Maryland (4-7, 2-7 B1G) vs. Drexel (7-9, 4-4 EIWA)
February 23, 2024
XFINITY Center Pavilion
7 PM
B1G+
COLLEGE PARK, MD - The Terps will finish their 2024 dual slate with a home match against Drexel on Friday. The match will also be senior night and
Michael North,
King Sandoval,
Jordan Gabriel,
Kevin Makosy and
Tommy Capul will be honored in addition to two medically retired wrestlers in Adam Pfieffer and Garrett Kapes.
The Terps dual season is highlighted by two Big Ten wins over Northwestern and Michigan State, marking the first time the Terps have won multiple Big Ten duals since joining the conference. Most recently, the Terps fell 27-12 at No. 14 Rutgers in a dual that featured several close matchups.
Seth Nevills solidified his NCAA standing with a massive win over No. 10 Yaraslau Slavikouski,
Ethen Miller won his fifth straight match, majoring No. 25 Michael Cetta, and
Jaxon Smith dominated to a technical fall win.
Drexel is coming off a 1-1 weekend that started with a 34-4 over LIU and a narrow 22-16 loss vs. Franlin & Marshall.
The Terps will also send a group of six guys to the George Mason Patriot Last Chance Open on Sunday, Feb. 25 :
Conner Quinn,
Michael Pizzuto,
Clayton Gabrielson,
Dario Lemus,
Gaven Bell and
AJ Rodrigues.
Probables
b1g time
- The Terps clinched the best conference season since joining the Big Ten with wins over Northwestern and Michigan State.
- After a tough loss to Michigan at home to open the schedule, the Terps rebounded with a big win over Northwestern, the program's first victory over the Wildcats ever.
- Braxton Brown, Kal Miller and Ethen Miller scored three consecutive technical fall wins to bring the XFINITY Center Pavilion crowd to life. Michael North continued that momentum with his massive pin in the third period against No. 13. Dominic Solis got the Terps back on the board after intermission with a come-from-behind win and then Jaxon Smith put the finishing touches on the match with another Maryland win by technical fall.
- The 29 points were the most Maryland has scored in a Big Ten dual since joining the conference. The win was the Terps' third Big Ten win since joining the conference.
- The Terps also saw some good individual performances against Indiana. Kal Miller knocked off No. 20 Dan Fongaro while Ethen Miller made a statement with a 12-1 major decision over No. 14 Graham Rooks, avenging a loss to Rooks from last season.
- Against Minnesota, Braxton Brown and Ethen Miller both picked up wins over top-20 opponents.
- The Terps followed that up with an impressive showing at home against Michigan State, topping the Spartans 28-15 thanks to three technical fall wins and one by major decision.
Dom Solis has found a way to pull out close victories in all three of Maryland's conference wins over the past two seasons.
The jaxon smith profile
- Jaxon Smith made headlines last year as a redshirt freshman by springing several ranked upsets and eventually taking third at 197 pounds in the Big Ten Championships. He went on to make it to the Bloodround at NCAAs.
- This year, he has continued that success even more and has solidified himself as a top-five wrestler at 197 pounds.
- His season is highlighted by a second place finish at the illustrious Cliff Keen Invitational where he knocked off top-seeded Tanner Sloan, the 2023 NCAA runner-up, in the semifinals.
- In total, he has wins over five ranked opponents this season. He is 14-3 overall and 6-1 in the Big Ten.
- Most recently, he won by technical fall against Michigan State's No. 30 Kael Wisler and by technical fall against Rutgers' Hadyn Packer.
Jaxon Smith after his semifinal win over top-seeded Tanner Sloan at the illustrious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
B1G Tear from Ethen miller
- Ethen Miller is on a recent tear in Big Ten competition, winning five consecutive matches, including two over top-15 opponents.
- Miller made a big statement at Indiana when he majored No. 14 Graham Rooks, avenging a loss to Rooks from last season.
- 12 days later, he scored two takedowns in the third period to claim a 7-2 win over No. 13 Drew Roberts.
- Miller also won by technical fall against Northwestern and Michigan State and by decision against Penn State.
- Most recently, Miller made another statement with a 13-3 major decision against Rutger's 25-th-ranked Michael Cetta.
Ethen Miller has put himself in terrific postseason position with his recent four-match winning streak.
Early season team success
- The Terps got off to a strong first half of the season, kicking it all off with a dominant 30-7 win at American where they won eight bouts, including four by bonus points. Kal Miller and Jaxon Smith both notched wins by technical fall to lead the way.
- Maryland then followed it up with a strong showing in the second annual Tiger Style Invite. For the second consecutive year, Kal Miller took home first place in his hometown of Kansas City, knocking off No. 16 Josh Edmond from Missouri to claim the 141-pound title.
- Seth Nevills and Dario Lemus each won three matches on the day, finishing at second and third in their respective weight classes (285 & 141). In his semifinal match, Nevills picked up a ranked win against No. 27 Josiah Hill (Little Rock).
- Maryland dropped a hard-fought, narrow dual at home on Monday, Nov. 20 to No. 18 Pittsburgh where the two team split bouts. Five Terps picked up wins, Braxton Brown, Kal Miller, Ethen Miller, Michael North and Jaxon Smith, with four of them coming against ranked opponents. The dual marked Brown's debut at 133 pounds.
- The Terps wrapped up 2023 action at Morgan State where they dominated en route to a 35-6 victory. Braxton Brown impressed with a first-period fall while Dario Lemus cruised to a win by technical fall in his first career dual match.
Kal Miller celebrates his ranked win to caputure the Tiger Style Invite Championship in his hometown of Kansas City, MO.
Building the prograM
- The Terps are coming off a 2022-23 season that was the program's best in recent memory.
- Maryland finished with 10 dual wins, the highest mark since the 2012-13 season. The Terps also had five NCAA qualifiers last season (Braxton Brown, Ethen Miller, Kal Miller, Jaron Smith and Jaxon Smith), marking the most qualifiers since 2014. All five guys remained in competition on the second day of tournament action, the most since 2010.
- Additionally, Jaxon Smith finished in third place at 197 pounds at the 2023 Big Ten Championships, the highest finish for a Maryland wrestler since 2019.
- On November 18, 2022, Maryland defeated No. 16 Pittsburgh to earn the program's first ranked win since 2013. In the days following that victory, the Terps entered the NWCA Poll for the first time since 2013.
- The program also picked up its first Big Ten win since 2016 in a 19-18 win over Purdue as well as its first victory over the storied Oklahoma Sooners in program history.
Terps celebrating after the win over Purdue on 02/10/2023,
big Ten championships take college park
- For the first time in program history, Maryland will host the Big Ten Championships, one of the nation's most premier wrestling events each year.
- The Championships will take place all day on March 9-10 on the main court in the XFINITY Center as all 14 schools come to College Park to crown conference champions at each weight class and overall. The action will air all weekend on Big Ten Network and B1G+.
- Last year's Championships were hosted by Michigan in Ann Arbor. Jaxon Smith took home third-place at 197 pounds, the highest finish in the Championships for a Terp since 2019.
- The Terrapins finished the 2023 Championships with 24 team points, the most since 2018. Three Terps (Kal Miller, Ethen Miller and Jaxon Smith) earned automatic qualifications to the 2023 NCAA Championships through their finishes in Ann Arbor, also the most since 2018.
- The Terps hosted the ACC Championships 15 times from 1954 to 2014 until the school left for the Big Ten Conference, most recently in 2013. Maryland won 24 ACC titles during that time, including the first 20.
B1G Tournament Information
Maryland after last year's dual win over Binghamton.
