Huskers Return to Southeast after Virginia Title

Dual #16:<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

No.  6/7 <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska (13-1-1) at North Carolina (2-2)

Carmichael Auditorium?Chapel Hill, N.C.?Saturday, Jan. 22?Noon

Website: www.tarheelblue.com

Series Record: Nebraska leads, 6-1

Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 26-12, on Jan. 14, 2005 in Hampton, Va. at Virginia Duals

 

Dual #17:

No.  6/7 Nebraska (13-1-1) at North CarolinaState (3-3)

Reynolds Coliseum?Raleigh, N.C.?Saturday, Jan. 22?6 p.m.

Website: gopack.collegesports.com

Series Record: Nebraska leads, 1-0

Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 23-13, on Dec. 5, 1982 in Bethlehem, Pa.

 

Huskers Head back to Southeast after Virginia Title

    After a perfect 4-0 weekend at the Virginia Duals Jan. 14-15 in Hampton, Va., the sixth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team returns to America’s Southeast for a pair of duals in the state of North Carolina.  The Huskers start their weekend with a Noon dual Saturday against North Carolina after beating the Tar Heels, 26-12, in the first round of the Virginia Duals.  Last year, Nebraska shutout North Carolina, 47-0, on Feb. 14 at the NU Coliseum.  After facing North Carolina, the Huskers head to Raleigh to matchup with North CarolinaState for the first time since Dec. 5, 1982.

 

Last Action: Nebraska-1st Place at the Virginia Duals

    The Huskers won the Virginia Duals for the second straight year last weekend in Hampton, Va.  NU won four duals by a combined score of 122-33.  Four Huskers won all four of their matches, led by Travis Pascoe, who stretched his winning streak to 163 with four wins, including three by major decision and one technical fall.  Jacob Klein also notched a pair of bonus-point victories at the Virginia Duals, including a major decision win and a win by fall.  Matt Murray and B.J. Padden recorded a bonus-point win each among the four they earned at Hampton, Va. 

    Top-seeded Nebraska opened with a 26-12 victory over North Carolina.  The Huskers won five of the first six matches to all but clinch the victory.  In the quarterfinals on Friday, NU shutout Ohio, 41-0, to earn their third straight trip to the Virginia Duals semifinals and their third shutout of the season.  On Saturday, Nebraska defeated Rider, 30-12.  After a setback at 125 pounds, the Huskers won four of the next five matches and closed with back-to-back major decision wins from Pascoe and Padden, followed by a win by forfeit by Jon May at heavyweight. 

    In the finals, Nebraska beat Indiana, 25-9.  After losing at 125 pounds, the Huskers won the next five matches.  After a setback at 174 pounds, Nebraska got major decision victories from Travis Pascoe at 184 pounds and B.J. Padden at 197 pounds and a win by forfeit by Jon May at heavyweight to close out the dual.  In the last three years at the Virginia Duals, Nebraska is a combined 11-1, with a pair of championships and a second-place finish in 2003. 

 

Scouting North Carolina

      North Carolina is 2-2 on the 2004-05 season, including a 26-12 loss to Nebraska in the first round of the Virginia Duals.  The Tar Heels are led by 13th-ranked Evan Sola at 133 pounds.  One of only three Tar Heel wrestlers to earn a win against Nebraska last weekend at the Virginia Duals, the 13th-ranked Sola is the only ranked North Carolina wrestler.  The Tar Heels returned three starters from last year’s team, which finished fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

 

Scouting North CarolinaState

      North CarolinaState is 3-3 on the 2004-05 season, including a 40-0 loss against No. 2 Illinois on Jan. 15.  The Wolfpack is the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion, after a 9-6 dual season in 2003-04.  NC State finished 42nd last year at the NCAA Championships, but lost all three of its national qualifiers.

 

The Last Time We Met (Part I):  Feb. 14, 2004, NU 47, North Carolina 0

      Behind three pins, two forfeits and a technical fall, the Huskers defeated defending ACC Champion North Carolina, 47-0 in front of 625 fans at the NU Coliseum. Senior Joey Malia improved to 7-1 on the season with his fifth fall over Bobby Shaw 45 seconds into their match. Sophomore Kyle Gubbels added his third fall of the year against Venroy July, pinning him as time expired at the end of the second period, while junior Travis Pascoe rebounded from his first loss of the year to pin Matt Canty in 4:05.

