COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Pre-seeds for the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in State College, Pa., were announced by the league office today. The Terps will send 10 wrestlers to compete at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center on March 7-8, highlighted by a pair of top-five pre-seeds in Branson John and Carter Young.

The complete tournament brackets and official seeds will be released Friday afternoon following the Big Ten Conference coaches meeting.

Leading the way for Maryland is No. 4 pre-seed Branson John at 197 pounds. John enters the postseason with a 22-5 record and will look to build on a strong regular season as one of the conference favorites in his weight class. Carter Young earned the No. 5 pre-seed at 149 pounds after compiling an 11-2 mark during the regular season.

Braxton Brown secured the No. 8 pre-seed at 133 pounds with a 16-6 record, positioning himself in the top half of the bracket.

Also earning pre-seeds for the Terps are Dario Lemus (#11 at 141, 14-10), Mekhi Neal (#13 at 157, 10-15), AJ Rodrigues (#13 at 165, 9-13), Seth Digby (#14 at 174, 6-14), Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (#12 at 184, 2-6), Joey Schneck (#12 at 285, 7-10) and Abram Cline (#14 at 125, 11-13).

The 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships get underway Saturday, March 7 and run through Sunday, March 8 in State College, Pa. First-round, quarterfinal, semifinal and wrestleback matches will take place during Sessions I and II on Saturday. Action continues Sunday with consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches during Session III, while the first-, third- and fifth-place matches will highlight Session IV.

The Big Ten Network and B1G+ will provide live linear and streaming coverage of all four sessions of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships. Linear coverage on the Big Ten Network is also available on the FOX Sports app.

Maryland Pre-Seeds | 2026 Big Ten Championships

125 #14 Abram Cline (11-13)
133 #8 Braxton Brown (16-6)
141 #11 Dario Lemus (14-10)
149 #5 Carter Young (11-2)
157 #13 Mekhi Neal (10-15)
165 #13 AJ Rodrigues (9-13)
174 #14 Seth Digby (6-14)
184 #12 Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (2-6)
197 #4 Branson John (22-5)
285 #12 Joey Schneck (7-10)