Huskers Open 2006-07 at the Cowboy Open

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No.  19/18 <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska at Cowboy Open

War Memorial Fieldhouse? Laramie, Wyo.? Saturday, Nov. 11?10 a.m.

 

Huskers Open 2006-07 at the Cowboy Open

The 18th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team opens its season with the Cowboy Open on Nov. 11.  No team scoring will be kept at this event, but the Huskers will send the majority of their varsity lineup to Laramie.  

 

2006-07 Outlook

Armed with seven returning NCAA qualifiers and eight returning starters, the 2006-07 Nebraska wrestling team is ready for a strong season after last year's 12-5 showing that included a third-place finish at the NWCA National Duals and a 16th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

 

"We have a lot of potential," seventh-year head coach Mark Manning said. "We have a fairly young team with only two seniors, but we do have experience and I feel that we're on the brink of making a mark.  We have won some big matches, and now our sights are set on higher goals and aspirations."

 

Nebraska, which opens the season ranked 18th in the USA Today/Intermat coaches poll, is led by a pair of seniors, 141-pound wrestler Dominick Moyer and 165-pounder Marc Harwood.

 

"I see our team growing a lot in terms of leadership," Manning said.  "Our leadership has been growing since the summer.  We've been working on the details to win the big matches.  This team has a tremendous attitude and work ethic."

 

Moyer is coming off a 19-12 season that ended with him wrestling at the NCAA Championships.  He was named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week in late January last season for his pin of Missouri's Chris McCormick to clinch a dual victory for the Huskers over the Tigers at the NU Coliseum.  His pin of McCormick was the second of three straight wins by fall by Moyer in dual matches.  He ended up with a total of four pins last year.  Moyer opens the season ranked 16th in the NWCA/Intermat poll.

 

Harwood qualified for nationals and earned a 14-10 record in a tough 165-pound weight class in which all five Big 12 wrestlers were ranked in the top 20 at the end of the season.  Harwood started last season strong, winning 11 of his first 13 matches including a win over fourth-ranked Matt Nagel of Minnesota in December.  The Lakewood, Minn., native is aiming to qualify for his second career NCAA Championships in his career.  Harwood opens his final season at NU ranked 12th by Intermat.

 

One of the top Husker returners is sophomore 125-pound wrestler Paul Donahoe.  The Davision, Mich., native won 13 of his first 14 matches last season and never looked back en route to a 26-9 record in his first season on the varsity squad in which he won nine matches by fall.  Donahoe is the sixth-ranked 125-pounder by Intermat coming into this season.

 

"Paul is maturing and getting smarter as he gets older," Manning said.  "He's become more disciplined in his approach to being a student-athlete."

 

Another underclassman with great potential is sophomore 184-pounder Vince Jones.  The Sickerville, N.J., native came out of his redshirt year last season in mid-January for National Duals and defeated three ranked opponents in his first four varsity matches, all wins.  Included in Jones' incredible debut at National Duals was a 4-3 win over second-ranked Paul Bradley of Iowa.  Jones, who earned 14 wins by fall in his first year at NU, went 3-2 in his first trip to nationals including two pins.  He opens the season ranked sixth by Intermat at 184 pounds. 

 

Heavyweight Jon May also returns after starting for parts of the last two years for the Huskers.  After splitting time with Mitch Manstedt as a freshman, May was the Huskers' heavyweight for every single dual in 2005-06. 

 

The Hutchinson, Minn., native finished last season 18-10.  A third-place showing at the Big 12 Championships earned May his first trip to nationals, in which he finished 1-2.  May opens this season ranked 14th by Intermat.

 

At 149 pounds, Robert Sanders will try to build on the momentum from his surprising run to the NCAA Championships last season.  Sanders, who ended last season 13-13 overall, won a pair of matches at the Big 12 Championships to punch his ticket to nationals.  The wrestling team's representative on Nebraska's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Sanders opens this season ranked 10th in the Intermat/NWCA coaches poll.

