Huskers Set to Face Nationally Ranked Cyclones

Lincoln --The second-ranked Nebraska (19-2) wrestling team will look to end the season on a high note as it faces off against fourth-ranked Iowa State on Thursday, Feb. 26 at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. beginning at 7 p.m. The dual between the Huskers and Cyclones was originally scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 5 but was postponed due to inclement weather.

Scouting the Opponent
Iowa State (15-4) enters the match with the Cornhuskers coming off a 45-0 shutout of North Carolina State on Feb. 21. The shutout over the Wolfpack was the Cyclones first since a 47-0 victory over Cumberland in 1998.

The Cyclones are led by a duo of outstanding grapplers in second-ranked 141-pounder, Nate Gallick and third-ranked and two-time All-American, senior Zach Roberson (133). Gallick enters the match against the Huskers with a 17-4 record. He enters the match with an 8-1 record against ranked opponents. Roberson brings a 24-2 record into the match against the Huskers, and he has won nine of his last 10 matches.

The other ranked Cyclones wrestlers are redshirt freshmen Trent Paulson (6th, 149 pounds), Travis Paulson (12th, 157 pounds), Kurt Backes (14th, 184 pounds), junior Nick Passolano (8th, 165 pounds), junior Trevor Smith (20th, 197 pounds) and Scott Coleman (20th, heavyweight)

The Cyclones are coached by Bobby Douglas, who is in his 12th year at Iowa State. Douglas owns a 169-65-3 record during his tenure at Iowa State and a career mark of 398-158-9 in 31 years of coaching.

The Series vs. Iowa State
The Cyclones lead the all-time series with the Huskers 70-12, but since 1993 the Huskers have a 7-5 lead. Last season, NU broke a three-match losing streak to the Cyclones, winning 20-17 in Lincoln.

The Huskers last won in Ames in 1996 when they defeated the Cyclones, 21-17.

Spotlight Match
In a weight class that features all five Big 12 wrestlers ranked in the top 10, junior Travis Shufelt will face off against his fifth straight ranked opponent in sixth-ranked Trent Paulson at 149 pounds. Shufelt, who has lost three Big 12 matches by a total of six points, is 4-3 against ranked grapplers this season.

Marquee Matches
The dual between the Huskers and the Cyclones will feature eight matches, including the 149-pound weight involving ranked wrestlers.

At 133 pounds, redshirt freshman Matt Keller will face off against third-ranked Zach Roberson. This will be the first meeting between the two wrestlers. At 141 pounds, junior Matt Murray (11th) will face off against second-ranked Nate Gallick. Murray enters the match with a 4-0 record against Big 12 wrestlers. At 157 pounds, B.J. Wright (11th) will take on 12th-ranked Travis Paulson followed by 17th-ranked Jacob Klein taking on eighth-ranked Nick Passolano at 165. Klein defeated Passolano in their only meeting last season, 6-2.

At 184 pounds, third-ranked Travis Pascoe will look to rebound from his second loss of the season as he faces off against 14th-ranked Kurt Backes. Sophomore B.J. Padden (2nd) will look to capture the No. 1 seed at the Big 12 Championships with a win over 20th-ranked Trevor Smith. Padden is 4-0 against Big 12 competition this season. The eighth match featuring ranked wrestles is eight-ranked Nathan McClain taking on Scott Coleman.

A win Thursday for NU would mean".
u the most wins during the regular season since recording a school-record 21 during the 1989-90 season
u the most road wins (10) since the 1980-81 season.
u the first 20-win dual season since 1989-90 and only the second in school history.
u the first time Nebraska has posted back-to-back wins over Iowa State since the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons
u the first time NU has posted three conference victories since the 1998-99 season
u the first road win over Iowa State since 1996

Assistant Coach Shawn Charles to Coach Against Former Team
NU assistant Shawn Charles will be coaching against the school where he began his collegiate coaching career. Charles was an assistant at Iowa State under Bobby Douglas from 1993-95. During the time Charles was with ISU he helped lead them to 24-11 record and a top-10 finish at the 1994 NCAA Championships.

Last Time Out
The Huskers broke a five-match losing streak to Oklahoma as they won seven of 10 matches to record a 25-12 win in front of 2,072 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Track of Feb. 20.

The Huskers were led by redshirt-freshman Matt Keller who got NU off to a fast start with pin over 18th-ranked Mimi Miller in 5:24 at 133 pounds. Other Huskers who had big wins were junior Matt Murray, who defeated Shane Kidd via major decision, 14-3 and top-ranked Jason Powell, who scored a takedown with less than 10 seconds remaining to defeat ninth-ranked Sam Hazewinkel, 3-1.

Keller Receives Big 12 Honor
Redshirt freshman Matt Keller became the third Husker wrestler to win the conference’s Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for the week of Feb. 17-23. Keller led the Huskers to their first victory over Oklahoma since 1999 as he opened the dual with his second fall of the season over 18th-ranked Mimi Miller of Oklahoma.

Travis Pascoe and Jacob Klein were the other Huskers to receive this honor this year. Oklahoma State has had the most wrestlers win with four, with Nebraska following with three.

Huskers Attendance Up
Attendance at Nebraska wrestling has seen an increase this season. In eight home duals during the 2002-03 season, the Huskers had 4,490 total fans for an average of 561. This season, 6,490 fans have packed the NU Coliseum and the Bob Devaney Sports Center Track for seven duals an average of 927 fans.

Against the Tigers on Jan. 24, NU competed in front of 1,372 before the season finale against Oklahoma in which 2,072 fans showed up.

Powell Hits Century Mark
With a 7-5 victory over Cody Stites of Oklahoma State Feb. 7, top-ranked Jason Powell became the 15th wrestler in school history to win 100 career matches.

