Huskers Head to Las Vegas Invitational

Lincoln -- The ninth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team will travel to Las Vegas, Nev., this weekend for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Action starts Friday, Dec. 5 and concludes Saturday, Dec. 6, with the semifinals and finals.

Scouting the Field
Forty-five teams will compete in the meet, including 11 top 25-ranked teams. Top-ranked Illinois headlines the field that includes No. 6 Missouri, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 13 West Virginia, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 20 Arizona State, No. 22 Purdue, No. 23 Boise State and No. 24 Edinboro.

At 149-pounds, seventh-ranked Travis Shufelt will face his toughest competition this season. Facing nine ranked opponents in his bracket, including two of the top-three ranked wrestlers in the class. Jacob Klein, who is ranked currently ranked 13th according to InterMat, could also face some stiff competition this weekend with eight ranked wrestlers in his bracket, including four of the top eight. At 125 pounds, Jason Powell can solidify his No. 1 ranking as he faces off against six of the top 11 wrestlers in his weight class. Junior Matt Murray will look to make a name for himself in the 141-pound weight class which has seven ranked wrestlers scheduled to compete at the invitational.

The Last Time We Met
At last year's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, B.J. Padden was the Huskers' lone individual champion at 184 pounds, leading NU to a sixth-place finish. Nebraska's other top place finishes included Jason Powell at 125 pounds (second), Travis Shufelt at 149 pounds (seventh) and Travis Pascoe at 174 pounds (eighth).

Last Time Out
The ninth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team improved to 5-0 on the season with victories over Rutgers, 35-12 and 11th-ranked Hofstra, 30-10, Saturday, Nov. 29, in Hempstead, N.Y., last weekend. Five grapplers went 2-0, led by fifth-ranked Travis Pascoe, who recorded a fall and a technical fall. The biggest match of the day came at 197 pounds were 13th-ranked B.J. Padden defeated second ranked and previously undefeated Chris Skretkowicz of Hofstra by fall at the 2:29 mark in the first period.

Powell Reaches Top-10
With two victories last weekend, two-time All-American Jason Powell moved into a tie with former three-time All-American Corey Olsen for top-10 career victories with 49. Powell's career-dual-winning percentage of .827 places him just outside of the top-10 for career-dual-winning percentage.

Huskers Rolling Up the Points
Recording over thirty points in back-to-back duals last weekend, the Huskers have now scored thirty or more points in five consecutive duals on the season. Last season the Huskers recorded thirty or more points in eight straight duals.

Huskers in the Rankings
In the preseason InterMat rankings, the Huskers entered the poll at No. 9. They are the fourth-highest ranked Big 12 school, following No. 2 Oklahoma State and fourth ranked Iowa State. Missouri follows at No. 6 with Oklahoma rounding out the Big 12 schools at No. 17.

In individual rankings, senior 125-pounder Jason Powell is No.1 according to InterMat. Senior 133-pounder Joey Malia enters at No. 19, followed by junior Travis Shufelt at 149 pounds who is seventh, junior B.J. Wright is at 14th (157). Sophomore Jacob Klein is 13th at 165 pounds, junior Travis Pascoe is fourth at 184 pounds, while, junior, heavyweight Mitch Manstedt is 15th. Sophomore B.J. Padden is No. 13 at 197-pounds.

Huskers Strong at Home
With a victory over Boise State on Nov. 21, NU recorded its 10th victory in its last 11 home matches. The Huskers have won seven straight at home, losing to only third-ranked Minnesota last January. During that stretch, NU has defeated four ranked opponents. The average margin of victory during this stretch is 17.9 points

McClain Steps In
Mark Manning announced that junior heavyweight Mitch Manstedt is out for a significant amount of time after suffering a knee injury in practice. Manstedt, who finished last season with a 22-11 record will be replaced by senior Nathan McClain. McClain, a native of Flora Vista, N.M. is off to a 4-0 start this season after finishing last season with a 15-6 record. Manstedt was victorious in his only match this season.

