Huskers Look to Continue Winning Ways

The third-ranked Nebraska wrestling team (16-1) hopes to extend its eight-match winning streak as it heads west to take on 13th-ranked Arizona State on Jan. 30 in Tempe, Ariz. The dual will begin at 8 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Arena.

Scouting the Opponent
The Sun Devils enter the match against Nebraska coming off of a 22-18 loss to No. 12 Oklahoma on Jan. 24 in Norman. Arizona State has lost three of its last five matches, including a 37-(-1) loss to Nebraska at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 10 in Hampton, Va.

The Sun Devils feature six ranked wrestlers highlighted by fourth-ranked Ryan Bader at 197 pounds and 12th-ranked Patrick Williams.

The Verdi, Nevada native leads the team in victories (21), and leads the team in major decisions (7) and is second in duals wins (9). Williams, a junior is second to Bader in wins, while recording four major decisions and nine dual victories.

Arizona State is coached by Thom Ortiz, who is in his third year. He owns a career record of 28-17 and is 1-2 against the Huskers.

Huskers vs. Sun Devils
Nebraska holds 9-4-1 edge in the series with Arizona State. Nebraska has won six of the last seven dual contests. The Sun Devils hold a 2-0 lead over Nebraska in Tempe, Ariz. The schools have met seven times at neutral sites with the Huskers winning five and tying one.

Against the Pac-10
Nebraska owns a 35-7-1 all-time record vs. teams from the Pac-10 Conference. The Huskers have faced the Sun Devils 14 times winning nine matches, tying one. The Huskers have faced Oregon four times winning three. The Huskers hold a 4-0 lead over Cal Poly and 3-0 led 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).

Marquee Match Up
According to the latest W.I.N. magazine individual rankings, seven bouts between Nebraska and Arizona State, including four matches with both wrestlers ranked in the top-10 in their respective weight classes. Top-ranked Jason Powell will look to raise his record to 5-0 against ranked wrestler as he faces off against No. 9 Christian Staylor. Other ranked matches include, No. 9 Matt Keller and No. 10 Mike Simpson at 133; No. 3 Travis Shufelt and No. 12 Patrick Williams at 149 pounds; No. 14 B.J. Wright and No. 18 Brian Stith at 157 pounds; No. 4 Travis Pascoe and No. 9 Nick Frost at 184 pounds; No. 9 Nathan McClain and No. 8 Cain Velasquez at heavyweight.

The feature match up will be between No. 3 Nebraska's B.J. Padden and No. 4 Ryan Bader at 197 pounds.. This will be the second meeting between the two, as Padden defeated Bader at the Virginia Duals, 8-2 on Jan. 10

A win for NU would....
u Give the Huskers their 17th dual victory of the year and the most dual wins during Head Coach Mark Manning’s tenure.
u Give NU five victories over ranked opponents this season.
u Give NU its ninth road victory, tying the most wins during Manning’s tenure.

Huskers Set to Host Great Plains Open
On Saturday, Jan. 31, the University of Nebraska and the Great Plains wrestling club is set to host the 2004 Great Plains Open.
Action is set to begin at 10 a.m. and be continous until 5 p.m. All action will take place in Devaney Center Track.

The Last Time We Met
At the Virginia Duals on Jan. 10, The Huskers defeated Arizona State 37-(-1) en route to capturing the Virginia Duals championship.

The Huskers won all 10 matches as four Huskers pulled upset victories. B.J. Wright scored a 6-2 decision over 12th-ranked Brian Stith, while James Pummel recorded a 6-3 decision over No. 19 Ron Renzi. Redshirt freshman Matt Keller notched an 8-6 decision over Mike Simpson. The biggest upset of the dual happened at 197 pounds as Padden defeated the third-ranked wrestler in his weight class, as he dominated Ryan Bader, 8-2.

Last Time Out
The Huskers opened conference play with a victory for the first time since 2000-01 as they defeated No. 4 Missouri, 23-13 in front of 1,372 fans at the NU Coliseum. NU won seven of 10 matches. Junior Matt Murray scored a 5-1 decision over J.P. Reese in the opening match, while 15th-ranked Jacob Klein scored his biggest win of the season over ninth-ranked and All-American Tyron Woodley, 3-2. Matt Keller ended the match with NU's fifth straight win as he defeated Paul Collum, 10-1.

Klein Earns Big 12 Wrestler of the Week
The Big 12 Conference selected Jacob Klein of Nebraska as its wrestler of the week for the week of Jan. 18-25, the league announced Tuesday.

Klein, only a sophomore, is receiving this honor for the second time in his career. Last season Klein earned the award on Feb. 24 after recording two victories against Air Force and Hofstra.

The Valley Center, Kan., native helped the No. 3 Huskers overcome a seven-point deficit in their conference opener against Missouri with his victory at 165-pound slot. Klein defeated All-American and 2003 Big 12 Champion Tyron Woodley 3-2 to lead NU to a 23-13 victory over fourth-ranked MU last Saturday.

It was Klein’s first win over a ranked opponent this season as Woodley entered the match ranked ninth.

Pasoce Still Perfect
With a 10-5 decision over 11th-ranked Matt Pell, junior Travis Pascoe extended his record to 22-0 on the season, tying fellow junior Travis Shufelt’s 22-match win streak that ended when he was upset by Missouri's Jeremy Spates, 6-4.

As a team, the Huskers are currently on an eight match win streak.