 

The Last Time We Met (Part II):  Dec. 5, 1982, NU 23, N.C.State 13

      Nebraska defeated North CarolinaState, 23-13, on Dec. 5, 1982, in the third victory in a four-dual winning streak for Nebraska during the 1982-83 season.  The Huskers finished sixth at the NCAA Championships that year.

 

Pascoe Heating Up for Huskers

      184-pound wrestler Travis Pascoe continued his hot wrestling of late with four bonus-point victories at the Virginia Duals.  The senior from Rathdrum, Idaho, is on a 17-match winning streak entering this weekend, after splitting his first two matches of the season.

      Pascoe was dominant at the Virginia Duals, earning three major decision victories and one win by technical fall.  He capped his trip to Hampton, Va., with a 19-9 major decision win over 17th-ranked Andy Rios of Indiana.

      That runs Pascoe’s total of bonus-point victories during the winning streak to 11.  Of his last 11 matches (all wins), seven have gone for bonus points, including the last five.  The winning streak started with three bonus-point victories in the early rounds of the Las Vegas Invitational, in which Pascoe went 5-0 to take the 184-pound crown. 

      In his two career dual matches against North Carolina, he has earned a pair of bonus-point wins.  At the Virginia Duals last weekend, Pascoe beat Justin Dobies by major decision, 14-6.  Last year, Pascoe pinned Matt Canty 1:05 into the second period to close NU’s 47-0 shutout of the Tar Heels at the NU Coliseum.

 

Wright Has Right Stuff for NU This Season

      In three duals this year, a victory by 157-pound wrestler B.J. Wright has given the Huskers the lead.  It happened again, Jan. 4, against Minnesota.  After Nebraska and the Gophers split the first two matches of the dual, Wright pinned Minnesota’s Nik Lentz with 59 seconds left in the first period.  NU would win four of the next seven matches to defeat the Gophers for the first time since Jan. 9, 1996.

      Wright gave Husker fans a glimpse into his future heroics in the first dual of the season, Nov. 19 against Hofstra.  After Travis Shufelt defeated nationally-ranked Jon Masa at 149 pounds, the Huskers were still down to Hofstra, 17-15, with two matches left in the dual.  B.J. Wright gave Nebraska the lead for good in a spectacular third period which earned Wright an 8-2 win over Hofstra’s James Strouse.Strouse and Wright were tied at 2-2 entering the third period.  Wright chose down, then scored an escape 19 seconds into the period to take a 3-2 lead.  Then, in the match’s last ten seconds, Wright scored a takedown and a two-point near fall.  With the riding time bonus point, Wright won 8-2.

      In NU’s second dual, a 20-15 win over then-No. 10 West Virginia, Wright, then the ninth-ranked 157-pound wrestler, knocked off No. 6 Matt Lebe.  An escape 16 seconds into the second period gave Wright the lead, and he rode Lebe for the duation of the third period. 

 

Huskers Start 2004-05 with Historic Win Streak

      After a 21-12 win over No. 7 Minnesota Jan. 4, at the NU Coliseum, Nebraska tied a school record by starting the season on a nine-dual winning streak, matching the standard set in 2000-01, Mark Manning’s first year as head coach at Nebraska.  Nebraska defeated nationally-ranked Hofstra, West Virginia and Minnesota during the run.

 

Manning Reaches 65 Wins at Nebraska in Virginia

      Nebraska head coach Mark Manning became the fastest Husker mentor to 65 career dual wins at NU with Nebraska’s semifinal win over Rider at the Virginia Duals.  Manning reached the 65-win mark in five fewer duals than Tim Neumann, NU’s head coach from 1985-2000.  Manning, now 66-26-1 in his five-year career as the Huskers’ head coach, is seven wins away from third place on Nebraska’s charts for dual wins by a head coach, equalling Orval Borgialli, NU’s head coach from 1964-78.

