COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Maryland won its first Big Ten dual match since Jan. 10, 2016 with a dramatic 19-18 win over Purdue on Friday night at the XFINITY Pavilion. Eighth-year senior
Jaron Smith clinched the win for the Terps (9-7, 1-6) with a 3-2 decision at heavyweight, sending the crowd and team into a frenzy.
Maryland rallied by winning four of the final five matches. After trailing 9-0 and 15-4, the Terps made the comeback.
John Martin Best won in overtime, 6-5 at 165. Then
Dominic Solis captured a 5-4 decision.
In his return to action after an injury, No. 17
Jaxon Smith pinned Hayden Filipovichin 2:00 to bring the Terps within 18-16, setting the stage for
Jaron Smith's 3-2 victory.
With nine wins, the Terps have their most wins in a season since the 2013-14 season when Maryland went 9-8. Dating to that Big Ten win in 2016, a 26-10 victory over Michigan State, Maryland had lost 63 consecutive Big Ten duals.
From Coach Clemsen
"The guys were down (at intermission) and I liked that because it's important to them, but I told them that dual meets are all aboiut momentum and energy. We went on runs last and we could do that again this year. We just needed one to get it started and John got it started. Dom followed it up, (Makosy) fought hard, Jaxon with the big pin---it was good. I believed in our team that we could win tonight and am very thankful that we did. "
Full Results
125: No. 3 Matt Ramos dec. (10-3) No. 17
Braxton Brown (Purdue 3, Maryland 0)
133: Dustin Norris dec. (3-0)
King Sandoval (Purdue 6, Maryland 0)
141: No. 13 Parker Filius dec. (8-3)
Kal Miller (Purdue 9, Maryland 0)
149: No. 18
Ethen Miller major dec. (12-1) Jaden Reynolds (Purdue 9, Maryland 4)
157: No. 6 Kendall Coleman fall (2:21)
Michael North (Purdue 15, Maryland 4)
165: John Martin Best TB2 (6-5) Cooper Noehre (Purdue 15, Maryland 7)
174: Dominic Solis dec. (5-4) Brody Baumann (Purdue 15, Maryland 10)
184: Ben Vanadia dec. (8-3)
Kevin Makosy (Purdue 18, Maryland 10)
197: No. 17
Jaxon Smith fall (2:00) Hayden Filipovich (Purdue 18, Maryland 16)
HWT: No. 25
Jaron Smith dec. (3-2) Hayden Copass (Maryland 19, Purdue 18)
*Intermat Rankings
Up Next
- The Terps will hit the road and face No. 1 Penn State on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 1 pm. The dual will air on B1G+.
