HUSKERS FINISH SIXTH AT NATIONAL DUALS

Iowa City, Iowa-The Nebraska wrestling team advanced to the consolation semifinals with a come-from-behind 19-18 victory over 12th-ranked Arizona State in its fourth dual of the day at the Cliff Keen NWCA National Duals Saturday, Jan. 16. The Huskers trailed 18-7 before mounting a comeback that included a pin and two one-point wins.

Seventh-ranked Husker sophomore Brad Vering upset fourth-ranked Casey Strand, 4-3, in the 184-pound matchup to cut the Sun Devil lead to eight at 18-10. NU's senior Scott Munson, ranked 15th in the country, cut the lead to two with a pin of ASU's Phil Alejandreno at the 1:17 mark in the 197-pound contest. Husker heavyweight J.R. Plienis, ranked 12th in the nation, entered the final match with #17 Randy Lydecker knowing that nothing less than a win would advance the Huskers to the finals. Plienis scored one point in the second period and one in the third to hold off Lydecker, 2-1, to preserve a comeback 19-18 win.

"This is what it's all about," Plienis said following the meet. "This tournament has really gotten us back to having fun again."

"This was a great win for us," Husker Head Coach Tim Neumann said. "We fought hard and showed a lot of heart coming back to win against a great team. This was a team effort, but something that will boost the confidence of Brad (Vering), Scott (Munson) and J.R. (Plienis) especially, who put together three straight wins at the end."

Eighth-seeded Nebraska (3-1 in the tournament with a 9-3 dual record for the season), will face third-seeded Iowa, who was shocked by second-seeded Minnesota in the final seconds of the heavyweight match Saturday night, 21-14. The consolation semifinals will be held at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning.

The Huskers opened the tournament with a 22-10 win over Cal State-Bakersfield, but were defeated by No. Oklahoma State, 31-10 in the second round for the Cowboy's 57th-straight dual win. The Huskers bounced back in the consolation bracket with a win over Division III's No. 1 Augsburg, 35-7 to earn a berth against the Sun Devils.

For the Huskers, Munson earned four wins on the day to move to 19-3 overall, as did freshman Bryan Snyder (18-2). Three Huskers earned three wins: J.R. Plienis (14-7); Brad Vering (15-5) and Jose DeAnda (20-2).

In the championship bracket, Oklahoma State will face Minnesota for the National Duals Championship on Sunday at 2 p.m.EIGHTH-SEEDED HUSKERS FINISH SIXTH AT NATIONAL DUALS
Iowa City, Iowa--The No. 10 Nebraska wrestling team battled injuries and sickness en route to finishing sixth at the 1998 Cliff Keen NWCA National Duals Sunday, Jan. 17, at the University of Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena. First-ranked Oklahoma State and Second-ranked Minnesota battled it out for the National Duals title, with Oklahoma State prevailing, 20-17. Third-ranked Iowa, who was absent from the finals for the first time in six years, took third with a 32-7 win over fourth-ranked Iowa State. Casey Cunningham of Central Michigan was named the meet's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

The Huskers were forced to wrestle with three starters absent from the lineup against third-ranked Iowa. Paul Gomez was unable to compete because of sore ribs. Joe Henson was absent from the lineup for all but one dual with flu-like symptoms, and a strained knee kept Brad Vering from seeing action. The Huskers forfeited the 125-pound class and Dustin Morris wrestled for Henson. Charles McTorry, Nebraska's starter at 174 pounds, wrestled for Vering at 184 and usual 164-pound wrestler Tony Denke stepped into the 174-pound spot for McTorry. The rearranged Husker lineup couldn't overcome the performances of four Hawkeye wrestlers who were ranked in the Top 4, as Iowa dominated the dual, 37-2.

But the dual was not without its bright spots for the Huskers. Freshman Bryan Snyder earned a 157-pound victory over 18th-ranked Jamie Heidt, 9-6, while senior Scott Munson and sophomore J.R. Plienis pushed two second-ranked wrestlers to the brink of defeat before eventually suffering a loss. The 15th-ranked Munson went ahead 6-5 by scoring a takedown with five seconds left in the third period against Iowa's No. 2 Lee Fullhart, but Fullhart had a 2:16 advantage in riding time to tie the score at 6-6 and send the match into overtime. At 1:33 in overtime, Fullhart took down Munson to squeak out an 8-6 win. In the heavyweight match between No. 12 Plienis and No. 2 Wes Hand, it was Wes who held the upper hand, but only by a 6-5 margin. A point was deducted from Nebraska's team score for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Huskers battled sixth-ranked Oklahoma for fifth place following the Iowa dual. NU again started the meet with a forfeit at 125 pounds and added a forfeit at Vering's 184-pound spot, Morris wrestled for Joe Henson at 149 pounds and sophomore Billy Gabel wrestled for Snyder, who was nursing a strained thumb, at 157 pounds.

Sixth-ranked, 125-pounder Paul Gomez did not compete in either match because of sore ribs, forcing Nebraska to forfeit the first match of both meets. Joe and Josh Henson battled flu-like symptoms the entire weekend, forcing them to compete at less than 100 percent and forcing the coaching staff to replace them with fresh athletes. Dustin Morris competed for Joe in both meets and Tony Denke saw action for Josh at 165 pounds on Saturday. Bryan Snyder injured his right thumb in his dual with Iowa and was forced to withdraw from the Oklahoma dual, with Billy Gabel stepping in at 157 pounds. Brad Vering wrestled with an injured knee for most of the tournament, and finally forfeited against Oklahoma.

