Maryland Wrestling Is Ready to Make the Moments Happen: 2025-26 Preview

The Terps are ready to hit the mat for their 2025-26 season and believe they have a squad that's ready to rock out of the gate. 

"It's a group that loves wrestling," head coach Alex Clemsen said. "It's a group that's close. They spend a lot of time together and they care about each other a lot. It's a group that's unknown. They've got some proving to do. They've got some moments to go make happen. But I also think that because it's a group that loves wrestling, those moments are going to happen."

Maryland will compete in 17 meets from November to February as the Terps compete for glory in the Big Ten — college athletics' premier conference. 

"That's just part of what we do in Big Ten wrestling," Clemsen said. "You're going to wrestle the best guys night in and night out and have some of the best guys in the country in your lineup night in and night out."

A Big Ten team has won the NCAA team wrestling title in every eligible season dating back to 2007. Penn State has won each of the last four titles and will come to College Park on Jan. 25.

"That's always wrestling in the Big Ten," Clemsen said. "It doesn't matter if you live out west in the Big Ten or live out east in the Big Ten. The Big Ten for wrestling is unlike any other sports conference. It's a different animal, and I came from an SEC football background."

The Terps will be ready with their unique blend of talented experience and fresh faces. Redshirt senior Jaxon Smith is back after his incredible 2025 season that saw him become Maryland's 21st All-American in program history, finish sixth in the NCAA Championship, and claim fourth in the Big Tens.

"Last year meant a lot to me," Smith said. "I think it shows the work that we've been doing building the program and the success that we're going to continue to see have more and more of it this season and in the seasons to come."

Clemsen said a former coach of his had an analogy to view a wrestling team and season as a "march of the penguins", with each guy simply following the man in front of them. Smith, Clemsen said, will be the Terps' lead penguin this season, setting a standard for those behind them. 

"We have a lot of younger guys that came in this year," Smith said. "I think all the guys kind of have the same expectations as the older guys. We all expect to win. We all want to make a name for ourselves, and we all want to succeed at a higher level. We want to be up there and compete against all the best Big Ten teams."

"It's great that the young guys have Jaxon Smith and Braxton Brown and even sophomore Branson John to set the tone and set the standard and set an example for them," Clemsen said.

Collegiate wrestling offers a unique blend of individual and team success only found in a handful of college sports. The 2025-26 Terps say it's something they enjoy and brings them closer together.

"I like being in control of my own destiny," Smith said. "But in the team sense, it's definitely an interesting dynamic because to win the duel, you have to win a majority of the matches. I think with just how wrestling is, how close you are to your team, I think it makes it fun because you're training with those guys in and out of the room."

Another key returning piece to the Maryland roster is Dominic Solis, a Terp who's ready to lay it all out on the line in his final season.

"I've been doing this for so long, and this is going to be my last year, so I'm just leaving it all out there," Solis said. "I'm a sixth year. I have that veterans mentality. I have experience, so I'll be using that to my advantage to just go out there and just have fun for my last year."

As one of the experienced vets ready to take on a leadership role, Solis has enjoyed the preseason grind of intersquad competition and bonding. 

"Everyone loves being in the wrestling room, everyone loves competing, everyone loves being around each other," Solis said. "That's a different aspect to our team right now: we're a lot closer. We enjoy being in the room. It's a privilege to be in the room, and I think all of us know that, and I think that's probably the biggest thing."

This year's roster features seven freshmen. The youth movement brings in a new wave of talent and a future that'll continue to help Clemsen's program thrive in his seventh year as head coach. 

"We're probably going to have several freshmen in the lineup," Clemsen said. "Which is crazy to think that in year seven, we might be younger than we are older, but that's just kind of the nature of the beast when you're continuing to build a program."

The freshmen are taking the team by storm and pleasantly surprising the vets, who are thrilled to see the energy and talent that'll keep pushing the program forward. 

"Ryan Kennedy has definitely impressed me a lot," Solis said. "He's definitely someone to keep a look out for. He's a grinder. He definitely is not afraid to work. I'm usually one of the faster guys during the preseason runs and everything, but he was beating me and was definitely one of the people that pushed me in that aspect. Definitely look out for him."

A common theme throughout the program is the closeness of this team. Players and coaches alike boast about the passion the 2025-26 have for the Terps and for watching each other succeed.

"The main thing I'm looking forward to is that I've gotten so much closer with a lot of the guys," Solis said. "Going out there and just competing with all my boys. I really do feel like they're all my family. I love them all to death, and I just love competing for them and competing for my coaches."

"They enjoy the process of learning and growing and fighting, but they also enjoy each other," Clemsen said. "But they also hold each other accountable and teams that hold each other accountable usually are able to get things done."

The Terps will host six meets this season, the first coming against Pitt on Dec. 13. 

"If you come watch once, I guarantee you'll be back a second time," Clemsen said. "There's an intensity about our sport. There's an intimacy about our sport. There's a rawness about our sport that's unlike any other sport in college athletics."

Each of the following four home meets will feature Big Ten opposition. Creating a home-mat advantage at the Schanwald Pavilion will be key to helping the Terps navigate their gauntlet of a conference slate. 

"If you enjoy watching a fight and you enjoy watching a scrap and you like watching people do really hard stuff, you should come watch wrestling," Clemsen said. "Even if that's too much for you, if you can appreciate two people competing at the hardest level and putting their bodies through the most rigorous positions and levels of intensity possible, then you'll still probably enjoy wrestling."

Wrestling season is here. The fight begins on Nov. 2. The Terps are ready to fight for Maryland, for glory, and for each other.