Nebraska Returns to Cedar Falls for National Duals

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No. 23/20 <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska (6-1) vs. No. 6/3 Hofstra (7-0-2)

UNI Dome?Cedar Falls, Iowa?Saturday, Jan. 13?11 a.m.

First Round, 2007 Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals

Series History: NU leads, 4-0

Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 21-16, on Nov. 19, 2004 in Lincoln, Neb.

 

Nebraska Returns to Cedar Falls for National Duals

The 20th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team looks to get back on the winning track at the 2007 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals.  For the second straight year, the event will be held at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  Last year, the Huskers finished third despite starting the tournament unseeded.  Nebraska defeated Iowa and Michigan in the first day of the tournament to put itself in position to take third.  This year, Nebraska will take on No. 3 seed Hofstra in the first round, with the winner taking on the winner of No. 6 seed IowaState and Michigan and the loser taking the loser of the Iowa State/Michigan match.  Four Big 12 teams are among the top seven seeds, including No. 1 seed and top-ranked Missouri. 

 

The National Duals involve college wrestling teams from all levels, including teams from all three divisions of the NCAA, the NAIA, NCWA, as well as women’s college teams.  The final day of the event, including the placing rounds and the finals, will be shown via streaming video on the Internet on www.livevideosports.com.

 

Last Time Out: OregonState 21, NU 15, Jan. 5, 2006

Despite getting major decision victories from Craig Brester, Paul Donahoe and Stephen Dwyer, the No. 17 Nebraska wrestling team fell to OregonState, 21-15 at the NU Coliseum.

 

The dual was hotly contested throughout, as neither team held a lead larger than four points until the end of the dual.  Consistent with the close nature of the dual, five of the nine actual matches in it were decided by two points or less. 

 

Brester opened the dual at a strong pace with a 21-7 major decision triumph over Travis Gardner at 197 pounds.  Brester took a 10-3 lead after the first period and never looked back en route to the victory.

 

After a forfeit at heavyweight gave OregonState a two-point lead, Donahoe put Nebraska back into the driver’s seat with a 14-4 major decision over Jake Gonzales at 125 pounds.  Donahoe put the match out of reach with a strong second period in which he outscored Gonzales 5-1, including a takedown with one second to go in the frame.

 

A setback at 133 pounds put the Beavers back out front, but Dominick Moyer gave the Huskers a two-point lead with an 8-7 overtime victory over Kyle Larson at 141 pounds.  Moyer scored a reversal with seven seconds to go in regulation to send the match to overtime.  After a quiet sudden victory period, Moyer notched a two-point nearfall nine seconds into the first half of the tiebreaker to take an 8-6 lead.  In the second tiebreaker, Larson was awarded one penalty point, drawing the match to its final margin.

 

Back-to-back losses at 149 and 157 gave OregonState a four-point lead with three matches to go, but Dwyer evened the dual with a 13-2 major decision win over Brett Arand at 165 pounds.  Dwyer put himself into position to earn bonus points with a dominant second period, in which he scored a takedown and a pair of three-point nearfalls to build an eight-point lead going to the third period. 

 

Oregon State won by two points in back-to-back matches at 174 and 184 pounds to earn the dual victory.

 

Scouting Hofstra

Hofstra vaulted on the national scene with an 18-17 win over top-ranked Minnesota at the Northeast Duals on Nov. 25.  The Pride enters the National Duals with a 7-0-2 record after back-to-back ties against No. 11 Michigan and No. 9 Central Michigan.  Hofstra looks to build on last year’s 11th-place finish and school-record 52.5 points under first-year head coach Tom Shifflet, who came to Hofstra from UNC-Greensboro after the departure of Tom Ryan.  Nine Pride wrestlers are ranked, led returning All-Americans Mike Patrovich, who finished fourth last year at 174 pounds and is ranked fifth at 165 pounds this season, and Chris Weidman, who took sixth last year at 197 and currently is ranked fourth.

 

Last Matchup: Nebraska 21, Hofstra 17, Nov. 19, 2004, Lincoln, Neb.

