Huskers Set to Face Gophers and Ducks

Lincoln-- The third-ranked Nebraska wrestling team is set for its toughest road test of the season as they travel to Rochester, Minn. to take on the tenth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 1 at the Rochester Civic Center, before returning back home to face off against Oregon on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. at the NU Coliseum.

The match up against the Golden Gophers will be updated match-by-match by logging onto www.thewrestlingmall.com beginning at 4 p.m.

Scouting the Opponents
Minnesota returns six starters and three NCAA qualifiers from last season’s squad, that finished second at the NCAA Championships.

The Golden Gophers are led by senior 197-pounder and defending national champion Damion Hahn. Hahn, who has struggled with a rib injury this season, has a record of 7-1 and is unanimously rated no. 1 all major polls. The Lakewood, N.J. native is a three-time All-American.

165-pounder Jacob Volkmann also leads the Minnesota attack. A senior and native of Hanning, Minn., Volkmann enters the match with the Huskers with a 15-2 record and is rated as the nation’s third best 165-pounder by W.I.N magazine. Volkmann finished third last year at the NCAA Championships. Of his fifteen wins, six have come via fall.

Another Golden Gopher standout is 125-pounder Bobby Lowe. Rated eleventh by W.I.N. magazine, Lowe has a record of 8-3 with three pins this season. Lowe finished eighth at the NCAA Championships last year after transferring to UM from Iowa Central Community College.

The Golden Gophers are coached by J Robinson, who is in his eighteenth year at the Minnesota helm. Robinson, with a career record of 253-88-3, coached the Gophers to back-to-back national championships in 2001-02 and 2002-03. The two-time Dan Gable Coach of the Year, Robinson has coached 69 All-Americans. Minnesota is 0-1 in duals this season, losing to Iowa State 19-18 on Dec. 12. The Gophers finished seventh at the Las Vegas Invitational.

Oregon, which finished 24th at the NCAA Championships last season, returns seven starters and two NCAA qualifiers from last year’s squad.

The Ducks are led by 133-pounder Jason Harless. The senior from Bonanza, Ore. is 1-1 on the year through the Dec. 14 matches. Harless, a two-time NCAA qualifier, is ranked sixteenth by W.I.N. magazine.

Oregon is also paced by junior 165-pounder Luke Larwin, a NCAA qualifier his freshman year. Larwin, a Bend, Ore. native, has an 8-4 record with two pins after the Dec. 14 matches.

The Ducks are coached by Chuck Kearney, who is in his sixth year at the UO helm. Kearney has a career record of 41-42 as a head coach.

Oregon is 0-2 in duals in 2003-04. They were defeated by no. 1 Oklahoma State 41-0 on Dec. 14.

With a victory over Minnesota and Oregon, the Huskers would....
Improve to 10-0 and give NU its 13th straight dual victory dating back to last season
Improve to 10-0 and the best start in school history.
Give NU its first win over Minnesota since a 20-17 victory in 1995.
Give NU its sixth straight victory over a Pac-10 conference opponent.
Give NU its 11th straight win at home.

The Last Time We Met
The Golden Gophers lead the all-time series against NU 42-16 and has won the last seven meetings. Last season in Lincoln, Minnesota defeated the Huskers, 27-12 on Jan. 7, 2003.

On the day, Minnesota jumped out to a 16-0 lead before NU pulled within seven after the 125-pound weight class, but NU wasn’t able to make up any more ground. Travis Shufelt nearly pulled off the upset over second-ranked Jared Lawerence as Shufelt trailed by one with 40 seconds left but was unable to score a takedown as Lawerence too the match, 8-6.

The Huskers lead the all-time series against the Ducks, 2-1 and most recently defeated them last season, 30-3 in Eugene, Ore. on Dec. 14, 2002.

The Huskers won nine of ten matches as Travis Pascoe defeated previously undefeated Shane Webster, 5-2 at 174 pounds. At 141 pounds, Matt Murray recorded an escape with 43 second left to earn a 4-3 victory over Casey Hunt.

Against the Big 10/Pac Ten
Nebraska owns a 62-92-1 all-time record vs. teams from the Big 10 conference. Minnesota holds a 42-16-0 advantage. Nebraska and Iowa have faced each other a total of 26 times. The Huskers own 9-4-0 advantage over Indiana. The Huskers have a 5-1 record against Ohio State and Purdue, they have also faced Illinois (2-3), Penn State (6-4-1), Northwestern (5-2-0), Wisconsin (3-7-1), Michigan (1-2-0) and Michigan State (3-8-0).

Nebraska owns a 33-7-1 all-time record vs. teams from the Pac-10 conference. The Huskers have faced the Ducks three times winning twice. The Huskers and the Sun Devils have met the most times with 13 matches. The Huskers hold a 4-0 lead over Cal Poly and 3-0 lead over Cal State Fullerton and Portland State. The Huskers have also faced Boise State (2-0-0), Cal State Bakersfield (4-1-0), Oregon State (5-1-0), Stanford, (1-0-0) and UC Davis (1-0-0).

The Huskers are currently on a sixth match win streak against teams from the Pac-10 conference.

Potential Rematches
Senior Jason Powell faces a potential rematch against Minnesota’s Bobbe Lowe. Last season, Powell won all three matches against Lowe, 10-5 in overtime in Lincoln on Jan. 7th and recorded two wins at the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Jacob Klein will have an opportunity to even his record against third-ranked Jacob Volkmann. Last season in Lincoln, Volkmann defeated Klein 15-3.

