Maryland at the 2024 NCAA Championships
March 21-24
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland wrestling team will send five wrestlers to the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Kansas City, MO this Thursday-Saturday. This marks two consecutive years the Terps have had five NCAA qualifiers after not having that many since 2014 previously.
Sophomores
Braxton Brown,
Kal Miller,
Ethen Miller and
Jaxon Smith will all be competing in their second consecutive national tournament while graduate transfer
Seth Nevills makes his NCAA Championships debut.
Maryland is seeking its first NCAA All-American since 2019.
Action will be featured on ESPN and ESPNU all weekend with coverage of all eight mats on the
WatchESPN App. Fans can also follow the action by following the program's official Twitter account
@TerpsWrestling.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Session 1 | Thursday morning | March 16 | Noon ET/11 a.m. CT | ESPNU/ESPN+
Session 2 | Thursday evening | March 16 | 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT | ESPN/ESPN+
Session 3 | Friday morning | March 17 | 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT | ESPNU/ESPN+
Session 4 | Friday evening | March 17 | 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT | ESPN/ESPN+
Session 5 | Saturday morning | March 18 | 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT | ESPNU/ESPN+
Session 6 | Saturday evening | March 18 | 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT | ESPN/ESPN+
TERP ENTRIES
133: 17-seed
Braxton Brown
141: 31-seed
Kal Miller
149: 12-seed
Ethen Miller
197: 11-seed
Jaxon Smith
HWT: 30-seed
Seth Nevills
**
Kal Miller was originally the 32nd seed but bumped up to No. 31 due to Cornell's No. 24 Vince Cornella dropping out due to injury. Everyone behind 24 bumped up a seed with alternate Jacob Byra (NIU) sliding in at No. 33.
The jaxon smith profile
- Jaxon Smith is Maryland's highest-seeded wrestler at No. 11. This marks back-to-back years Smith has received the 11-seed. He was an automatic qualifier.
- In his first NCAA Championships appearance last season, Smith made waves by advancing to the Round of 12, coming up just short of All-American status. In his second round matchup, he picked up a first-period pin over sixth-seeded Issac Trumble of NC State to put himself in the quarterfinals.
- Just a sophomore, Smith has a pair of top-four finishes in the ultra-competitive Big Ten Championships to his name (third in 2023 and fourth in 2024).
- Smith made an impressive run at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the most prestigious in-season wrestling tournament, finishing second and taking out top-seeded and third-ranked Tanner Sloan of South Dakota in the semifinal match. Sloan was the national runner-up at 197 pounds last season.
- Smith led the team in dual wins with 10 this season.
- He is also a 2022 U20 US Open Champion as well as 2022 Pan-American Championships Gold Medalist.
Jaxon Smith is the 11-seed in the 2024 NCAA Championships at 197 pounds.
The ethen miller profile
- Ethen Miller is the No. 12 seed at 149 pounds. It is the highest seed of his young career so far, as he was No. 21 last year as a freshman. He was an automatic qualifier.
- Miller ended the season on a recent tear in Big Ten competition. First, he won five consecutive matches to end the regular season, including two over top-15 opponents and three over-top 25 guys. Then, he had his best Big Ten Championship performance yet, coming in as the No. 6 seed and knocking off No. 3 Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) and No. 5 Dyla D'Emilio (Ohio State). The win against D'Emilio avenged a prior one earlier in the season.
- Miller has placed at Big Ten Championships in each of his two years seeing varsity action. He finished in eighth as a redshirt freshman and fourth this year.
- Miller's five major decisions are a team-best.
- Miller will return home for NCAAs as he is a Kansas City native. He starred at Park Hill High School en route to a 200-16 career record.
Ethen Miller is the No. 12 seed in the 2024 NCAA Championships at 149 pounds.
The braxton brown Profile
- Braxton Brown is the 17th-seed at 133 pounds. This is his highest seed of his young career. He was an automatic qualifier.
- During last year's NCAAs, at 125 pounds, Brown sprung a first-round upset over Missouri's Noah Surtin.
- After winning the 9th-place bracket at 125 pounds in 2023. Brown secured a sixth place finish at Big Tens this year in College Park.
- Brown made his 133-pound debut on Nov. 20, defeating No. 13 Vinnie Santianello (Pittsburgh).
- Brown took home first place at George Mason Patriot Open on Dec. 3.
- Brown leads the team in wins (20) and technical falls (7). He won by tech fall against Big Ten competition three different times.
Braxton Brown is the No. 17 seed in the 2024 NCAA Championships at 133 pounds.
The seth nevills Profile
- Seth Nevills is the 30-seed at 285 pounds. The graduate transfer from Penn State is making his first-ever NCAA Championships appearance and is an at-large selection.
- Nevills placed in the Big Ten Championships for the first time in his career, finishing in eighth place.
- After dealing with a shoulder injury for much of Big Ten competition, Nevills won his final two regular season matches, picking up wins over Josh Terill (Michigan State) and No. 10 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers).
- Nevills took home second place in the Tiger Style Invite in Kansas City in November, including a semifinal win over NCAA Qualifier Josiah Hill.
- Nevills won his first four matches in a Maryland singlet.
- He attended Clovis High School and was a four-time California state champion and a top-10 recruit.
Seth Nevills is the No. 30 seed in the 2024 NCAA Championships at 285 pounds.
The kal miller profile
- Kal Miller is the 31-seed at 141 pounds. He is an at-large selection.
- Last year, Miller won two matches in Tulsa as a true freshman at the NCAA Championships.
- Miller will be wrestling in his hometown of Kansas City, MO.
- Miller has already experienced success wrestling in Kansas City as he has won back-to-back Tiger Style Invites. This year, he defeated No. 16 Josh Edmond in tiebreakers to come back with the title.
- He is also a two-time Missouri state champion.
- Miller also holds two wins this season over 2022 NCAA All-American and five-time qualifier Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh).
Kal Miller is the No. 31 seed in the 2024 NCAA Championships at 141 pounds.