The No. 3 Nebraska wrestling team came back from a 17-12 deficit to defeat No. 16 Hofstra 21-17 in front of 814 fans at the Devaney Center Track on in Nov. of 2004.

 

After seven matches, Nebraska was down 17-12 to Hofstra, but at 149 pounds, No. 4 Travis Shufelt came back from two three-point deficits to defeat No. 5 John Masa 10-8.  Shufelt notched a two-point near-fall with 10 seconds left to snatch the lead, then added a point for his 1:53 advantage in riding time.

 

That started a three-match winning streak for the Huskers.  No. 6 B.J. Wright ran off six points in the third period to clinch an 8-2 decision over James Strouse in the 157-pound match.

 

Then at 165 pounds, No. 5 Jacob Klein defeated Chris Vondruska 4-2 to close out the Pride and give Nebraska the victory.

 

The dual started with Hofstra’s 174-pound Paul Siemon, ranked 12th, defeating NU’s Kyle Gubbels 9-0.  At 184 pounds, No. 7 Travis Pascoe gave the Huskers their first win of the night with a 7-4 win over Joe Rovelli.   Pascoe stormed back from a 3-2 deficit with forty seconds to go in the second period with five unanswered points.  Rovelli earned one extra point for his 1:11 advantage in riding time.

 

In one of two matchups in the dual featuring a pair of ranked wrestlers, Hofstra’s Chris Stretkowicz, ranked sixth at 197 pounds, defeated No. 8 B.J. Padden, 12-7.  Mitch Manstedt, making his return to varsity action since suffering a knee injury early last season, earned a victory by forfeit in the heavyweight division.

 

After a win at 125 pounds, Nebraska suffered back-to-back, bonus-point setbacks at 133 and 141 pounds, giving the Pride a five-point lead with three matches to go before the Huskers swept the last three matches to earn the win.

 

Scouting IowaState

No. 6 Iowa State is looking to build off winning the 2006 Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill. on Dec. 30.  Under first-year head coach Cael Sanderson, the Cyclones are 3-2 in duals, but their two losses came to fifth-ranked Iowa and second-ranked Minnesota.  IowaState has seven freshmen in the starting lineup.  Of those, four are ranked, led by ninth-ranked Jake Varner at 184 pounds.  Brothers Trent and Travis Paulson, ranked second at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively, provide senior leadership for ISU.

 

Scouting Michigan

No. 11 Michigan has four wrestlers in the top 10 and is 1-1-1 this season.  The Wolverines took secon at the Las Vegas Invitational in December and are looking to get back on the winning track after a tie to third-ranked Hofstra in their last dual.  Michigan also lost to ninth-ranked Central Michigan, 21-12, on Dec. 9.  Michigan is led by Josh Churella, who finished second last year at 149 pounds at the NCAA Championships, and Eric Tannenbaum, who is currently ranked fourth in all three polls at 165 pounds.

 

Scouting the National Duals Field

The Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals have long been regarded as one of the highlight events on the college wrestling calendar, and this year is no exception.  The field features the top nine teams in the most recent coaches’ poll.  In addition, 12 of the top 14 teams are competing in the event, and 13 ranked teams overall are in the field.  All five schools that sponsor wrestling in the Big 12 are competing, along with four Big Ten schools. 

 

With the high quality of teams at the National Duals, it is little surprise that over half of the wrestlers in the field are ranked, with 88 appearing in the most recent coaches’ poll.  Of those, 58 wrestlers are ranked in the top 10 in their respective weight classes and 35 are ranked in the top five. 

 

Nebraska’s History at the National Duals

Nebraska made a resounding return to the NWCA National Duals after a four-year absence last year with a third-place finish, the ninth time the Huskers finished in the top five in the event’s history. NU finished in the top five four straight years, from 1993 to 1996. That run coincided with the event’s five-year run in Lincoln, which saw Nebraska host the National Duals from 1993 to 1997. Nebraska ran off 11 straight top-eight finishes from 1990 to 2000. A pair of runners-up finishes, in 1993 and 1996 highlighted NU’s participation in the event. In 1993, Nebraska clinched its bid to finals with a 24-20 upset of top-ranked Iowa. The win was clinched by Rulon Gardner at heavyweight with his 12-5 win over John Ostendorp.

