Jaxon Smith Advances To The Quarterfinals, All Five Terps Move On To Second Day At NCAA Championships

TULSA, OK -- All five Maryland wrestlers (Braxton Brown, Kal Miller, Ethen Miller, Jaxon Smith and Jaron Smith) picked up wins to push through to the second day of the 2023 NCAA Championships at BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. Jaxon Smith highlights the pack as a quarterfinalist, going 2-0 on the day, including a top-six victory.

In his first bout of the day, Jaxon Smith took care of business and defeated Minnesota's Michial Foy. Smith then stole the show in the Round of 16. Going against sixth-seeded Issac Trumble, Smith made quick work, pinning the NC State wrestler in just 2:15 to advance to tomorrow's quarterfinals.

Braxton Brown started his first-ever tournament off with a big win over 14th-seeded Noah Surtin of Missouri, taking him down by way of an 8-6 decision to advance to the Round of 16.

Kal Miller picked up two wins on the day to extend his NCAA Championships run. He started the day with a victory in the pigtail before rebounding from a hard-fought loss to top-seeded Real Woods of Iowa with a gritty win over Navy's Josh Koderhandt. The win over the 16th seed avenged a loss earlier in the season to Koderhandt.

Ethen Miller jumped all over Penn State's highly-touted Shayne Van Ness (12th seed) early, but Van Ness found a fall in the final minute of action to push Miller into the consolation bracket. Miller quickly rebounded with a commanding 4-0 decision over Ohio's 28th-seeded Alec Hagan to extend his run on the backside of the bracket.

Jaron Smith also advanced to Day Two. After dropping his first match, he rebounded by taking out the 20th seed to extend his eight-year career by at least one more day.

Full Results

125-pound Braxton Brown

R32: No. 19 Braxton Brown dec. (8-6) No. 14 Patrick Surtin (Mizzouri)
R16: No. 3 Liam Cronin (Nebraska) dec. (8-4) Brown

141-pound Kal Miller

Pigtail: No. 32 Kal Miller dec. (4-3) No. 33 Josh Mason (Bloomsburg)
R32: No. 1 Real Woods (Iowa) major dec. (13-1) No. 32 Miller
Consi Round 1: No. 32 Miller dec. (5-3) Josh Koderhandt

149-pound Ethen Miller

R32: No. 12 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) fall (6:26) No. 21 Miller
Consi Round 1: No. 21 Miller dec. (4-0) No. 28 Alec Hagan (Ohio)

197-pound Jaxon Smith

R32: No. 11 Jaxon Smith dec. (6-3) No. 22 Michial Foy (Minnesota)
R16: Smith fall (2:16) No. 6 Issac Trumble (NC State)

285-pound Jaron Smith

R32: No. 4 Tony Cassioppi (IOWA) major dec. (10-0) No. 29 Jaron Smith
Consi Round 1: No. 29 Smith dec. (7-3) Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State)

Up Next

The Terps will be back at the BOK Center tomorrow (March 17) for Day Two of the matness, with Session I beginning at noon ET (11 am CT) and Session II taking place at 7 pm ET (6 pm CT).

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Players Mentioned

Braxton Brown: 125 lbs; Redshirt Freshman

Ethen Miller: 149 lbs; Redshirt Freshman

Jaron Smith: HWT; Graduate Student

Jaxon Smith: 197 lbs; Redshirt Freshman

Kal Miller: 141 lbs; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Braxton Brown
: Redshirt Freshman
: 125 lbs

Ethen Miller
: Redshirt Freshman
: 149 lbs

Jaron Smith
: Graduate Student
: HWT

Jaxon Smith
: Redshirt Freshman
: 197 lbs

Kal Miller
: Freshman
: 141 lbs