Uncertainty surrounded Maryland wrestling’s heavyweight class heading into its season opener.
The position was a strength last season. Seth Nevills placed seventh in the Big Ten playoffs but then graduated. The Terps brought in North Carolina State transfer Chase Horne, but he’s now injured.
The Terps are left with three heavyweight wrestlers and little experience, but Oscar Williams took steps toward seizing the open position.
The redshirt freshman was noticeable, finishing as the runner-up in the freshman and sophomore division.
“Probably just about every one of his wins, to be honest, there was something that he did great,” coach Alex Clemsen said. “The first two rounds, he rolled tech fall and a pin and in semis, in his quarterfinals, he did pretty darn well. So I just thought all weekend he wrestled well.”
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Last season, the start of tournaments was a struggle for Williams. He frequently lost his first bout and spent the remainder of the tournament in the consolation bracket. The 2025 season opener was different — Williams dominated his first match and won by technical fall in the first period.
In Williams’ next bout against freshman Anthony Brown of Presbyterian, he immediately spotted Brown was undersized.
Williams used the advantage and started the match aggressively. Williams quickly looked for a takedown, ducking under the hand fighting to grab his leg and driving Brown to the ground for an early three points.
“As soon as I got to that take down, I took him down straight to his back,” Williams said. “So I felt pretty confident that I was like, ‘I could probably end this pretty early and pin him somehow.”
When Brown attempted to get up, he used a snap single-leg technique to drive Brown flat on his back, securing a pin and ending the match in 34 seconds.
Williams tallied a total wrestling time of almost three minutes out of a possible 14 minutes through the first two rounds. By the semifinals round against Franklin & Marshall sophomore Brody Kline, it was clear to Williams that his quick wins provided an advantage.
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“In the third period, I was definitely starting to wear on him in the hand fight and move him a little bit more,” Williams said. “Eventually, I knew that I would either get a snap down, go behind, or he would take a bad shot, and he ended up just taking a bad shot.”
The 5-0 semifinals victory sent Williams to the championship round, where he lost to North Carolina freshman Jacob Levy.
Despite the runner-up finish, Clemsen said he needed to see more from the entire heavyweight group, as neither Williams nor redshirt sophomore Joey Schneck did enough to sway his choice at starter.
“Oscar just needs to be more consistent,” Clemsen said. “His skill level is high … He just hasn’t quite translated it yet to college wrestling, to Division I wrestling, at the highest level, and I know it’s in there.”
