Nebraska Starts Conference Action against Missouri

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No.  6/7 <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska (15-1-1) at No. 13/12 Missouri (12-2)

Hearnes Center?Columbia, Mo.?Saturday, Jan. 29?7 p.m.

Website: mutigers.collegesports.com

Series Record: Nebraska leads, 35-13-3

Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 23-13, on Jan. 24, 2004 at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb.

 

Nebraska Starts Conference Action against Missouri

Riding a six-dual winning streak, the sixth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team enters the Big 12 portion of its schedule with a 7 p.m. dual on Saturday, Jan. 29 against Missouri at the HearnesCenter in Columbia, Mo. 

 

Last Action: Nebraska 34, North Carolina 7/Nebraska 35, NC State 12

The sixth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team picked up pins from Travis Pascoe, B.J. Padden and Jon May to clinch a 35-12 dual win over North CarolinaState Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C. Earlier in the day, the Huskers beat North Carolina, 34-7, in Chapel Hill, N.C.

With NU leading the Wolfpack 17-12 after the 174-pound match, third-ranked 184-pound wrestler Pascoe pinned Jeremy Colbert with :11 to go in the first period. The win was Pascoe’s 19th straight. Padden, ranked 14th among 197-pound wrestlers, followed Pascoe with a pin of Zach Garren 4:54 into their match. At heavyweight, May closed the dual with a pin of Jainor Palma with 58 seconds to go in their match.

The dual started with a 6-3 win by NC State 125-pound wrestler Garrett Cummings. Dominick Moyer responded with an 8-2 victory over Matthew Spengler to tie the dual at three. Seventh-ranked Matt Murray followed with a 19-4 win by technical fall over Jeff Breese at 141 pounds to temporarily give the Huskers an 8-3 lead. But at 149 pounds, Alex Hernandez of North CarolinaState pinned 20th-ranked Chris Nedens 1:40 into their match to retake the lead for the Wolfpack, 9-8.

At 157 pounds, 13th-ranked B.J. Wright answered with an 11-5 win over Kody Hamrah to give Nebraska an 11-9 lead. This was the fourth time this year a Wright win gave the Huskers the lead for good in a dual. No. 8 165-pound wrestler Jacob Klein followed with a win by fall over Ryan Nowicki 56 seconds into the second period of their match. However at 174 pounds, Kevin Gabrielson earned a 7-3 decision over Marc Harwood, pulling the Wolfpack within five with three matches to go before the Huskers put the dual out of reach with three straight wins by fall.

Earlier in the day, after losing the first two matches the dual, Nebraska ran off eight straight wins to defeat North Carolina at the Carmichael Auditorium.

After losses at 125 and 133 pounds, a pin by Murray with 1:22 to go in the first period of his match against North Carolina’s Isaiah Britton put the Huskers on the winning track. After Nedens registered a 10-8 victory over Christopher Ramos to give Nebraska a 9-6 lead, NU picked up three straight bonus-point wins to put the dual away. At 157 pounds, Wright pinned Kyle Shelton 1:14 into their match. Klein defeated Garrett Atkinson by major decision, 16-5, at 165 pounds, and Harwood pinned Alex Maciag 1:04 into their 174-pound match.

Pascoe stretched his winning streak to 18 at 184 pounds with a 14-7 triumph over Justin Dobies. Padden sprung out to a 4-1 lead and held on to beat David Dashiell, 5-4, and Mitch Manstedt closed the dual with a 3-2 overtime win over Spencer Nadolsky at heavyweight.

 

Scouting Missouri

No. 12  Missouri comes into its dual with a 12-2 dual record after a third-place finish at the Virginia Duals.  The Tigers came back from losing in the first round to Rider to take third.  Second-ranked 174-pound wrestler Ben Askren leads the way for the Tigers with a perfect 25-0 mark.  He was named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for his 6-0 weekend in Hampton, Va., which included five wins by fall.  Also among the top 10 in their weight class are 165-pound wrestler Tyron Woodley and Matt Pell at 184 pounds.

 

The Last Time We Met: Jan. 24, 2004, #3 NU 23, #4 Missouri 13

The Huskers opened conference action with a victory for the first time since 2000-01 by defeating fourth-ranked Missouri, 23-13, in front of 1,372 fans in Lincoln.  NU won seven of 10 matches, as Matt Murray scored a 5-1 decision over 13th-ranked J.P. Reese in the opening match.  No. 15 Jacob Klein scored a 3-2 victory over Tyron Woodley, while Matt Keller ended the match with NU’s fifth straight win by defeating Paul Collum, 10-1.

 

Pascoe Heating Up for Huskers

With a pair of victories this weekend in the state of North Carolina, senior 184-pound wrestler Travis Pascoe stretched his winning streak to 19, after splitting the first two matches of the season.  Pascoe was the first of three straight Huskers to win by fall to close NU’s 35-12 win over North CarolinaState.  The senior from Rathdrum, Idaho pinned Jeremy Colbert with 11 seconds to go in the first period.  Earlier in the day, he defeated Justin Dobies of North Carolina, 14-7.

In North Carolina, Pascoe built on the dominance he showed at the Virginia Duals,where he earned 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.

With the pin against North Carolina, Pascoe now has 12 bonus-point wins during the winning streak. Of his last 13 matches (all wins), eight have gone for bonus points, including the last six of the last seven. 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.

 

Wright Has Right Stuff for NU This Season

With his 11-5 win over Kody Hamrah of North Carolina State Saturday, B.J. Wright gave the Huskers a lead in the dual that they would not give up for the fourth time this season.  Wright’s win gave the Huskers an 11-9 lead. 

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 10 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.

On 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.

 

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 68-26-1 in his five-year career as the Huskers’ head coach, is five 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 wrestlers finish their schedule Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Great Plains Open in Lincoln, Neb. In their last action, six Huskers placed at the Brand Open Jan. 15 in Omaha Neb., 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 Iowa State’s Trent Paulson, 3-1 in overtime, to earn second. At heavyweight, Jon May finished fourth after losing the third-place match 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 Oklahoma State. 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 Dana College. 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.

 

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 month.

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 Northwestern University. 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 Oklahoma State 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

After an off-week, the Nebraska wrestling team faces defending national champion and No. 1 Oklahoma State on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln.  The match will be televised nationally on CSTV and locally on NETV.  The Cowboys defeated the Huskers, 25-9, last year at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., on Feb. 7, 2004.  Nebraska is looking for its first victory over Oklahoma State since Feb. 14, 1992, when NU defeated OSU, 39-12, in Stillwater, Okla.  The Huskers have beaten Oklahoma State in Lincoln only once, during the 1921-22 season, 36-11.