 

Patrick Aleksanyan is slated to start for NU at 133 pounds.  Like Sanders, he authored a surprising third-place run at the Big 12 Championships to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships.  Aleksanyan was 17-16 for the Huskers last season.  He keyed Nebraska's 18-16 win over Central Michigan in the third-place match of the National Duals with a 6-4 overtime win over 14th-ranked Jason Borrelli.  Aleksanyan will be pushed for starting time by redshirt freshman Mike Rowe.  Rowe was 12-4 last season wrestling in open tournaments. 

 

Back at 157 pounds for Nebraska is Chris Oliver.  The Omaha Creighton Prep product was 16-9 in his first season at the varsity level and was 11-5 in dual competition, including two wins over top-five wrestlers.  Against Michigan at the National Duals, Oliver stuffed a Wolverine winning streak of three matches with a win by fall over fifth-ranked Steve Luke to turn a 9-6 deficit in the dual into a 12-9 lead.  Nebraska would not trail again in the dual, beating Michigan and clinching a top-four finish at National Duals with a 24-16 triumph.  Oliver is the No. 13 157-pounder, according to Intermat.

 

The two open spots in Nebraska's lineup are at 174 and 197 pounds, and the shoes to fill there are big, as those spots were occupied by Husker All-Americans Jacob Klein and B.J. Padden, respectively.  Klein was 24-6 last year, including wins in 17 of his first 18 matches.  He closed the season with a seventh-place finish at nationals to earn his second career All-America honor.  Padden spent the entire year ranked in the top five at 197 pounds.  He ended it with a third-place finish at nationals to earn his second career All-America citation two weeks after defeating OklahomaState's Jake Rosholt 4-0 to win his second career Big 12 championship.

 

Brandon Browne is the frontrunner to enter into Nebraska's starting lineup at 174, while Levi Wofford is expected to step in at 197.  Browne was 14-6 in his second year in the program, including a 3-3 mark in dual competition.  Wofford was 24-7 in his first year at NU with four top-three finishes in open tournaments.

 

As always, the Big 12 is shaping up to be one of the toughest conferences in the nation, with four schools in the preseason top six.  That list is led by second-ranked Oklahoma State, which has won the last four NCAA Championships, will be challenged by the loss of six starters from last year's squad.

 

Vaulting into the top three after a 15th-place finish last year is Missouri.  The Tigers are led by Ben Askren, who is the top-ranked 174-pounder after being named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of last year's NCAA Championships.  Also in the top five is fourth-ranked Oklahoma and sixth-ranked IowaState. 

 

The strength of the Big 12 Conference will be the base for a very challenging schedule for Nebraska.  The Huskers will take on five of the top six teams in the nation according to the preseason polls in a month-long stretch beginning Jan. 20 with a home dual against IowaState and closing Feb. 11 with a home dual against No. 1 Minnesota.  Nebraska will also host second-ranked OklahomaState on Feb. 1 during that stretch.

 

"It's all about preparing for Big 12's and nationals," Manning said about the schedule.  "It comes down to experience and training to win at the NCAAs.  We have had a very good dual team.  Now, our goal is to get our young guys ready to place at the NCAA Championships."

 

Back on Nebraska's schedule for a second straight year after a five-year absence is a trip to National Duals.  The Huskers made a resounding return to the National Duals.  Despite entering the tournament unseeded, Nebraska took home third place, defeating Big Ten powers Iowa and Michigan on the first day of the tournament.

 

"It's a very tough tournament," Manning said. "You have all the top teams there, so taking third last year was a great accomplishment because we were such a young team and no one expected us to excel there."

Tough Road To Detroit Awaits Nebraska

The Nebraska wrestling program has always dealt with a difficult schedule in the Big 12 Conference.  But few years have seen one conference so thoroughly dominate the top six rankings.  In both major polls, four of the top six teams in the nation are from the Big 12.  Nebraska will take the challenge of the Big 12 Conference head on when it faces five of the top six teams in a 22-day stretch from Jan. 20 to Feb. 11.  The Huskers, one of only three teams in the nation to see five of the top six in the nation on their schedule, will start the difficult stretch with a home dual against IowaState and close it with a home dual against top-ranked Minnesota in Lincoln. 

