Before Saturday, Kal Miller was the only Terp with a first place finish in their respective weight class at the Tiger Style Invite.
He’s no longer alone. His brother Ethen and Seth Nevills both took first place, continuing their undefeated starts to the season. It was a strong showing for Maryland, who placed fifth with 111.5 team points.
Strong day from Braxton Brown
Starting in the 133-pound quarterfinals, Brown went up against Purdue’s Dustin Norris. Brown got off to an early start, grabbing a 3-0 lead with a slick takedown late in the first.
Norris rode out the second, but couldn’t find offense in the third, giving Brown the 4-2 win.
Brown ran over Missouri’s Trey Crawford in the semifinal, taking him down three times and racking up close to five minutes of riding time in a 12-0 win.
The redshirt junior faced his second ranked opponent of the season, No. 20 Zeth Romney, in the finals. The Cal Poly redshirt sophomore jumped ahead early, getting Brown to bite on a feint before switching sides and finding a takedown. Brown escaped, but Romney got him again in the second, using a similar move to get to Brown’s back and grow his lead.
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Brown needed a big action heading into the third. Romney wasn’t having it. He staved off all Brown’s attacks, finding a takedown as time expired to put an exclamation point on the match and forcing Brown to settle for second place.
Seth Nevills continues to roll
Things have looked easy for Maryland’s heavyweight so far this season, who hadn’t trailed entering Saturday’s action.
On paper, Nevills’ semifinal match was a good test — he faced Hayden Filipovich, the Boilermakers starting heavyweight who had a win over the No. 13 last season and represented them at the Big Ten Championships. Nevills picked up a takedown late in the first and then reversed Filipovich in the second after starting on the bottom.
Nevills secured a strong hold on Filipovich after starting the third from the top position. Nevills used it to roll Filipovich over, putting him on his back for a pin and sending him to the finals.
There, Nevills was finally tested with Missouri’s Seth Nitzel. After three even periods, Nitzel got sloppy with a shot in overtime, and Nevills jumped on his back to get the win. The Graduate Student became the second Terp on the day to win their weight class.
Chase Mielnik finds his footing at 197
Mielnik had a rough first two matches at 197, his new weight class. He lost by a major decision and decision where he had moments, but struggled to convert.
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He looked much more comfortable at the Tiger Style Invite.
The redshirt senior was evenly matched with Missour’s Jesse Cassat throughout the first two and a half periods of his first match. The difference came in the third — Mielnik found a deciding takedown and rode out the rest of the match.
He got his work done earlier in the semifinals. After a scoreless first, Mielnik powered through Nick Nosler for a takedown and held him down for the rest of the period for a 3-1 lead. After starting the third on the bottom and escaping, Mielnik locked the match down, putting out all of Nosler’s shots before they started for a 4-1 win.
Mielnik had a tough matchup ahead of him in the finals against No. 6 Stephen Little, an All-American last season. Little notched two takedowns in the first to grab a uick 6-1 lead. Mielnik found more of a rhythm in the second, with the only points scored coming from a Little escape.
Mielnik escaped in the third and went hunting for a takedown, but Little’s defense was too strong. He stuffed all of Mielnik’s offensive attempts, eventually taking the 9-2 decision win.
