CLEVELAND, OH – Branson John of the Maryland wrestling team became the 22nd All-American in program history and the second since 2019 on Friday evening during Day Two of the NCAA Championships.

John, a true sophomore, fought his way through the consolation bracket to the blood round to earn his first NCAA All-American honor in his second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships. After dropping his opening match on Day One, John responded with an impressive run, defeating No. 32 Blake Schaffer of Kent State by a 5-0 decision, followed by an 11-4 decision over No. 2 Rocky Elam of Iowa State. He continued his momentum with a 4-1 decision against No. 10 Mac Stout of Pittsburgh before clinching All-American status with a 5-1 tiebreaker victory over No. 29 Colton Hawks of Arizona State.

Later in the evening, John fell to No. 9 Angelo Posada in sudden victory in his final bout of the night and will now compete for seventh place on Saturday.

Redshirt senior Carter Young advanced to the quarterfinals before suffering a 12-0 major decision loss to No. 20 Chance Lamer of Nebraska, which sent him to the consolation bracket and into the blood round. Young's tournament came to a close in a tightly contested match as he fell in sudden victory, 4-1, to No. 15 Ryder Block of Iowa, ending his collegiate career.

Braxton Brown also concluded his collegiate career after falling to No. 15 Tyler Knox of Stanford by an 11-6 decision in the third round of the consolation bracket.

John will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday afternoon beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET during Session V (Medal Matches), with coverage on ESPNU.

133 | No. 23 Braxton Brown:
Brown DEC (4-2) No. 10  Maximilian Leete (AMER)
No. 7 Lucas Byrd (ILL) DEC (5-1) Brown
Brown DEC (1-0) No. 25 Will Betancort (RID)
No. 15 Tyler Knox (STAN) DEC (11-6) Brown

141 | No. 30 Dario Lemus:  
No. 3  Brock Hardy (NEB) T.F. (18-1, 5:47) Lemus 
No. 32 Matthew Martino (PRIN) DEC SV (4-1) Lemus

149 | No. 12 Carter Young:
Young DEC (16-12) No. 21 Gabe Willochell (WYO) 
Young DEC (11-4) No. 5 Koy Buesgens (NCST) 
No. 20 Chance Lamer (NEB) MD (12-0) Young
No. 15 Ryder Block (IOWA) DEC SV (4-1) Young

197 | No. 16 Branson John:
No 17 Dillon Bechtold (BUCK) DEC SV (4-1) John  
John DEC (5-0) No. 32 Blake Schaffer (KENT) 
John DEC (11-4) No. 2 Rocky Elam (ISU) 
John DEC (4-1) No. 10 Mac Stout (PITT)
John DEC (5-1 TB1) No. 29 Colton Hawks (ASU)
No. 9 Angelo Posada (STAN) DEC SV (4-1) John