With little time remaining in the first period, No. 18 Braxton Brown wrapped his arms and legs around Brendan McCrone. Brown contorted his body and that of his opponent into position as the referee started the count.

Brown won the bout by fall in the first period. 

“He [Brown] took his time and really cinched it up. And he’s got some screws power, he’s got some horsepower and you know kind of a lone bright spot for us tonight,” said head coach Alex Clemsen. 

Brown’s victory was the only one the Terps could muster, losing to No. 7 Ohio State 38-6. 

The Terps came into this matchup after a 3-1 weekend at the Virginia Duels. The Terps earned wins over Virginia, Ohio, and Oklahoma, who beat the Terps 41-6 in last year’s matchup. 

Maryland hoped they could repeat in flipping the history books by taking on a No. 7 Ohio State team they have yet to beat since joining the Big Ten. 

The Pavilion crowd hoped to aid the Terps in the endeavor. High school wrestlers from Maryland and others packed the Pavilion so much that people had to stand to watch the bouts. 

“This was the most packed I’ve seen the Pav since I’ve been here,” said Brown. 

But bad news struck before the match even started. No. 16 Jaxon Smith was expected to wrestle but was scratched before the match. 

Smith has been dealing with a nagging injury, and the coaching staff made the decision to shut him down. Smith’s injury will have him out for “a little while,” said Clemsen. 

The start of the match didn’t provide any better feelings. No. 18 Ethen Miller was unable to earn a victory over No. 3 Sammy Sasso, losing by a major decision. Kevin Schork followed that by losing in the second period on a technical fall. 

The Terps dropped the next three bouts. No. 8 Carson Kharchla and Isaac Wilcox both won their bouts by decision, Wilcox’s coming in overtime. No. 5 Kaleb Romero came out firing in the first period scoring ten points. Romero built on his great start to win the bout by technical fall against Chase Mielnik. 

At intermission, the Buckeyes were in complete control of the match leading the Terps 20-0 on the team score. 

After forfeiting the 197 bout, the Terps looked to Jaron Smith to put some team points on the board. The score was tied 1-1 going into the third period when No. 16 Tate Orndorff brought Smith down for a takedown. Orndorff won the bout 4-1.

After Brown’s victory, the Terps dropped the next bout with Conner Quinn getting pinned by No. 9 Jesse Mendez. The last bout of the day went to Ohio State, with No. 18 Dylan D’Emilio earning the decision victory over Kal Miller. 

 Maryland lost the match 38-6, continuing the search for their first Big Ten win. 

The search will start when they take on No. 25 Illinois on Sunday.