RECAP: Maryland wrestling sweeps its Saturday matches against Bloomsburg, Duke and American

Getting off to a good start to the season can do a lot for a team’s confidence early on. For Maryland wrestling, the Terps seem to have found their elite starter in the 125-pound weight class in redshirt freshman Braxton Brown, who won all three of his bouts on a day where the Terps went 3-0 over Bloomsburg, Duke and American.

 “It’s pretty important,” Brown said about the importance of a good start. “If you don’t start fast and hard, everyone else is kind of lacked, so when you start hard it pushes everybody else to give their best and do their best.”

Against Bloomsburg, Brown took on Bronson Garber, and secured a quick takedown that led to a win by fall at the 1:25 mark of the match. 

Jackson Cockrell wrestled for the Terps in the 133-pound weight class against Cole Rhone. Rhone was too much for Cockrell in the final round, getting the fall to tie the match at six. 

Then it was all Terps. Kal Miller (141-pound), Ethen Miller (149-pound), Michael North (157-pound), John Martin Best (165-pound), Dominic Solis (174-pound), Kevin Makosy (184-pound), Jaxon Smith (197-pound) and Jaron Smith (heavyweight) all were victorious in their bouts.

Maryland won its first match of the season rather comfortably, 37-6.

Duke was Maryland’s second opponent of the day, and the Blue Devils simply had no answers for Maryland’s relentless attack. 

Brown controlled Logan Agin on the ground for most of the match after some powerful takedowns on his way to a 11-2 major decision win. 

Cockrell escaped past Drake Doolittle in the waning seconds of the match to get his first victory of the season in a 6-5 decision win to put the Terps up 7-0. 

Kal Miller came away with a 5-3 win over Christian Coleman, increasing the Terps’ lead to 10-0. In the match, Miller applied tenacious pressure throughout while showing impressive poise for a true freshman.

Ethen Miller kept “Miller Time” undefeated to go up 15-0.

North gave Maryland six more points with his victory over Nick Tattini.

Lucas Cordio filled in John Martin Best, making his season debut against Gaetano Console. Despite a late push from Console, Cordio secured a 10-8 decision win and brought the score up to 24-0 in favor of the Terps.

Solis showcased impressive speed and explosiveness during his bout against Conor Becker to go up 27-0.  

Makosy went up against Luke Chakonis. Makosy got injured early in the match, but returned after a short recovery period. Makosy exhibited excellent takedown defense in the 2nd, leading to a takedown off of a sprawl that gave him a 4-2 lead and got the fans in the pavilion on their feet. Makosy carried this momentum over to the third and got the decision win to put the Terps up by 30.

The Jaxon Smith show continued against Vincent Baker, as he seemed to control every exchange between the two and dominated en route to a 18-6 decision win.

Jaron Smith went up against Jonah Nisenbaum in the final bout of the match. At the end of the third round, with the score tied at one, Nisenbaum got a takedown, but Smith reversed it as time expired and got the 7-3 decision win, sending the crowd into a frenzy to secure the 37-0 shutout over Duke — Maryland’s first shutout since 2014.

The Terps continued their dominant showing in the final match of the day against American. 

Brown got Maryland rolling with a 6-2 decision win, staying undefeated on the day.

Jack Maida was too much to handle for Cockrell, as he won handily, 10-1, to put the Eagles up 4-3. Cockrell finished the day 1-2.

Kal Miller remained undefeated, winning his bout 10-2 to put Maryland back in front, 7-4.

Ethen Miller won by technical fall, 21-1, putting the Terps up 12-4. 

North, Best and Solis all won the next three bouts to remain unbeaten and give Maryland a comfortable lead, 22-4.

In Makosy’s final bout, he faced Colin Shannon. Shannon went for a takedown on the first and landed on Makosy’s arm, bending it at an awkward angle. Makosy couldn’t continue, and Shannon got the win by medical forfeit.

Jaxon Smith won handily in his final bout of the day, 17-5, giving the Terps a 26-10 lead. 

In a back-and-forth final bout of the day for Maryland, Jaron Smith got the decision win over Will Jarrell, 5-3, to give the Terps the 29-10 win over American and a 3-0 record to begin the season. 

Coach Alex Clemsen was impressed with his team’s performance, but he acknowledged that there are things they need to work on. 

“They have a lot of work to do, they’re just young,” coach Clemsen said. “They haven’t been in any wars, they haven’t been in a hostile environment. We’ll get that soon enough, and hopefully by the time we get there we’re battle tested and then you go for it.”

Maryland’s next action will come on Nov. 12, when the Terps will be participants in the Tiger Style Invite in Missouri.