Huskers Post Fifth Shutout of Season

Lincoln ? Behind three falls, two forfeits and a technical fall, the second-ranked Nebraska wrestling team improved to 18-2 on the season by posting its fifth shutout of the year over North Carolina, 47-0, Saturday night at the NU Coliseum in front of 625 fans.

The win by NU was its 13th straight home victory while the 47 team points was a season high for NU and the most since defeating Bloomsburg, 49-6, on January 20th, 2002. NU also reached the 40-point mark for the sixth time this season.

At 197 pounds, sophomore Kyle Gubbels (Randolph, Neb.) got NU on the board first with his third fall of the season, pinning Venroy July as time expired in the second period to give NU a early 6-0 lead.

"Getting out there and wrestling at 197 pounds, I figure I had nothing to lose." Gubbels said. "We gave some guys the night off, and I wanted to go out there and do my best."

Following the Gubbels victory, senior heavyweight Nathan McClain (Flora Vista, N.M.) was taken to the mat for only the seventh time this season, but it wasn’t enough as he recorded his 20th victory of the season over Ryan Adams, 8-3 to extend the NU lead to 9-0.

Top-ranked Jason Powell (Midwest City, Okla.) jumped out to a 4-0 first period lead over Drew Forshey before winning his 18th match of the season via major decision 10-0. The major decision was Powell’s nine bonus point victory of the year.

Senior Joey Malia (Billings, Mont.) scored his fourth fall of the year as he recorded his quickest pin of the season by pinning Bobby Shaw in just 45 seconds.

"We have so many that are good and are constantly pushing each other everyday," Malia said." We have depth everywhere and that’s why we are so good."

Redshirt freshman Dominick Moyer (Oskaloosa, Iowa) extended the NU lead to 22-0 with a 7-1 decision over Mike Booth at 141 pounds. The victory over Booth raised Moyer record to 11-4 overall and 2-0 in dual action. The Huskers followed with a forfeit at 149 pounds to extend the lead to 28-0.

Junior B.J. Wright (Elberta, Utah) broke a four-dual match losing streak with a 5-3 victory over Ashton Buswell at 157 pounds. Leading by one, Wright recorded a takedown with 50 seconds left to give him a 5-3 lead and was able to withstand Buswell’s attempts at a takedown to record the win at 157 pounds.

Following the Wright win, 18th-ranked Jacob Klein (Valley Center, Kan.) used 10 takedowns to record 23-7 over Garret Atkinson at 165 pounds. NU received their second forfeit at 174 pounds to extend its lead to 41-0.

The final match of the night saw third-ranked Travis Pascoe (Rathdrum, Idaho) rebound from his first loss of the season to score his fifth fall of the year over Mark Canty in a time of 4:55.

"It was good to have Malia and Gubbels out there tonight," Nebraska Coach Mark Manning said. "We are beginning to put things together and making things click. Getting ten guys to mesh together at the same time is a tough thing to do but we are getting there."

The Huskers return to action on Friday, Feb. 20, when they take on 10th-ranked Oklahoma at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Track.

#2 Nebraska, 47 North Carolina 0
197 Kyle Gubbels (NU) by fall over Venroy July (UNC), 4:59 NU 6, UNC 0
HWT #8 Nathan McClain (NU) by decision over Ryan Adams (UNC), 8-3 NU 9, UNC 0
125 #1 Jason Powell (NU) by major decision over Drew Forshey (UNC), 10-0 NU 13, UNC 0
133 Joey Malia (NU) by fall over Bobby Shaw (UNC), :45 NU 19, UNC 0
141 Dominick Moyer (NU) by decision over Moke Booth (UNC), 7-1 NU 22, UNC
149 Jeremy Baker (NU) wins by forfeit NU 28, UNC 0
157 #12 B.J. Wright (NU) by decision over Auston Buswell (UNC), 5-3 NU 31, UNC 0
165 #18 Jacob Klein (NU) by technical fall over Garret Aktinson (UNC), 23-7, NU 35, UNC 0
174 James Pummel (NU) wins by forfeit NU 41 UNC 0
184 #3 Travis Pascoe (NU) by fall over Mark Canty (UNC), 4:05 NU 47 UNC 0