The Maryland wrestling team placed three athletes on the podium during day two of the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which concluded Sunday, March 8. The team finished with 35.5 points and secured an 11th-place overall finish.
The results are significant for the program as three wrestlers earned top-seven finishes and automatic qualifications to the NCAA Tournament. This achievement highlights progress for Maryland wrestling in a highly competitive conference.
Carter Young, a redshirt senior transfer and No. 5 seed, was Maryland’s top performer, finishing fourth in the 149-pound weight class at his first Big Ten Championships. Young advanced to the third-place match after defeating Wisconsin’s Joseph Zargo by major decision but narrowly lost to Michigan’s Lachlan McNeil in a close contest.
Dario Lemus, competing at 141 pounds as the No. 11 seed, also qualified automatically for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his career. Lemus finished sixth after losses to Minnesota’s Vance Vombaur and Rutgers’ Joey Olivieri in his final matches.
Branson John rounded out Maryland’s podium finishers by placing seventh at 197 pounds, marking his second consecutive year reaching the podium. John won his final match by medical forfeit over Purdue’s Ben Vanadia after securing NCAA qualification earlier in the tournament.
Young, Lemus, and John will next compete at the NCAA Wrestling Championships beginning Thursday, March 19, in Cleveland, Ohio.
The remainder of Maryland’s lineup included Abram Cline (125), Braxton Brown (133), Mekhi Neal (157), AJ Rodrigues (165), Seth Digby (174), Sepanta Ahanj-Elias (184), and Joey Schneck (heavyweight). While these wrestlers did not reach the podium, several recorded individual victories throughout their brackets.