Huskers Host No. 1 OSU Tonight

Dual #19:<?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 (16-1-1) vs. No. 1/1 OklahomaState (17-0)

NU Coliseum?Lincoln, Neb.?Thursday, Feb. 10?7 p.m.

Television: NETV (statewide), CSTV (nationally)

Series Record: Oklahoma State leads, 44-3-1

Last Meeting: Oklahoma State won, 25-9, on Jan. 30, 2004, in Stillwater, Okla.

 

Dual #20:

No.  6/7 Nebraska (16-1-1) at No. 7/6 Oklahoma (15-4)

Norman High School?Norman, Okla.?Saturday, Feb. 12?7 p.m.

Website: www.soonersports.com

Series Record: Oklahoma leads, 34-13-1

Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 25-12, on Feb. 20, 2004, in Lincoln, Neb.

Huskers Face Pair of Tough Challenges

The No. 6 Nebraska wrestling faces a pair of challenging foes this week, taking on No. 1 Oklahoma State on Thursday at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln and No. 7 Oklahoma on Saturday at NormanHigh School in Norman, Okla.  The dual against OklahomaState will be televised locally on NETV (channel 12 in Lincoln) and nationally on CSTV, beginning at 7 p.m. (CST)

 

Dollar Days, Student Appreciation Highlight Promotions

The Nebraska Athletic Department is putting on a pair of promotions at the OklahomaState dual.  The first, Dollar Days, puts a $1 price tag on a general admission ticket, a hot dog or a Pepsi product.  Also, in conjuction with Student Appreciation Days, a laptop computer will be given away to a UNL student in attendance.

 

Last Action: #6 Nebraska 26. #12 Missouri 12

The sixth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team won its first four matches and never looked back in its 26-12 victory over No. 12 Missouri Jan. 29 at the HearnesCenter in Columbia, Mo.

The dual started with second-ranked 184-pound wrestler Travis Pascoe stretching his winning streak to 20 with a 7-4 win over 10th-ranked Matt Pell. B.J. Padden, the 12th-ranked 197-pound wrestler, followed with a 2-0 victory over No. 17 Jeff Foust. At heavyweight, Nebraska’s Mitch Manstedt beat Chase Wetenkamp of Missouri, 9-4. No. 8 Matt Keller gave the Huskers their first bonus-point win with a pin of Tim Kephart just 1:06 into their match at 125 pounds.

After a victory by Missouri’s Tyler McCormick at 133 pounds, seventh-ranked 141-pound wrestler Matt Murray all but clinched the dual for NU with an 18-2 victory by technical fall over No. 16 Chris McCormick. Chris Nedens followed at 149 pounds with a 6-4 upset win over No. 14 Cody Greene.

  Missouri. B.J. Wright, ranked seventh at 157 pounds, defeated 15th-ranked Brad Cieleski, 7-5.

No. 9 165-pound wrestler Tyron Woodley broke Nebraska’s second four-match winning streak of the night with a 6-4 win over fourth-ranked Jacob Klein. The dual closed with top-ranked Ben Askren winning by fall at 174 pounds.

With the win, Nebraska moves to 16-1-1 on the year. The Huskers are off until Feb. 10, when they take No. 1 Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. at the NU Coliseum.

 

Scouting OklahomaState

No. 1 Oklahoma State, the defending national champions, comes into the dual with a 17-0 record.  Four Cowboys are ranked as the top wrestler in their weight class, including defending national champion Chris Pendleton at 174 pounds.  Also holding down the top spot are Zack Esposito at 149 pounds, Jake Rosholt at 197 pounds, and heavyweight Steve Mocco.  OklahomaState defeated Oregon and OregonState last weekend at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla.

 

Scouting Oklahoma

Seventh-ranked Oklahoma edged Missouri, 18-14, last weekend at the LloydNobleCenter in Norman, Okla.  The Sooners are 15-4 on the year and 1-2 in the Big 12 Conference.  They are led by Sam Hazewinkel, the No. 1 125-pound wrestler in the nation and the defending Big 12 Champion.  He defeated Nebraska’s Jason Powell in the Big 12 Championship finals, 5-2.  Powell would avenge his loss in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships, defeating Hazewinkel, 6-3 to move on to the finals.  Teyon Ware (141) and Matt Stornilo (149) are the other two Sooners among the top five in their weight class.

