Maryland wrestling wins three of four at the Virginia Duals

Photo Courtesy of Maryland Athletics

After suffering their first dual loss of the season to Indiana, the Terps looked to rebound at the Virginia Duals tournament. The tournament spanned the course of two days, with the Terps facing off against four different opponents, two for each day.

Their first opponent was Oklahoma. No. 23 Braxton Brown started the dual with an upset victory over No. 11 Joey Prata. Oklahoma won the next two bouts, with No. 30 Wyatt Henson earning a major decision victory for Oklahoma. 

No. 28 Ethen Miller earned another three points for Maryland’s team score with an upset victory over No. 13 Mitch Moore, 2-1. No. 33 Michael North followed Miller’s performance with a decision victory of his own to give the Terps their first lead since the first bout. 

The team lead flipped hands in the next three bouts. John Martin Best lost a close bout to No. 19 Gerrit Nijenhuis, 3-1. Dom Solis followed the defeat with a sudden victory win, upsetting No. 24 Darrien Roberts. Chase Mielnik lost by a decision in the next bout.

No. 11 Jaxon Smith gave the Terps a huge boost pinning his opponent Seth Seago to earn the Terps a commanding 18-13 lead. No. 30 Jaron Smith lost the last bout of the dual to No. 19 Josh Heindselman, but it had little effect on the team score. Maryland won 18-16.

Maryland had no time to relax because their next dual started after just a few minutes, yet it started in a similar fashion. 

Brown started the dual versus Ohio with his second win of the day. This win added six to the team score, with Brown pinning his opponent, Oscar Sanchez. 

Maryland won three of the next four bouts. The Miller brothers were able to come away with decision wins, and North earned a major decision victory over his opponent, which gave the Terps a 13-point lead on the team scoreboard. 

That 13-point lead evaporated as Ohio won the next three bouts to cut the Maryland lead to three. But that’s as small as the lead would get. 

Jaxon Smith pinned Carson Brewer within the first period, and Jaron Smith followed up that performance earning a technical fall victory over his opponent to give the Terps their second dual win of the day. 

Maryland finished Friday with a 2-0 record getting key contributions from Brown and Jaxon Smith. The two combined for three pins and 21 team points through Friday’s action. 

Saturday started with a matchup versus Campbell. Brown put the Terps ahead in the first match earning a 9-4 decision win over Anthony Molton. 

Campbell fired back behind the performances of Gabe Hixenbaugh and Shannon Hanna. Hixenbaugh was able to earn a technical fall victory over Conner Quinn and Hanna won in sudden victory against Kal Miller. The two wins put Campbell in the lead on the team scoreboard 8-3. 

Maryland retaliated taking the next two bouts with a 5-0 decision win from North and a 10-1 major decision victory from Ethen Miller. The seven combined team points vaulted Maryland back into the lead 10-8. 

Best was locked into a 2-2 battle with Domonic Baker going into overtime. Despite multiple efforts, Best couldn’t get any of his attacks to land. Baker was able to get the ride time advantage in the overtime periods to win the bout, but he wasn’t the only Dom to find success.

Dom Solis came up right after and displayed a flurry of moves and attacks that landed him in the driver’s seat late in the third period of his bout. With thirty seconds left Solis tried to make one more successful move to earn a technical fall victory, but his efforts fell flat. Solis won the bout 24-10.

Campbell earned a major decision victory in the next bout to put Maryland behind by one point on the team score. Going into the last two bouts of the dual, the Terps looked to Jaxon and Jaron Smith to bring them to victory. 

Jaxon Smith and his opponent Levi Hopkins were tied, ending the third period of their bout. Hopkins was able to drive Smith toward the Campbell bench, and there, he earned a takedown for the sudden victory win. Jaron didn’t find any success either, losing his bout 3-2. Maryland lost the dual 21-14.

After quickly being shuffled to mat one, the Terps took on Virginia in their last dual of the weekend. 

Brown got the dual started with a major decision victory, but Virginia got the four team points right back after earning a major decision win in the following bout. 

The Miller brothers shined in their last match of the day, both earning decision victories. North followed their performance by coming back from 5-0 in the third period to force overtime. In the overtime period, North got his fifth takedown of the match to earn a decision win.

Virginia won three of the next four bouts. The only Maryland win came from Dom Solis, who scored a takedown in the third period to earn a 3-1 decision victory, putting the team score at Maryland 16 and Virginia 14.

The dual came down to the heavyweight bout between Jaron Smith and Colden Dorfman. Smith sprung out of the gates earning ten points in the first period. Smith wrapped it up in the second period pinning Dorfman and sending the Terps home with a win. 

Maryland ended the weekend going 3-1 and winning 21 of the 40 bouts they wrestled in. Brown, Ethen Miller, and North went undefeated in their bouts over the two days. Maryland’s record now stands at 8-2.

The Terps hit the mat on Jan 20. to take on No. 7 Ohio State in College Park.