Maryland wrestling coach Alex Clemsen doesn’t traditionally start freshmen.
Ethen Miller, Braxton Brown and Jaxon Smith — three of Maryland’s best wrestlers and all part of the Terps’ heralded 2021 recruiting class — all redshirted their first years. Out of the current upperclassman that Clemsen has recruited, only Kal Miller started as a true freshman.
This year, that’s changed. The Terps are starting four freshmen — including three true freshmen — and the results have been mixed.
“Just our young guys just being a little inconsistent,” Clemsen said. “It’s hard wrestling four freshmen, and we got a really good result out of one of them. I think the other three are more capable than they’re showing.”
Inconsistency has been a theme throughout the season for the youngest Terps. At 125, 141, 165 and 174 pounds — the weights where freshmen start — Maryland has been outscored 92 to 15 in conference play.
Of the Terps’ freshmen, Branson John has the most impressive wins. The 174-pounder has been clutch for Maryland, with victories over ranked opponents against Michigan and Rutgers.
The win over Michigan’s No. 25 Joseph Walker gave Maryland enough insurance to hold on for the victory, while beating Rutgers’ No. 23 Jackson Turley kept them in a close match that they ultimately lost, 20-21.
He hasn’t always brought that level in his matches, though. John lost to unranked Ceasar Garza, No. 32 Lucas Codon by major decision and was tech falled by No. 21 Danny Braunagel.
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“Coming off of some bad losses, I feel like I haven’t been performing,” John said after his win in the Rutgers dual. “Finally being able to show that I’m in there and I can hang with those guys again. It feels good.”
125 pounds has been an issue for Maryland the last two seasons since Brown outgrew the class and moved up to 133 pounds. His replacement last season, Tommy Capul, was 1-7 against conference opponents, with every loss coming by bonus points and the lone win coming by forfeit. To address the Terps’ glaring need at the lightest weight class, Clemsen signed three 125-pounders in Maryland’s 2024 recruiting class, hoping that one would be able to contribute.
But the struggles have continued. Freshman Tyler Garvin has been Maryland’s go-to at the weight, but he’s currently riding a 14-match losing streak where he hasn’t picked up a single takedown.
Redshirt freshman Dario Lemus — Maryland’s starter at 141 pounds — appeared to be on his way to a big year after a 5-0 start. However, 14 matches later, Lemus’ record stands at 7-12, with narrow defeats defining his season. Five of his losses to ranked opponents and eight of his 12 total losses have been decided by a single takedown.
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Lemus has still been one of the more successful underclassmen in conference action. He’s won two decisions against Big Ten opponents, which came in consecutive duals against Michigan State and Wisconsin. In his Big Ten losses, he’s generally been able to keep his opponents from picking up bonus points — in five losses, he’s only given up one, in a major decision to No. 3 Beau Bartlett.
“I’ve just been giving it all I can,” Lemus said. “That’s all I really can do, and that’s what I believe. I trust in my coaches, they believe in me, so I believe in myself.”
Redshirt junior John Martin Best’s injury in December forced freshman Alex Uryniak into one of the toughest positions in college wrestling — competing at 165 pounds as a true freshman in the Big Ten, which holds five of the top 10 at the weight. Two of his last three matches were against the nation’s top two 165-pound wrestlers, who both tech falled him.
Uryniak has shown flashes this season. He was in a tight match with then-No. 26 Beau Mantanona, who now holds a top-10 rank, and picked up a huge win over Michigan State’s Jay Nivison. However, his tech fall loss against unranked Andrew Barbosa in the Rutgers dual was something the Terps couldn’t afford — they ended up losing the match by a single point.
Clemsen understands that this group is capable of making noise in March, but knows that there are improvements to be made.
“We’re gonna get down to the short time here,” Clemsen said. “We gotta be quick learners so that we can flip a couple of these and put ourselves in position at Big Tens to score points and get to the nationals.”
