The wait for an All-American under Maryland wrestling coach Alex Clemsen is over.
Jaxon Smith ended the drought at the NCAA championships this weekend. Maryland’s 184-pound redshirt junior ended the tournament with four wins, a sixth place finish and a black eye.
Smith was one of four Terps to pick up a win at the NCAA championships. Seth Nevills won two bouts, while Ethen Miller and Braxton Brown both won one. Maryland’s 18.5 team points were the highest for the program since 2014.
Jaxon Smith takes All-American Honors
Close matches have been a familiar theme for Smith all season. Three of his matches at the Big Ten championships were decided by a takedown or less, with Smith getting the win in two of them.
But neither of Smith’s matchups on the first day were close. He pinned No. 25 Jared McGill and No. 9 Reece Heller, a wrestler who took Smith to sudden victory earlier in the season.
The redshirt junior put both on their backs in the first period with impressive moves and hunted the fall. Both wins ended in a referee stoppage.
Smith ran into the top wrestler in the Big Ten in the quarterfinals — Penn State’s Carter Starocci. The four-time national champion overwhelmed Smith after a competitive start, taking a major decision.
The loss sent Smith to the consolation bracket, where a win would grant him All-American status.
Smith faced Oklahoma’s No. 14 DJ Parker and used a perfectly timed duck takedown in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. He held Parker off in the third for a 4-2 victory to become Maryland’s first All-American under Clemsen.
“I just wanted it more,” Smith said. “I’ve been in this position before. I’ve been in a blood round match. I know what it feels like to be on the losing side of it, and I didn’t like how that felt. All the work that I put in – all the blood, sweat and tears, I needed to get it done, so I had to.”
[Jaxon Smith, Ethen Miller lead Maryland wrestling into the postseason]
It was a crowning moment for the redshirt junior, who has steadily progressed to become one of the top wrestlers in the Big Ten. Less than an hour later, Smith dominated Nebraska’s No. 12 Silas Allred 8-1 to clinch a top-six finish at NCAAs.
Despite losing his final two matches, his sixth-place finish was the highest finish of any Maryland wrestler since 2019. He’s just the 21st All-American wrestler in program history.
Seth Nevills ends collegiate career with strong showing
Last year, Seth Nevills was Maryland’s best performer at the tournament. Nevills was the only Terp to finish with two wins, collecting the most team points at the event for Maryland before eventually losing a tight decision in the second consolation round.
The graduate student handled Ohio’s No. 20 Jordan Greer in his opener this year, winning a comfortable 5-0 decision behind a dominant performance from the top position. He fell to No. 4 Owen Trephan in the round of 16.
[Maryland wrestling’s offensive control fueled record-breaking Big Ten tournament showing]
In the wrestlebacks, Nevills scored 12 points in the opening period against Cory Dayfirst bout, winning by tech fall. A disappointing ending against Ohio State’s Nick Feldman prevented Nevills from making the blood round.
“I feel for him. I know he wanted to have a finish on the podium, and worked really hard to try to make that happen. This tournament’s just super unforgiving,” Clemsen said. “He should never be ashamed of the way he competed and how he represented himself for our program, what he helped us do in College Park the last two years.”
Late losses limit Maryland team totals
The weekend was a success for Clemsen’s team, finishing with 18.5 team points, but the Terps could have finished even higher.
Ethen Miller was leading Chase Saldate in his opening match late in the third before Saldate caught him and pinned him. A win in the opening round would’ve given Miller a favorable draw for the remainder of the tournament. Instead he had to face No. 9 Tommy Askey in the second round of consolations, a razor-thin match he eventually lost in tiebreakers.
A fraction of a second cost Kal Miller a critical win. With a 4-2 lead, his opponent took him down at the buzzer —a match-deciding takedown that stood after multiple reviews, ending his season.
“We had some moments where a couple things got away from us, and we weren’t able to capitalize a couple times,” Clemsen said. “So there’s just always more work to do.”
