Maryland wrestling has historically struggled at the Big Ten championship, with the team’s highest conference tournament score standing at just 39 points.

The Terps surpassed that mark before the first day ended. Maryland finished the 2025 Big Ten Championships in eighth place with 54 total points and six placers, both program records.

Jaxon Smith finished fourth, Braxton Brown ended in fifth, Ethen Miller and Branson John took sixth, and Seth Nevills and Kal Miller ended in seventh. All six qualified for the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia from Mar. 20-22.

It was a balanced effort, but Maryland’s top wrestlers were unable to reach the finals, which has never happened in program history. Ethen Miller, Maryland’s first No. 1 seed in the tournament, was upset in the quarters, while Braxton Brown and Jaxon Smith failed to advance past the semis.

Braxton Brown takes fifth place at 133

Braxton Brown dominated Michigan’s Nolan Wertanen 13-2 via major decision in the round of 16. He faced Intermat’s No. 15 ranked wrestler, Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee, in the ensuing round.  

After a scoreless first period, Brown took control. He picked up two minutes of massive riding time in the second period before holding Van Dee off in the final segment to win with a 2-0 decision.

But Brown’s run ended in the semifinals. Illinois’ Lucas Byrd notched a takedown in the first, then neutralized Brown the rest of the match en route to a 5-1 win.

The junior advanced to the consolation semifinals to face Penn State’s Braeden Davis. A narrow 9-7 loss sent Brown to the fifth-place game. It was the second straight season he lost in the semifinals and consolation semifinals.

[Maryland wrestling could have its best finish at Big Ten championships]

Last year, Brown failed to recover in the fifth-place match and ended the tournament on a losing note. In the late minutes of Sunday’s contest, it looked like he’d finish in the same place.

He trailed 4-2 in the third against Rutgers’ Dylan Shawver. But Brown rallied late, finding a takedown and getting a stalling point to send the match to sudden victory, where he finished a single leg attempt to get the win.

Jaxon Smith finishes fourth

After cruising past Michigan State’s Lucas Daly in his first bout, Jaxon Smith went up against Iowa’s Gabe Arnold, who defeated Smith in the regular season.

The two were evenly matched through the first three periods and sudden victory, but Smith broke the stalemate in the tiebreakers. He pinned Arnold down for twenty seconds from the top, then picked up an immediate escape and held off the redshirt freshman in the closing seconds to advance.

[Jaxon Smith, Ethen Miller lead Maryland wrestling into the postseason]

The No. 1 184-pound wrestler in the country awaited, though. Penn State’s Carter Starocci went undefeated in the regular season and is a two-time Big Ten champion.

Smith hung with the graduate student early in a scoreless opening period, but Starocci overwhelmed Smith in the second and third period to a major decision victory.

The redshirt junior bounced back on the backside of the bracket, beating Nebraska’s Silas Allred 4-2 behind a slick takedown in the first and strong defense for the remainder of the match.

Branson John qualifies for NCAAs behind upset victories

Smith and Brown, Maryland’s top wrestlers, were expected to compete for an individual championship this weekend. Neither’s high-place finish was a surprise.

But freshman Branson John strung together multiple impressive performances this weekend to clinch an NCAA appearance. He defeated No. 5 seed Clayton Whiting in the first round with an early takedown, 5-2 decision.

The freshman lost his next match in the quarterfinal round, but responded well. He beat Rutgers’ Jackson Turley, the six seed, breaking the graduate student down and taking the match behind a five-point third period. 

John faced Purdue’s Brody Baumann, whom he lost to in the regular season, with a consolation semifinals spot on the line.

Baumann secured the first takedown, but John answered in the second with a takedown of his own. He pulled away in the third, picking up a quick escape to take the lead and finding a late takedown to clinch the victory.

John lost his remaining two bouts to finish in fifth place, but the weekend was still a major achievement for Maryland’s 174-pounder.