Third-ranked Travis Pascoe will face off against Josh McClay, who defeated Pascoe last season, 5-4. Other potential rematches against the Gophers is sophomore B.J. Padden is scheduled to face off against top-ranked Damien Hahn. Last season Hahn defeated Padden, 5-3 at 184 pounds.

The lone potential rematch with the Ducks will be at 165 pounds, where Klein will face off against Luke Larwin. Last season Klein won both matches against Larwin, defeating him 10-3 in the opening round of the Mat Town Invitational and again on Dec. 14 in Eugene, 7-4.

Last Time Out
The University of Nebraska wrestling team improved to 8-0 on the season posting three victories at the Nebraska Duals, Monday, Dec. 22 at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers defeated Division II’s eighth-ranked Nebraska-Kearney, 46-0, 18th-ranked Chadron State, 45-0 and NAIA’s No. 13 Dana College, 44-3. On the night NU won 29 of 30 matches. It was the first time since the 1995-96 seasons the Huskers recorded two shutouts in the same day.

The Huskers were led by junior B.J. Wright, who improved to 10-3 on the season posting two major decisions and a fall. Wright defeated UNK’s Jake Froscheiser via fall 46 seconds into the match before defeating Division II’s fifth-ranked Travis Peak, 13-3 and Scott Taylor of Dana College, 17-9.

Huskers on Winning streak
Dating back to last season’s NCAA Championships, top-ranked Jason Powell enters the Nebraska Duals on a 14-match winning streak. Powell who is off to a 10-0 start this season, ended last season on a four-match win streak and finishing third at the NCAA Championships.

Junior Travis Pascoe is on a 13-match winning streak which includes a first-place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Sophomore Travis Shufelt is also on a double figure win streak with 14 straight victories.

New Years First
This is the first time in school history that the Huskers will compete on New Year’s Day. The Huskers have competed on New Year’s Eve defeating Alabama, 38-14 in 1971.

This will also be the first time that Minnesota has competed on New Year’s Day.

Huskers Rolling Up the Points
With the Huskers victories over UNK, Chadron State and Dana College at the Nebraska Duals the Huskers have now scored 30 or more points in eight consecutive duals on the season.

Last season the Huskers recorded 30 or more points in eight straight duals.

Huskers in the Rankings
In the latest W.I.N magazine rankings, the Huskers currently are ranked third behind Big 12 rivals, Oklahoma State (No.1) and Iowa State (No. 2). Missouri follows at No. 7 with Oklahoma rounding out the Big 12 schools at No. 15

In individual rankings, senior 125-pounder Jason Powell is No.1 according to W.I.N. Redshirt-freshman 133-pounder Matt Keller enters at No. 18, followed by junior Matt Murray, who is 13th, at 141 pounds. Junior Travis Shufelt is ranked fourth at 149 pounds.

Junior B.J. Wright is at 17th (157) while Sophomore Jacob Klein is 15th at 165 pounds, junior Travis Pascoe is third at 184 pounds, and senior heavyweight Nathan McClain is 16th. Sophomore B.J. Padden is sixth at 197 pounds.

Huskers Strong at Home
With three victories on Dec. 22 at the Nebraska duals, NU recorded its 13th victory in its last 14 home matches. The Huskers have won ten straight at home, last losing to third-ranked Minnesota last January. During that 11 match stretch, NU has defeated four ranked opponents. The average margin of victory during this stretch is 23.5 points

Manning leads Huskers to Quick Starts
Entering his fourth year, Head Coach Mark Manning has lead the Nebraska wrestling program to quick starts to begin the dual season.

This marks the fourth consecutive year that Manning, has begun the season with a least four straight wins and the second straight year that the Huskers have started 8-0 . The 8-0 mark is the third best start in school history tied with the 2002-03 team. NU’s best start came in Manning’s first year when the Huskers started out 9-0.

Huskers Have Strong Recruiting Class
The Husker coaching staff announced the three of the nations top-30 high wrestlers according to InterMat have signed National Letters-of-Intent to compete for the Huskers beginning in 2004-05.

The signees include Chris Oliver of Omaha Creighton Prep, Paul Donahoe of Davison, Mich., Mike Rodgers of Easton, Pa. and Matt Nelson of Wayne, Neb.

Oliver, a three-time state champion, is 97-0 during his prep career and was won state titles at 103, 119 and 140 pounds. He picked NU over Minnesota. His father, Ray, wrestled for NU from 1981 to 1983, earning All-American honors in 1983. According to InterMat, Oliver is the 27th ranked high school senior in the country.
Donahoe, a two-time national junior freestyle champion, picked NU after receiving offers from Michigan and Michigan State. Competing for Davison High School, Donahoe won state titles in 2000 and 2001 at 103 pounds and finished second last year at 119. Donahoe is ranked as the 24th best High wrestler in the county.

Nelson is a three-time place winner and is the defending 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. Rodgers is listed as the 29th best high school senior in the country according to Intermat wrestling.

Huskers to Be Shown on CSTV
The University of Nebraska wrestling team is scheduled to have two duals televised on College Sports Television this season. Nebraska’s matches against Missouri on Jan. 24 and Iowa State on Feb. 5 are slated to be seen live. Wrestling legends Dan Gable and Jeff Blatnick will call the action on selected CSTV telecasts.

Up Next
Following the matches against the Gophers and Ducks, the Huskers will travel to Hampton, Va. for the Virginia Duals. Last season the Huskers earned a second place finish dropping the championships match to Lehigh, 34-7.