Current Husker, Former Sun Devils
Nebraska Assistant head coach Shawn Charles has a connection to the Sun Devil wrestling program. He became the first four-time All-American in Sun Devil history and was an NCAA finalist in both his junior and senior year. Twice he was a Pac-10 champion at 126 pounds and ranks 16th in school history with 103 career victories.

Chalres lost to former Husker Tony Puler in the 1993 NCAA finals.

Huskers Rolling Up the Points
After recording 30 or more points on Jan. 16-17 against both Air Force and Wyoming, the Huskers have now scored 30 or more points in 14 of their last 17 duals.

Huskers Just Dominating
u In fact, Nebraska averages better than 30 points in duals this season, outscoring opponents by an average of 34.9-6.7 in duals (593-114 total points).
u Fourteen of Nebraska's 16 dual victories this season have been by 20 points or more, with six victories by 40 or more points.
u Nebraska has allowed three or fewer points in eight of its duals victories this season. The last time Nebraska allowed three or fewer points in a dual was in the 1994-95 season, in which the Huskers held four teams to three or fewer points.
u While Nebraska's closet call this among its 16 dual victories was last week's 10-point win over No. 4 Missouri, Nebraska's only blemish this seson was a one-point loss against ninth-ranked Minnesota, when top-ranked 125 pounder Jason Powell was out of action with the flu.

Huskers Reach 16 Dual Wins
With the victory over Missouri on Jan. 24, the Huskers raised its season win total to 16.
u The 16 wins are tied for the most in Mark Manning’s four seasons at Nebraska. This season also marks the 12th time since 1990-91 that NU has recorded double-digit wins.
u This marks third time in four seasons that NU has reached the 10-win plateau under Manning.
u This season marks the 13th time in school history Nebraska has reached 15 or more wins.
With five duals remaining, the Huskers are five wins short of tying the school record for season dual victories of 21, set in 1989-90.

Who’s Hot Among Husker Wrestler
Travis Shufelt, Jr., 149, Oconto, Wis. q The Oconto, Wisc. native is off to a dominating start despite dropping his last decision to Jeremy Spates of Missouri. Shufelt has compiled a 22-1 record, including 16-1 in dual matches. He is tied for first on the team in falls with sophomore B.J. Padden, tied for second on the team in technical falls (three), dual takedowns (55) and dual points (72). Of Shufelt’s 22 wins, 16 have earned the Huskers bonus points. Of his last 11 matches, nine have earned bonus points. Shufelt earned a first-place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Dec. 5-6.

Travis Pascoe, Jr., 184, Rathdrum, Idaho q After a change in weight class, Pascoe is 22-0, which includes a first-place showing at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Dec. 5-6. The team leader in takedowns with 62, Pascoe has only been taken to the mat four times. Thirteen of Pascoe’s last 16 wins have earned the Huskers bonus points. Pascoe also leads the Huskers in technical falls with five.

B.J. Padden, So., 197, Buffalo County, S.D. q Currently ranked third in the country, sophomore B.J. Padden has already surpassed last season's win total of 17. Of Padden’s 19 wins, 14 have resulted in bonus points, including 11 pins, which are tied for first on the team with junior Travis Shufelt. He opened the season by recording four falls in his first five wins.

Nathan McClain, Sr., HWT, Flora Vista, N.M. q McClain is off to an 18-4 record, while taking over for an injured Mitch Manstedt. McClain leads the team in major decisions with nine and is third on the team in takedowns with48. At the Cliff Keen Invitational, McClain earned a seventh-place finish. McClain has matched his win total from all of last season. He is currently ranked 9th according to W.I.N. magazine.

Manning Hits 50
With a 33-9 decision over Wyoming on Jan. 17, Mark Manning won his 50th career dual at NU. In Manning’s four years at Nebraska, he has compiled a career record of 51-23-0, which includes three top-15 NCAA finishes.

He has coached nine All-Americans and two NCAA runner-ups during his tenure as well. His 51 victories are fourth all-time in school history behind Tim Neumann (199), Bob Fehrs (95) and Orval Borgialli (73).

Huskers Strong at Home
With its 23-13 defeat over No. 4 Missouri on Jan. 24, NU recorded its 13th victory in its last 16 home matches. The Huskers have won 12 straight at home, last losing to Minnesota in 2003.

During that 12-match stretch, NU has defeated five ranked opponents. The average margin of victory during this stretch is 24 points.

The 12-match home win streak is the second-longest in school history, two short of the mark that was set in 1989-90.

Huskers Rank Among Nations Best
Sophomore B.J. Padden currently leads the 197-pound weight class in pins with 11, according to the last fall leaders compiled by InterMat. Padden’s 11 pins place him fifth among all Division I wrestlers. Junior Travis Shufelt is tried for second in the 149-pound weight class with 10 falls. Matt Keller is tied for eighth, while Travis Shufelt and Travis Pascoe are tied for sixth in wins in their respective weight classes.

That’s a First
With holding Arizona State to -1 on Jan. 11 at the Virginia Duals, it marked the first time in school history that the Huskers have held a team to a negative score. Coincidently, it was not the first negative score that the Sun Devils have been associated with. In 1978, ASU downed Utah, 50-(-2).

Up Next
Following the dual against the Sun Devils, NU will travel to Ames, Iowa to take of the eighth-ranked Iowa State on Thursday, Feb. 5 before heading to Stillwater, Okla. to take of top-ranked Oklahoma State on Feb. 7. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.