Preview: Maryland wrestling looks to continue hot start against No. 17 Pittsburgh

Maryland wrestling looks to stay unbeaten as the Terps hit the road to take on No. 17 Pittsburgh on Friday. 

The Terps are 3-0 on the season, with wins over American, Bloomsburg and Duke in the opening weekend of play. Their last action came against five other schools in the Tiger Style Invite in Missouri last saturday.

Maryland placed seven of 11 wrestlers at the event, with some impressive showings from freshman Kal Miller, redshirt freshmans Jaxon Smith and Ethen Miller, and redshirt junior Michael North. Kal got a first place finish at 141, Smith and North finished second at 157 and 197, and Ethen finished third at 149. 

Redshirt freshman Braxton Brown projects to start things off for the Terps at 125. Brown is 3-0 on the season, and ranks No. 26 on Intermat’s rankings for the 125-pound weight class. Brown appears to face off against redshirt junior Colton Camacho, who won his only dual meet matchup of the season thus far.

Jackson Cockrell will represent Maryland at 133. The redshirt freshman is 1-2 on the season, and he’ll have his hands full against redshirt senior Micky Phillippi. Phillippi is a top ten opponent — a tough matchup for any wrestler in the weight class. 

Kal Miller, off to a blazing start to the season, will look to keep rolling against the Panthers. Kal is 3-0 in dual matches, and went 2-0 over the weekend to claim first place at 141 at the Tiger Style Invite. Pittsburgh will provide him with his toughest matchup of his young career in the form of No. 1 Cole Matthews. The redshirt senior is one of the nation’s top wrestlers, and projects to be a tough matchup for the freshman.

Ethen Miller is another Terp who’s come out of the gates strong this season. Ethen had an impressive showing over the weekend, finishing third in a tough division at 149 to build on his 3-0 start. Ethen projects to match up against either redshirt freshman Brock McMillen or redshirt sophomore Tyler Badgett. 

The Terps will send out North at 157, who received a second place finish at the Tiger Style Invite, and will look to continue his string of strong performances against No. 11 Dazjon Casto. The graduate transfer will be a challenge for North in a matchup between the two experienced wrestlers. 

Maryland has some depth at 165, with the ability to send out either redshirt freshman John Martin Best or redshirt junior Lucas Cordio. Cordio had the stronger showing in Missouri, beating Best and finishing fifth in the weight class. Whoever coach Alex Clemsen chooses to send out will face No. 14 Holden Heller. 

Dominic Solis will wrestle for the Terps at 174. The sophomore didn’t compete at the Tiger Style Invite, making his last action Nov. 5 at the Maryland Quad Meet. Solis, 3-0 and ranked No. 32 by Intermat, will take on redshirt freshman Luca Augustine.

Sophomore Chase Mielnik has filled in at 184 after Kevin Makosy’s injury on Nov. 5. Mielnik fell in the fifth place match over the weekend, but had a win and some close contests in a solid showing overall. Mielnik will face No. 13 Reece Heller. 

Jaxon Smith will look to continue rising through the rankings after yet another impressive performance at 197. Smith made it to the finals of the Tiger Style Invite after a huge upset win over Illinois’ No. 9 Zach Braunagel, where he lost a close contest to two-time All American Bernie Traux from Cal Poly. Jaxon, who shot up to No. 13 on Intermat and No. 8 on Flowrestling, will continue to face high level competition in the form of No. 9 Nino Bonaccorsi. 

Jaron Smith will close things out for the Terps at heavyweight. The graduate student, ranked No. 24 by Flowrestling and No. 29 by Intermat, was given the weekend off. Smith will look to build on his 3-0 start in a new weight class against either senior Jake Slinger or freshman Dayton Pitzer. 

“We anticipate having all of our kids back in the lineup, seven ranked wrestlers in the lineup for the Terps,” coach Clemsen said. That’s the first time in almost a decade that a dual meet team for Maryland can say they’ve got seven ranked guys, so I’m excited to see those guys show out.”

The matches will start at 7 p.m. and will take place at the Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh.