Preview: Maryland wrestling opens up the season on the road at American

Maryland wrestling will travel to nearby Washington D.C. Thursday to take on American in its first match of the season.

No. 15 Braxton Brown will most likely fight in the 125-pound weight class, although officially it is undecided whether he or Tommy Capul will represent Maryland in the first bout. Brown did not wrestle in the Red vs. Black scrimmage match, although coach Alex Clemsen did confirm that he was healthy.

King Sandoval is the likely starter in the 133-pound weight class. He scored a technical fall against Connor Quinn, who is also listed as a potential starter, after scoring three four-count near falls in the first period alone.

No. 24 Kal Miller will make his twentieth consecutive start at the 141-pound weight class. He scored a major decision against true freshman Clayton Gabrielson in the Red vs. Black scrimmage match. Although Clemsen has been very open about his aversion to starting freshmen throughout his career, Miller started in every dual meet last year as a true freshman.

No. 12 Ethen Miller will get the start in the 149-pound weight class against either redshirt junior Ryan Zimmerman or redshirt sophomore Devon Capato. After a redshirt freshman season last year that culminated in an NCAA tournament appearance, Miller has set some high expectations for himself.

“Obviously I want to be the NCAA champion,” Miller said.

Miller scored the only other technical fall in his Red vs. Black bout with redshirt freshman Joe Fisk.

No. 29 Michael North will face either redshirt junior Jack Nies or true freshman Kaden Milheim at 157 pounds. North defeated redshirt sophomore Kevin Schork in the Red vs. Black scrimmage match, during which the referee stopped the match three times for medical personnel to attend to Schork’s bloody nose. North shared starting duties with Schork last year.

Redshirt sophomore John Martin Best will be taking on junior Breon Phifer at 165 pounds. Best had a close match against the other listed prospective starter, redshirt sophomore Gaven Bell, but Clemsen said Best was “ahead” of Bell and would “probably get the nod at American barring an unforeseen circumstance.” Best only managed one takedown against Bell in one of the more aggressive matches of the night.

Team captain Dom Solis will take on redshirt sophomore Lucas White in the 174-pound bout. Solis was the only wrestler not named Kal Miller to start in every dual meet last year, finishing the regular season 10-12. He scored a major decision against true freshman Mason Stein in the Red vs. Black match.

Redshirt junior Chase Mielnik will start in the 184-pound bout against graduate student Connor Bourne. Last year, Mielnik shared starting duties with redshirt senior Kevin Makosy, whom he defeated in the Red vs. Black match. Although Makosey is listed as a potential starter for the match against American University, Clemsen said he wanted to give Makosy more time to recover from an elbow injury he suffered last season.

“Our team is important and he wants to be the best version of himself for our team,” Clemsen said. “I’m confident at some point this season he’ll show that and that gap [between him and Mielnik] will probably get close.”

No. 8 redshirt sophomore Jaxon Smith returns as a 197-pound starter this season, facing off against either junior Carsten Rawls or redshirt freshman Liam Volk-Klos. Smith scored six falls in the regular season last year, and was the only 197-pound dual meet starter for the Terps. He did not wrestle in the Red vs. Black match as Clemsen wanted to give the younger wrestlers a chance on the mat.

Closing out the match, No. 17 Seth Nevills will represent the Terps in the heavyweight bout against either graduate student Will Jarrell or true freshman Emmanuel Ulrich. Nevills made a big splash in the offseason by transferring from Penn State to Maryland, filling the void in the roster left by longtime Terps finisher Jaron Smith. Nevills scored the only fall of the Red vs. Black match against senior Jordan Gabriel.