Maryland Wrestling Set to Close Out Regular Season against Drexel on Senior Day
2/18/2026 1:51:00 PM | Wrestling
Friday's matchup marks the ninth all-time meeting between Maryland and Drexel, a series that dates back to 2006. The Terps have won seven of the first eight matchups and enter the contest on a three-dual winning streak in the series, most recently defeating the Dragons, 23–13, to close the 2024–25 season.
The dual will also serve as Senior and Alumni Night, as the Terps will recognize seven seniors prior to the match for their contributions to the program: John Martin Best, Anthony Bradley, Braxton Brown, Luke Jacobs, Ryan Money, Dom Solis and Carter Young
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
On Friday night, Maryland will be hosting Gymnastics at 7 p.m., in the XFINITY Center main arena, and Wrestling at 7:30 p.m., in the Schanwald Pavilion. Doors for Gymnastics will open at 6 p.m. The Pavilion doors will remain closed until 6:30 p.m., when they open for Wrestling. Wrestling fans can either stay inside on the ground floor hallway of XFINITY Center or head to the arena to watch the start of Gymnastics up until Wrestling doors open and the match starts. All fans can enter through Gates A, B, C and D, but wrestling fans should be encouraged to enter through Gates C & D as they don't need to go up the stairs to come back down.
| Maryland | Weight | Drexel |
|---|---|---|
| Abram Cline or Presden Sanchez | 125 | No. NR/26 Dez Pleasant or Oumar Tounkara |
| No. 20/17 Braxton Brown | 133 | Kyle Waterman or Jaden Perez |
| Dario Lemus or Ryan Kennedy | 141 | Jordan Soriano or Trey Friedman |
| Michael Pizzuto or No. 10/4 Carter Young | 149 | Deon Pleasant or Justin Soriano |
| Mekhi Neal or Nathan Perry | 157 | Gavin Carroll or Aboubakre Diaby |
| Alex Uryniak or AJ Rodrigues | 165 | Cody Walsh or Dom Findora |
| Seth Digby | 174 | Dom Findora or Cody Walsh |
| Sepanta Ahanj-Elias | 184 | Ethan Wilson or Chris Mance |
| No. 14/16 Branson John | 197 | Ibrahim Ameer or Justin Griffith |
| Oscar Williams or Joey Schneck | HWT | No. 24/24 Nate Schon or Dom Petracci |
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As the postseason approaches, several Terps continue to position themselves among the nation's best, earning recognition in both the Coaches Poll and the NCAA RPI rankings.
Coaches Poll Rankings:
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Braxton Brown (133 lbs) — No. 11
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Carter Young (149 lbs) — No. 6
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Branson John (197 lbs) — No. 18
NCAA RPI Rankings:
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Braxton Brown (133 lbs) — No. 4
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Branson John (197 lbs) — No. 7
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Dario Lemus (141 lbs) — No. 27
With multiple wrestlers ranked nationally and holding strong RPI positions, Maryland continues to build momentum heading into the final stretch of the regular season and postseason competition.
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The Terps opened Big Ten competition against Northwestern, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Penn State, Rutgers and Minnesota, and most recently hosted No. 2 Ohio State in their final conference dual of the regular season, falling 29–16.
Key individual performances include:
Carter Young (149 lbs) — owns a 9–1 record, with his lone loss coming against the nation's top-ranked wrestler. Young has recorded ranked wins over Joseph Zargo (No. 17, Wisconsin), Gavin Brown (No. 21, Purdue), Joey Butler (Indiana) and Andrew Clark (No. 29, Rutgers). He also earned his first Big Ten bonus-point victory with a 14–3 major decision over Brogan Fielding (Ohio State).
Branson John (197 lbs) — notched victories over Wyatt Ingham (No. 28, Wisconsin) and Gabe Sollars (No. 13, Indiana), recorded a pin against Northwestern, and earned a 4–1 decision over No. 25 Gavin Nelson (Minnesota). Against Ohio State, the No. 17-ranked John secured the first top-10 win of his career with a pin at 3:40 over No. 10 Luke Geog.
Braxton Brown (133 lbs) — holds a 7–3 dual record with multiple technical falls, including wins over Blake Boarman (Purdue) and Dylan Shawver (No. 27, Rutgers), and added a 5–0 decision over Brandon Morvari (Minnesota).
Two Terps earned their first Big Ten victories of the season against Ohio State. At 157 pounds, Mekhi Neal broke a 1–1 tie with a takedown in the final 40 seconds to claim a 4–1 decision over Daxton Chase. At 174 pounds, Seth Digby secured a 6–1 sudden victory decision over TJ Schierl.
Additional Big Ten wins for Maryland have come from Ryan Kennedy (141 lbs) over Carson Exford (Wisconsin), Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (184 lbs) over David Malin (Wisconsin), AJ Rodrigues (165 lbs) over Isaac Ruble (Purdue), Joey Schneck (285 lbs) over Caleb Marzolino (Indiana) and Dario Lemus (141 lbs) over Mason Gibson (Rutgers).
- The Terps are coming off one of their most successful seasons since joining the Big Ten. Maryland set program records for points and individual placers at the Big Ten Championships, recorded its highest team finish, and secured the most regular-season dual wins in program history. A signature moment came with a victory over No. 10 Michigan — the program's first win over a top-10 opponent since Nov. 20, 2009.
- At the NCAA Championships, Maryland matched its highest team point total and finish since 2014. Jaxon Smith earned All-American honors with a sixth-place finish at 184 pounds, becoming the program's first All-American since 2019. The Terps qualified six wrestlers for the NCAA Championships — their most since 2012 — including returners Braxton Brown, Branson John, and Jaxon Smith, while also setting a new program record for Big Ten dual victories.
- Head Coach Alex Clemsen enters his seventh season leading the program, joined by associate head coach Nick Brascetta. Assistant coach Ethan Laird returns for his third season, while Cole Matthews has been promoted to assistant coach in his second year with the Terps.
Players Mentioned