With a 3-1 decision over ninth-ranked Sam Hazewiknel of Oklahoma on Friday, Feb. 20 Powell raised his career total to 102 wins placing him in sole possession of 13th place.

Huskers Wrestling Up NU Charts
Senior heavyweight Nathan McClain has recorded 18 dual victories which is good for seventh all-time on the season dual victories list. With his victory over Mimi Miller of Oklahoma, last Friday redshirt freshman Matt Keller recorded his 23rd victory of the season. His 23rd victory put him in a tie for 10th all-time for wins during a freshman year with current Husker Travis Pascoe and former All-American Todd Beckerman.

Huskers Scoring Big
Nebraska’s 10 regular starters have recorded 173 victories. Of those 166 victories, 99 of them have scored NU bonus points. That is a team percentage of 57.2, while six of NU’s starters have had more than 50 percent of their victories go for bonus points, including two (Travis Shufelt and Travis Pascoe) that have had 70 percent of their wins score NU bonus points.

Huskers Receiving Honors
Travis Pascoe, Jacob Klein and Keller each have received the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week award during the 2003-04 season.
Pascoe received the honor for his action during the month of December, when he went 9-0, including a first-place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational. He also received the CSTV national wrestler of the week for posting two victories over Rutgers and Hofstra on Nov. 29.

Klein won the honor for the week of Jan. 18-25 after leading the Huskers to a victory over Missouri on Jan. 24 as he defeated defending Big 12 champion, Tyron Woodly. The victory over Woodley was Klein’s first victory over a ranked opponent this season.

He also received the CSTV national Wrestler of the Week award for his victory over Woodley.

Huskers Place Six Grapplers on Big 12 Honor Roll
The University of Nebraska wrestling team placed six wrestlers on the Fall 2003 Big 12 Commissioners Honor Roll. Senior Jeremy Baker (Community Heath), Jeremy Emerson (Architectural Studies), Trevor Hill (Chemical Engineering), Matt Murray (Mathematics Education), Chris Nedens (Diverse Ag. Studies) and B.J. Wright (Finance) were the honorees.

The honor roll includes all students-athletes who achieved a 3.0 GPA or better during the semester.

Manning Records Career Coaching Victory No. 75
With a 26-9 victory over Arizona State on Jan. 30, Mark Manning recorded his 75th career coaching victory. In his seventh season as a head coach Manning has produced a record of 77-48-2. At his previous stop, Manning owned a record of 23-24-2 at Northern Iowa, while at Nebraska he owns a mark of 54-24-0 and recorded his 50th coaching win at Nebraska against Wyoming on Jan. 17.

Huskers Rolling Up the Points
After recording 47 points on Feb. 14 against North Carolina, the Huskers have now scored 30 or more points in 16 duals this season.

The 47 points recorded by NU marked the sixth time this season that NU has reached the 40-point plateau. The six 40-point outings are a school record, bettering the previous mark of three set in 1982-83 and 1985-86.

Huskers Just Dominating
u In fact, Nebraska averages better than 30 points in duals this season, outscoring opponents by an average of 33.3-7.6 in duals (700-160 total points).
u Fifteen of Nebraska’s 19 dual victories this season have been by 20 points or more, with six victories by 40 or more points.
u The five shutouts NU has recorded is a school record, with all five of them coming at home.

Huskers Reach 19 Dual Wins
With the victory over Oklahoma on Feb., 20, the Huskers raised their season win total to 19.
u The 19 wins are 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. This marks only the fourth time in school history NU has recorded 17 or more dual victories.
u This marks the 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.

Who’s Hot Among Husker Wrestlers
Matt Keller, RFr., 133, McDonald, Tenn. q First-year starter Matt Keller has won 12 of his last 14 matches, including seven that earned the Huskers bonus points. Keller is second on the team in wins with 23 and is 7-2 against ranked opponents this season. His 23 wins, places him 10th on the all-time freshman season win list.

Matt Murray, Jr., 141,Colby, Kan. q Murray enters the match against Iowa State on a five-match winning streak. He has compiled a 19-4 overall record, including a 15-3 mark in dual. All three of his three dual losses, have come against ranked opponents, including top-ranked Scott Moore of Virginia, in which Murray lost, 5-1.

Jacob Klein, So., 165, Valley Center, Kan. q After injuries slowed him during the first part of the season, sophomore Jacob Klein enters the match with the Cyclones victorious in six of his last seven matches. For the year Klein, has recorded five bonus point victories and has defeated one ranked opponent.

B.J. Padden, So, 197, Buffalo County, S.D. q Currently ranked second in the nation at 197 pounds, sophomore B.J. Padden has already eclipse last season ?swin total. This season Padden has recorded 21 wins including nine of his last 10. He enters the dual against the Cyclones with a 4-0 record against Big 12 opponents and a win over Trevor Smith will garner him the top seed at the Big 12 Championships.

Huskers Strong at Home
With its 25-12 victory over 11th-ranked Oklahoma on Feb. 20, NU recorded its 14th straight home victory last losing at home to Minnesota on Jan. 7, 2003

During that 14-match stretch, NU has defeated six ranked opponents. The average margin of victory during this stretch is 27.2 points.

The 14-match home win streak ties the longest in school history originally set in 1989-90.

During this home winning streak the Huskers have posted four shutouts, while scoring 30 or more points nine times and 40 or more points six times.

The Huskers have also won 11 straight home matches against non-conference opponents. NU has also won 30 straight matches at home against unranked opponents since 1990-91 when the school began weekly tracking or rankings.

Up Next
Following the match against the Cyclones, NU will set its sights on capturing its first Conference title as they travel to Ames, Iowa for the Big 12 Championships at the Hilton Coliseum on March 6, beginning at 10 a.m.