a 8-3 decisive victory over Baylor Shunk as he was in command for most of the matchup. Miller secured a takedown over Connor Pierce in the first frame and never let go, eventually defeating Pierce 5-0.
Both victories were by decision, but head coach Alex Clemsen was hoping for a bit more.
“I would like to see both guys push for a major decision,” Clemsen said.
The rest of the Terps failed to find a spark.
Tommy Capul was unable to extend his 125-pound bout beyond the first period against No. 4 Braeden Davis. The Penn State freshman secured a takedown and enough back points to go up 15-0 on Capul in the first frame.
Kal Miller’s rematch against No. 2 141-pounder Beau Bartlett ended in a 10-1 major decision loss, with Bartlett pulling away in the third period. The two were tangled up in a bitter stalemate in the first frame, but after a scrape lasting over thirty seconds, Bartlett came out on top and ended the first period leading 3-0. After a scoreless second, Miller appeared fatigued as Bartlett secured two more takedowns and the major decision.
No. 1 Levi Haines shut out Michael North in the 157-pound bout, securing the second technical fall victory of the afternoon for Penn State. North held Haines to one takedown per period before giving up eight back points in the third. Haines appeared to be looking for the fall, but North was able to salvage the team point by twisting out of it.
Although North was able to stave off a fall, Mason Stein was not able to do so against No. 1 174-pounder Carter Starocci. Stein fought in place of Dom Solis, who lost to Starocci last year. Starocci seemed to adopt a catch-and-release strategy in the first period, getting quick takedowns and then cutting Stein loose. He abandoned this strategy when Stein chose the down position, instead securing the fall.
Chase Mielnik’s bout against No. 5 Bernie Truax ended in fifty seconds, with the Nittany Lions graduate student securing a quick fall. Mielnik staved off the first fall attempt, but could not flip himself over the second time around.
No. 1 Aaron Brooks secured a major decision over No. 5 Jaxon Smith in the 197-pound fight in the highest ranked bout of the afternoon. It was the first bout of the season which Aaron Brooks did not win by either fall or technical fall, and it was only the second bout for Brooks that went to the third period. The bout ended 13-4, with Smith unable to secure a takedown.
“It was a little more competitive than the score indicated,” Clemsen said. “I’d like to see [Smith] have an opportunity or two where we get our hands locked on a leg and maybe clean up our defensive touch. But those are things we can work on because we saw Jaxon fight really hard.”
The afternoon ended with the second fastest fall of the meet, with Jordan Gabriel finding himself underneath No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet after just 55 seconds of wrestling. Kerkvliet secured Gabriel’s right leg and ended up on top of him at the edge of the ring.
The Terps look to bounce back when they face Minnesota on the road Feb. 2.