 

Non-Varsity Notes

   Nebraska’s non-varsity is off this week, after competing at the Brand Open Jan. 15 in Omaha, Neb.  Six Huskers placed, including three individual champions.  At 125 pounds, Paul Donahoe won his fourth individual title of the year.  Brandon Browne stretched his winning streak to nine in winning his second straight individual championship of the season at 165 pounds.  Todd Meneely, making his debut at NU, won the 141 pound-championship.  Ben Johnson (184) and Chris Oliver (157) were runners-up in their respective weight classes, while Robert Sanders was fourth at 149 pounds.

   Seven Huskers were placewinners at the Beamen Open in Blair, Neb., on Jan. 8.  They were led by five individual champions, including Paul Donahoe at 125 pounds, Chris Oliver at 157 pounds, Brandon Browne at 165 pounds, Matt Farrell at 174 pounds and Ryan Goodman at 197 pounds.  At 149 pounds, Gregg Romano took third, one spot ahead of Robert Sanders. 

   The non-varsity finished 2004 at the UNK Runza Loper Open on Dec. 11.  Five Huskers were placewinners, led by 174-pound champion Matt Farrell.  Joe Morrison finished second at 133 pounds.  At 165 pounds, Brandon Browne finished third.  Robert Sanders earned fifth at 149 pounds, while Ben Johnson took sixth.

      At the Harold Nichols Open at Fort Dodge, Iowa, on Saturday, Nov. 13, Paul Donahoe and Chad Sportelli shared the championship at 125 pounds.  David Ingalls was defeated in the finals at 157 pounds by IowaState’s Trent Paulson, 3-1 in overtime, to earn second.  At heavyweight, Jon May finished fourth after losing the third-place match to Blake Gillis of Wartburg, 7-1.

      The non-varsity competed along with the varsity at the Kaufman-Brand Open in Omaha, Neb. on Nov. 20.  In the open division, Jon May took fourth at heavyweight.  Chad Sportelli finished sixth at 125 after losing 5-0 to Derrick Fleenor of OklahomaState.  In the 20-and-under division, Paul Donahoe took the 125-pound championship, defeating Hofstra’s Dave Tomasette 4-3 in the final.  Joe Morrison earned runner-up at 133 pounds, while Chris Oliver took third at 157 pounds with a 13-2 major decision over Ben Henderson of DanaCollege.  A pair of Huskers placed at 174 pounds, with Matt Farrell earning third and Cody Foust taking sixth.  Heavyweight Jon May took second as NU’s only placewinner at the UNI Open in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Dec. 4.

      The non-varsity will close their competition at the Great Plains Open, Saturday, Jan. 29, at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb.

 

Scherr Named Head Coach of 2005 Women’s World Team

      Bill Scherr, a national champion at 190 pounds for Nebraska in 1984, was named a coach of the 2005 Women’s World wrestling team earlier this week.

      Noted for his five straight medals including the 1985 world championship and the 1988 bronze medal in international freestyle competition, Scherr was a three-time All-American at Nebraska.  He finished fourth at 190 pounds in 1982 and third at 190 pounds in 1983.  He currently serves as a volunteer assistant coach for NorthwesternUniversity.  Before coaching at Northwestern, he was an assistant at Indiana.  The world championships are Sept. 27-Oct. 2 in Budapest, Hungary.

     

Huskers, Cowboys Set for National Television Appearance

      College Sports Television announced that it will broadcast Nebraska’s Feb. 10 home dual against defending national champion OklahomaState on CSTV live starting at 7 p.m. from the NU Coliseum.  It will be simulcast locally on NETV.  One of 12 national wrestling broadcasts by CSTV, the Feb. 10 broadcast will be the only one that features a pair of Big 12 Conference teams. 

 

Up Next

      The Nebraska wrestling team opens Big 12 competition with a 7 p.m. dual on Saturday, Jan. 29, against Missouri in Columbia, Mo.  The Huskers beat the Tigers, 23-13, last season at the NU Coliseum.  Video from the dual will be streamed on HuskersNside, the premium site for Nebraska Athletics.