Todd Beckerman, Munson and Plienis each earned wins to lead the Huskers against Oklahoma. Beckerman, unranked at 133 pounds, upset 13th-ranked Sooner Dane Valdez, 6-3, to give NU its first win. Munson added a 4-0 decision over 10th-ranked Waymon May and Plienis ended the meet with a pin of Gary Barber at 2:47 (Pleinis' second pin at the National Duals).

The Huskers opened the Cliff Keen NWCA National Duals with a 22-10 win over Cal State-Bakersfield, but were defeated by No. 1 Oklahoma State, 31-10, in the second round for the Cowboy's 57th-straight dual win. The Huskers bounced back in the consolation bracket with a win over Division III's No. 1 Augsburg, 35-7, and staged a 19-18 come-from-behind victory against Arizona State to earn a berth against Iowa in the consolation semifinals. With a 3-3 record at the National Duals, Nebraska moved to 9-5 overall for the season. Individually for the Huskers, Snyder finished with a 5-0 record to move to 19-2 for the season. In addition to beating No. 4 Jimmy Arias of Oklahoma State, 8-4, and dominating Iowa's 18th-ranked Jamie Heidt, 15-3, Snyder pinned Augsburg's Justin Baker at 1:32 and earned a team-leading sixth major decision over Jose Moreno of Arizona State, 17-9. Munson posted a 4-1 record with a major decision and pin, Vering went 3-1 with a technical fall and major decision before getting injured and Plienis finished with a 4-2 record and two pins.

"If you would have told me that we would finish sixth at the National Duals at the beginning of the season, I wouldn't have believed you," Nebraska Head Coach Tim Neumann said. "We have a great team, but we've improved a lot since then. The guys have made a lot of strides, and we are headed in the right direction as a team."

#10 Nebraska 19, #12 Arizona State 18
125	#10 Matt Azevedo, ASU win by forfeit	ASU 6, NU 0
133	#5 Eric Larkin, ASU dec. Todd Beckerman, NU 4-3	ASU 9, NU 0
141	#12 Jose DeAnda, NU dec. #18 David Douglas, ASU 6-4	ASU 9, NU 3
149	#13 Quinn Foster, ASU dec. Dustin Morris, NU 9-4	ASU 12, NU 3
157	#12 Bryan Snyder, NU maj. dec. Jose Moreno, ASU 17-9	ASU 12, NU 7
165	#12 Steve Blackford, ASU dec. Josh Henson, NU 7-5	ASU 15, NU 7
174	John Groundwater, ASU dec. Charles McTorry, NU 5-3	ASU 18, NU 7
184	#7 Brad Vering, NU dec. #4 Casey Strand, ASU 4-3	ASU 18, NU 10
197	#15 Scott Munson, NU win by fall Phil Alejandreno, ASU 1:17	ASU 18, NU 16
Hwt	#12 J.R. Plienis, NU dec. #17 Randy Lydecker, ASU 2-1	NU 19, ASU 18

# 3 Iowa 37, #10 Nebraska 2
125	Ben Kritsonis, IA win by forfeit	IA 6, NU 0
133	#3 Eric Juergens, IA dec. Todd Beckerman, NU 6-1	IA 9, NU 0
141	#10 Doug Schwab, IA dec. #12 Jose DeAnda, NU 4-1	IA 12, NU 0
149	#2 T.J. Williams, IA dec. Dustin Morris, NU 9-4	IA 15, NU 0
157	#12 Bryan Snyder, NU dec. #18 Jamie Heidt, IA 9-6	IA 15, NU 3
165	Ben Uker, IA win by fall Josh Henson, NU 4:03	IA 21, NU 3
174	#12 Gabe McMahan, IA win by fall Tony Denke, NU 3:49	IA 27, NU 3
184	Lee Weber, IA maj. dec. Charles McTorry, NU 15-7	IA 31, NU 3
197	#2 Lee Fullhart, IA dec. #15 Scott Munson, NU 8-6 (OT)	IA 34, NU 3
Hwt	#2 Wes Hand, IA dec. #12 J.R. Plienis, NU 6-5	IA 37, NU 3
	(One Nebraska Team Point Deducted for Unsportsmanlike Conduct)	IA 37, NU 2

#6 Oklahoma 31, #10 Nebraska 12
125	#4 Shane Valdez, OU win by forfeit	OU 6, NU 0
133	Todd Beckerman, NU dec. #13 Dane Valdez, OU 6-3	OU 6, NU 3
141	#2 Micheal Lightner, OU win by fall #12 Jose DeAnda, NU 1:12	OU 12, NU 3
149	Jared Frayer, OU dec. Dustin Morris, NU 6-4 (OT)	OU 15, NU 3
157	#8 David Kjeldgaard, OU vs. Billy Gabel, NU 15-9	OU 18, NU 3
165	#4 Rodney Jones, OU maj. dec. Josh Henson, NU 10-2	OU 22, NU 3
174	Michael Barger, OU dec. Charles McTorry, NU 6-1	OU 25, NU 3
184	Tom Grossman, OU win by forfeit	OU 31, NU 3
197	#15 Scott Munson, OU dec. #10 Waymon May, OU 4-0	OU 31, NU 6
Hwt	#12 J.R. Plienis, NU win by fall Gary Barber, OU 2:47	OU 31, NU 12