Experienced but Young Huskers Set to Tackle the 2006-07 Season

Nebraska is in a unique position entering the 2006-07 season.  The Huskers return eight starters and seven NCAA qualifiers from last year’s team, which rank among the highest totals in those two categories in Mark Manning’s seven years as Nebraska’s head coach.  However, the two seniors on Nebraska’s roster match the fewest that Manning has had as Nebraska’s coach.   

 

Both experience and youth have proven valuable for Manning as Nebraska’s coach.  When the Huskers had only two seniors in 2001-02, they rebounded from an 8-9 regular season to take eighth at the NCAA Championships, the program’s 14th top-10 finish.  The two times that Nebraska returned eight starters (2004 and 2005), Nebraska has won 19 duals and, in 2004, took fifth at nationals.

Three Pairs of Brothers Lead Huskers

Most wrestling teams see themselves as families, but the 2006-07 Nebraska wrestling team takes it to an entirely different level with three sets of brothers.  Among the 17 true freshmen on Nebraska’s roster, three are the younger brothers of returning Huskers.  Dominick Moyer, Robert Sanders and Brandon Browne were joined by their younger brothers Derek, Paul and Cameron, respectively.

 

Dominick Moyer, a returning starter and NCAA qualifier at 141 pounds, is joined on the NU wrestling squad by his brother, Derek, who was a three-time state champion at OskaloosaHigh School in Iowa.  Robert Sanders, who also started last season and qualified for nationals at 149 pounds, reunites with his brother Paul at NU.  With their father, Bob, as their head coach, both Robert and Paul were two-time state champions at San JuanHigh School in Blanding, Utah.  Brandon Browne, a frontrunner for starting time at 174 pounds, will be joined this season by his brother, Cameron.  Brandon was a two-time state champion at PlattsmouthHigh School, while Cameron earned one state title during his time at PHS.

 

Since 1990, six pairs of brothers have lettered for NU, including the Buxtons (Jason, 1991-92; John 1990-93), the Coltvets (Jeff, 1985-86, 1988-89; Rick, 1992-93), the DeAndas (Tony, 1995-96; Jose, 1996-99), the Hensons (Joe, 1999-2000; Josh, 1999-2000), the Malias (Joe, 2000-04; Ty, 2001) and the Verings (Brad, 1998-2001; Russ, 1994).  Among those wrestlers are three that attained All-America status, including three-time All-American and 2000 national champion Brad Vering.  Jose DeAnda and John Buxton also earned All-America honors during their Husker careers. 

 

In NU wrestling history, the most decorated pair of brothers are the Scherrs.  Bill and Jim Scherr each won a national championship in 1984, Jim at 177 pounds, Bill at 190.  Jim earned a pair of All-America honors during his career, while Bill was a three-time All-American.  Both Bill and Jim are members of Nebraska’s 100-win club.

Non-Varsity Notes

Nebraska’s non-varsity wrestlers will be split between Laramie, Wyo., and Fort Dodge, Iowa, where the Harold Nichols Open will take place on the campus of IowaCentralCommunity College.  The non-varsity wrestlers will wrestle with the varsity for the Kaufman-Brand Open on Saturday, Nov. 18 in Omaha, Neb.  Then, the redshirts will head to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the UNI Open on Dec. 3 before wrapping up first semester competition with the UNK Loper Open in Kearney, Neb., on Dec. 9.  After the holiday break, the Huskers’ non-varsity wrestlers will compete in a pair of in-state opens, starting with the Dana College Open on Jan. 6 in Blair, followed by the Glen Brand Open in Omaha on Jan. 20.

 

Next up: Nebraska at Kaufman-Brand Open in Omaha

Nebraska competes in its second straight open tournament when it travels to the Kaufman-Brand Open at Sapp Fieldhouse in Omaha, Neb., on Saturday, Nov. 18, starting at 9 a.m.  Last year, three Huskers finished in the top three in their respective weight classes in the open division, while six NU wrestlers placed in the 20-and-under divisions in their respective weight classes.