Huskers to Be Shown on CSTV
The University of Nebraska wrestling team is scheduled to have two duals to be televised on College Sports Television this season. Nebraska's matches against Missouri on Jan. 25 and Iowa State on Feb. 17 are slated to be seen live. Wrestling legends Dan Gable and Jeff Blatnick will call the action on selected CSTV telecasts.

Huskers Ink Four
Head Coach Mark Manning announced that four wrestlers have signed National Letters-of-Intent to wrestle for the Huskers beginning in 2004-05. The signees include Chris Oliver of Omaha Creighton Prep, Paul Donahoe of Davison, Mich., Matt Nelson of Wayne, Neb., and Mike Rodgers of Easton, Pa.
 
Oliver, a three-time Nebraska state champion, is 97-0 during his prep career and has won state titles at 103, 119 and 140 pounds. He signed with NU over Minnesota. His father, Ray, wrestled for NU from 1981 to 1983, earning All-American honors in 1983.
Donahoe, a two-time national junior freestyle champion, signed with NU after receiving offers from Michigan and Michigan State. Competing for Davison High School, Donahoe won Michigan state titles in 2000 and 2001 at 103 pounds and finished second last year at 119.

Nelson is a three-time place winner and is the defending Nebraska state champion at 135 pounds. Rodgers is currently ranked second in the nation at 145 pounds and is a three-time place winner for Easton High. Rodgers is from the same high school that produced four-time Big 12 champion and All-American Bryan Snyder and current Husker Chad Sportelli

Manning Named Finalist for Olympic Wrestling Coaching Position
University of Nebraska wrestling head coach Mark Manning has been named a finalist for an Olympic wrestling coaching position for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Manning along with Tom Brands of Iowa City, Iowa, Bruce Burnett of Annapolis, Md., Bobby Douglas of Ames, Iowa and Zeke Jones of Morgantown, W. Va.

Manning was the Head Coach for the 2001 U.S. Freestyle World Team. He also served on the coaching staff of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic teams. He served as the assistant coach of the 1997 U.S. Freestyle World Team, which placed sixth in the team standings. He served on the coaching staff of the U.S. World team five times.

Huskers Again Face Difficult Schedule
Nebraska is scheduled to face some of college wrestling's top programs this season. The Huskers are to face 11 of InterMat's Preseason top 25-poll, including defending national champion Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Feb. 7.

In addition to facing the Cowboys, the Huskers will face three other top 10 teams. The Huskers will square off against No. 4 Iowa State, No. 6 Missouri, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 17 Arizona State, No. 18 Oklahoma, and No. 22 North Carolina. Nebraska defeated No. 23 Boise State, 31-10, two weeks ago and beat No. 13 Hofstra, 30-11 last week.

Non-Varsity Schedule
The Husker non-varsity and freshmen will also have a full schedule during the 2003-04 season beginning with the South Dakota State Open on November 8. Upcoming tournaments include the Northern Iowa Open (Dec. 6), before finishing up with the UNK Open (Dec. 13), Dana College (Jan. 3), Glen Brand Open and Denker Open (Jan. 10) and Missouri Valley Open (Jan. 31)

At the Kaufman/Brand Open in Omaha on Nov. 22 seven wrestlers placed, led by freshman heavyweight Jon May and sophomore 133-pounder Dominick Moyer. May defeated Josh Leadingfox of Central Oklahoma, 6-2 to take the 20 & under division title, while Moyer finished second to Ellsworth's Mario Galanakis.

At 125 pounds, sophomore Chad Sportelli finished fourth after dropping his consolation final to UNK’s Trevor Charbonneau, 7-3. Freshman Derek Pirner added a fifth-place showing for NU at 133 pounds. At 197 pounds, freshman Chad Espinoza went 4-1 on the day recording a third-place finish defeating Cody Nehl of South Dakota State, 8-4 in the consolation final.

Junior Chris Nedens added a third-place finish at 141 pounds. NU’s final place winner of the meet was sophomore Matt Keller, who earned a fourth-place showing at 133 pounds in the open division.

Up Next
The Huskers will next be in action on Dec. 22, 2003, when they play host to Nebraska-Kearney, Chadron State and Dana College for the Nebraska Duals.