Washington, D.C. — Maryland wrestling faced a dire situation with the 133-pound class.
The Terps were in desperate need of points as a roaring crowd and an aggressive approach by American left the Terps facing a 6-0 deficit.
But No. 10 Braxton Brown silenced the Bender Arena crowd.
The redshirt senior pinned Maximilian Leete to the mat, picking up a win by fall before high-fiving coach Alex Clemsen as he walked off the mat.
Brown’s win by fall not only evened the score, but also ignited a stretch where Maryland won eight of the final nine bouts. The Terps then used that stretch to cruise to a 27-9 victory against American.
“I thought in every gritty match, we came out on top,” Clemsen said. “Every 50/50 match, every overtime match, every match that was a one -position match, we came out on top.”
Brown secured his first fall this season.
Prior to Thanksgiving break, Clemsen said he wasn’t concerned about Braxton Brown, but wanted to see more from the 133-pounder.
“On my worried scale, I’m about a negative 14, from a 0 to 10,” Clemsen said. “He’s in a little bit of a funk.”
[Maryland wrestling dismantles Morgan State,39-7; bookend weight classes thrive]
The redshirt senior picked up a win in his prior contest, but did so without wrestling as Morgan State forfeited at the weight class. But Brown reestablished his coach’s confidence against American (2-3).
After an opening period dominated by stalemate and hand fighting, Brown felt he had an advantage when Leete chose the bottom position to begin the second period.
“We focus a lot in practice on my top position, and when he chose down, that’s what I wanted to see,” Brown said.
The Texas native quickly flipped Leete onto his back. With one foot on and one foot off the mat, Clemsen cupped his hands together and called for Brown “to finish the match.”
Brown did just that, picking up the win by fall less than four minutes into the bout and tying the game at six. Brown’s win by fall was his first this season.
AJ Rodrigues powers through injury for a crucial three points
Up by three team points, Maryland (4-0) faced another crucial juncture with 165-pounder AJ Rodrigues stepping onto the mat. The junior had shown inconsistent results in prior matches, but his performance against Austin Craft was one of his best.
Rodrigues held onto a stingy four-point lead midway through the third period until Craft slammed Rodrigues shoulder first into the mat, leaving him down on the mat and forcing an immediate injury whistle.
[Maryland wrestling sees big gains from Dominic Solis after redshirt season]
Rodrigues was taken off the mat to be evaluated for a concussion, but Clemsen said after the game that the injury was to his shoulder and not head-related. A few minutes later, Rodrigues returned to the match, visibly not at full strength.
It showed as soon as the whistle blew to resume the bout, as Rodrigues picked up a pair of stalling violations, cutting his lead in half. Craft used the final minute to attack Rodrigues and nearly secured a last-second takedown to win the bout, but the referees ruled upon replay review that Craft did not secure it.
The result was not only a 4-2 win by decision for Rodriguez, but it also gave Maryland a six-point edge with two bouts remaining.
“For a young kid to do that … that’s how you get going, that’s how you find yourself,” Clemsen said. “He should take a lot of pride and confidence from the way he competed tonight.”
Digby wrestles at 184 pounds for a second straight bout
For the second consecutive bout, Maryland’s lineup looked different. The 184-pound weight class had been all but a guarantee for the Terps to claim points, but the Terps were without No. 5 Jaxon Smith due to injury. Clemsen declined to comment after the game on the nature of the injury or whether Smith will miss more time.
Freshman Seth Digby filled in for Maryland’s All-American against Morgan State and was the only Terp to lose by major decision. The Terps stayed with Digby against the Eagles, and the results were better.
While the Eagles also elected not to play their top 184-pounder, Digby forced a sudden victory period and secured a game-winning takedown after getting caught in bottom position to start the sudden victory period.
“He struggled on bottom, recently. It’s typical for a true freshman,” Clemsen said. “He found his way off bottom and then to navigate into overtime and a really savvy take down with a danger call. That’s that’s a good job by a young kid.”