 

The Last Time We Met (Part I): Jan. 30, 2004, #1 OSU 25, #2 NU 9

Jason Powell became the 15th wrestler in school history to record 100 career wins with his 7-4 decision over Cody Stites, but it wasn’t enough as the top-ranked Cowboys defeated the Huskers, 25-9.  OklahomaState won seven of 10 matches, as Matt Murray and B.J. Padden were the only other Huskers to win.  Murray beat Ronnie Delk, 7-5, while Padden earned a 12-3 major decision win over Rusty Blackmon.

 

The Last Time We Met (Part II): Feb. 20, 2004, #2 NU 25, #11 OU 12

The Huskers broke a five-match losing streak to Oklahoma by winning seven of 10 matches to record a 25-12 win in front of a season-high crowd of 2,072.  The Huskers were led by redshirt freshman Matt Keller, who got NU off to a fast start with a pin of 18th-ranked Mimi Miller in 5:24 at 133 pounds.  Nebraska’s other bonus point win was Matt Murray’s 14-3 major decision victory over Shane Kidd.

 

Pascoe Heating Up for Huskers

With his 7-4 victory over Matt Pell to start Nebraska’s dual against Missouri on Jan. 29, senior 184-pound wrestler Travis Pascoe stretched his winning streak to 20 matches.  This marks the second year in a row Pascoe has a win string of 20 or more.  He started the 2003-04 season on a 23-match winning streak.  Pascoe enters this week’s competition with a 21-1 record on the season.

  Pascoe’s win over Pell comes after a pair of wins on Jan. 22 in the state of North Carolina.  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 Jan. 22, 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. 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.

 

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 69-26-1 in his five-year career as the Huskers’ head coach, is four wins away from third place on Nebraska’s charts for dual wins by a head coach, held by Orval Borgialli, NU’s head coach from 1964-78.

 

Nebraska Tough to Beat in Lincoln

With their 21-12 win over No. 7 Minnesota on Jan. 4, the Huskers stretched their school record home winning streak to 19 duals.  Nebraska has not lost at home since a 27-12 defeat at the hands of third-ranked Minnesota on Jan. 7, 2003, and has beaten eight ranked opponents in that time.

 

Non-Varsity Notes

Nebraska’s non-varsity wrestlers finished their schedule Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Great Plains Open in Lincoln, Neb.  Eleven Huskers placed, including individual champions Paul Donahoe at 125 pounds, Todd Meneely at 141 pounds, Brandon Browne at 165 pounds, Ryan Goodman at 197 pounds and Jon May at heavyweight.  Derek Pirner (133), Robert Sanders (149) and Chris Oliver (157) were all runners-up in their respective weight classes, while 149-pound wrestler Gregg Romano, 165-pound wrestler Cody Faust and 174-pound wrestler Matt Farrell all took third.

 Six Huskers placed at the Brand Open Jan. 15 in OmahaNeb., including three individual champions. At 125 pounds, Donahoe won his fourth individual title of the year.  Browne stretched his winning streak to nine in winning his second straight individual championship of the season at 165 pounds. Meneely, making his debut at NU, won the 141 pound-championship. Ben Johnson (184) and Oliver (157) were runners-up in their respective weight classes, while 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 Donahoe at 125 pounds, Oliver at 157 pounds, Browne at 165 pounds, Farrell at 174 pounds and Goodman at 197 pounds. At 149 pounds, Romano took third, one spot ahead of Sanders.

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

At the Harold Nichols Open at Fort Dodge, Iowa, on Saturday, Nov. 13, 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, 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, May took fourth at heavyweight. Sportelli finished sixth at 125 after losing 5-0 to Derrick Fleenor of OklahomaState. In the 20-and-under division, Donahoe took the 125-pound championship, defeating Hofstra’s Dave Tomasette 4-3 in the final. Morrison earned runner-up at 133 pounds, while 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 Farrell earning third and Foust taking sixth. Heavyweight 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 NorthwesternUniversity. Before coaching at Northwestern, he was an assistant at Indiana. The world championships are Sept. 27-Oct. 2 in Budapest, Hungary.

 

Up Next

Nebraska wraps up its regular season with a pair of duals at the Devaney Center Track on Friday, Feb. 18, and Saturday, Feb. 19.  The Huskers take on Air Force at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, then close their 2004-05 regular season with IowaState on Saturday at 6 p.m.  The duals coincide with the 2005 Nebraska State Wrestling Tournament, held at the DevaneyCenter both Thursday-Sunday.