Maryland wrestling (3-6, 1-5 Big Ten) is in the middle of a rough patch in its conference slate. The Terps won’t have an easy meet to get back on track, facing Michigan State (9-4, 2-4) at home Sunday afternoon.
Maryland’s losing streak extended to four meets with a poor 30-6 road loss against No. 10 Minnesota. The Terps only won two bouts, one of them ending in controversy after the Minnesota coach challenged that Tyler Wells took down Braxton Brown just before the end of the fight. Brown won the bout 2-1.
The Spartans, meanwhile, have won two of their last three meets, with two upset victories over No. 17 Wisconsin and No. 26 Illinois. They even led No. 28 Indiana 18-0 before blowing the result.
Each of Michigan State’s six Big Ten duals have come against ranked opponents. Maryland provides its easiest conference challenge yet.
With a victory this Sunday, Michael North could get back into the Intermat rankings, where he has sat at No. 33 for the past two dual meets. North is 4-5 after losing to No. 1 Levi Haines and No. 5 Michael Blockhus. North remains as the only Terp this season with a dual meet victory by pin, doing so in an upset victory against No. 13 Trevor Chumbley.
North is scheduled to face the Spartans’ No. 21 Chase Saldate.
No. 5 Jaxon Smith will most likely be competing against No. 30 Kale Wisler, who is coming off of an unranked defeat against Indiana’s Gabe Sollars, whom Smith defeated 4-1 Jan. 21. Smith was undefeated in dual meet competition until losing by major decision to No. 1 Aaron Brooks, who is currently a member of the USA Men’s Freestyle national team.
Both teams have been struggling in the 174-pound weight class. The Terps are 2-7 with the combined efforts of team captain Dom Solis and true freshman Mason Stein. Solis is looking for his first victory since Jan. 14. The Spartans are 4-9 behind DJ Shannon with some spot starts from Marty Larkin. Michigan State snapped an eight-match losing streak in the category last week against Indiana.
The matchup will be Maryland’s second to last conference meet of the season and second to last home meet of the season.
“We’re still working on little things every single day,” Smith said. “And I think if we stay consistent and believe that we can get it done, we will.”
