Maryland wrestling was shorthanded all afternoon at Michigan. Medical forfeits removed Braxton Brown and Jaxon Smith, ranked No. 18 and No. 15 in their weight classes by InterMat, from the lineup.
The Terps looked to captain Dominic Solis for a spark to switch momentum. He trailed after two periods and needed a big third period to secure a victory. He earned an early escape in the frame to cut his deficit to one and went on the attack in search of the potentially bout-winning takedown.
But Michigan’s Max Maylor responded quickly on Solis’ move, scoring a takedown of his own to secure a win against Solis. The loss was one of many for the Terps, who had just one wrestler win his bout and fell to the Wolverines Sunday afternoon, 44-5.
“He’s got to be a little more aware at times,” coach Alex Clemsen said.
Kal Miller and Pat Nolan started the match at 141 pounds and were locked in a stalemate. Miller then rode Nolan for the beginning of the second period but an escape by Nolan gave the Wolverines’ wrestler a 1-0 advantage into the final period.
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Miller started the third period in the down position and looked for an escape. He succeeded and tied the bout with less than a minute left in the period. As the final seconds ticked down in the bout, both wrestlers went to the mat and Nolan took down Miller.
But in doing so, he appeared to grab Miller’s headgear. That would result in a technical violation and one point for Miller. Maryland coach Alex Clemsen threw the challenge brick but was unsuccessful as Nolan secured a 3-1 decision win.
“They saw the headgear grab but didn’t think an advantage was gained … if you grab a piece of equipment, I don’t know how an advantage isn’t gained,” Clemsen said. “ [Kal] got to start finding a way to close these matches and close these periods.”
Joe Fisk and Kevin Schork couldn’t generate any offense in the next bouts.
In his second-ever collegiate dual, Fisk failed to score a point and fell by a 12-0 major decision to Fidel Mayora. Schork couldn’t get through the first period and was pinned by Will Lewan, ranked No. 10 among 157-pounders.
After the opening three bouts, Michigan led 13-0.
But Maryland earned its first victory of the day in the 165-pound bout via John Martin Best.
[Maryland wrestling falls to Campbell, beats Virginia to close out Virginia Duals]
The redshirt freshman took command of his bout against Alex Wesselman from the start. Best notched an early takedown and added four near fall points to lead 6-0 after the first period.
After adding another takedown in the second to extend his lead, Best ended the bout before the time ran out in the third by turning Wesselman onto his back. The pin marked his first of the season and Maryland’s first bonus points of the contest.
“He got to his position … was aggressive,” Clemsen said. “I think he executed a little better than we see.”
That put the Terps back into the match, now down just 13-6.
But Solis’ loss ended the hope of consecutive victories. Maryland continued to struggle from there.
Chase Mielnik and Jaron Smith both lost their bouts to top-10 wrestlers by tech fall and medical forfeits at 197 and 125 pounds put the Terps in a 38-5 hole. Maryland was also docked a team point for an unsportsmanlike call.
In the final bout of the match, Conner Quinn couldn’t generate any attacks against No. 12 Dylan Ragusin. Quinn was pinned by Ragusin in the first period, the second Terp pinned in the dual.