 

Last Year at the National Duals: Nebraska-3rd

Last year, the Huskers competed in the NWCA National Duals for the first time since 2001, Manning’s first year as Nebraska’s head coach.  NU entered the 16-team tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa unseeded, but shocked the field with a third-place finish.

 

The Huskers started their surprise run through National Duals with a 25-13 win over fifth-seeded and sixth-ranked Iowa in the first round on Jan. 14.  Nebraska started explosively, with first-period pins from Paul Donahoe and Patrick Aleksanyan.  After three straight losses pulled Iowa to within two, Nebraska ran off four straight wins to take control of the dual, starting with Marc Harwood’s 3-2 win over Eric Luedke.  After Jacob Klein was a 4-3 winner over third-ranked Mark Perry, Vince Jones made a thunderous entrance onto the collegiate wrestling stage with a 4-3 win over second-ranked Paul Bradley at 184 pounds in Jones’ first career varsity dual match.  B.J. Padden closed the winning streak with a 10-4 win over Dan Erekson to clinch the dual for NU. 

 

The Huskers continued their winning ways with a 24-16 win over fourth-seeded and fifth-ranked Michigan later in the day.  Again, Donahoe set the tone with a win by fall to give Nebraska an early lead.  After three straight losses, Chris Oliver got Nebraska back on the winning track with a pin of fifth-ranked Steve Luke to give the Huskers a short-lived three-point lead, as Michigan tied the match at 12 with a win at 165 pounds.  But the Huskers regained the lead, this time for good, with three straight wins.  Klein started the winning streak with a 4-0 win over 10th-ranked Nick Roy.  Jones followed with his first career fall in a dual, a first-period pin of 17th-ranked Tyrel Todd.  Padden clinched the dual for NU with a 10-5 win over Casey White.

 

The following day, Nebraska fell just shy of defeating top-ranked OklahomaState in the semifinals, as the Cowboys held off a late Husker rally to win, 20-14.  Nebraska was down by 13 heading into the final four matches of the dual, but three straight wins by Klein, Jones and Padden drew the Huskers to within three going into the final match.

 

Nebraska rebounded from the loss to take third place with a 21-10 win over seventh-ranked Central Michigan.  The Huskers won seven of the first eight matches to put the dual away early.  Again, Donahoe keyed the effort with a win at 125 pounds.  Aleksanyan and Dominick Moyer won back-to-back matches to give the Huskers an early nine-point lead.  After a loss at 149, NU earned four more wins to clinch the dual, including the fourth wins of the weekend for Klein, who would be named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for his efforts at National Duals, and Jones, who won his first four matches in dual competition.

 

Husker Wrestling Adds Rice to Roster

After the season-ending injury to Jon May, Nebraska was left without a heavyweight on the roster just one month into the season.  Enter Thomas Rice, a Lincoln East graduate who is a defensive end on the Husker football team.  Rice joined the NU wrestling squad soon after the football team returned from the Cotton Bowl, and made his debut as Husker wrestler with a 2-2 showing at the 2007 Dana College Open Jan. 6 in Blair, Neb.  Rice is expected to make his dual debut for Nebraska at the National Duals, moving into a heavyweight spot in which the Huskers have taken forfeits in their last five duals. 

 

 

A member of two state championship teams at Lincoln East and a high school All-American after a sixth-place finish at the Greco Roman National Championships, Rice is not the first Husker heavyweight to come over from the football ranks under head coach Mark Manning.  Mitch Manstedt also participated in both sports during his time at Nebraska.  A three-year starter, Manstedt joined the wrestling team his freshman year in mid-January 2001 after the football season, then wrestled full-time for the duration of his college career. 

 

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 ranks among the highest total in those two categories in Mark Manning’s seven years as the Huskers’ head coach.  However, the two seniors on Nebraska’s roster match the fewest that Manning has had at NU.   

 

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), the Huskers won 19 duals and, in 2004, took fifth at nationals.

 

Three Accomplished Student-Athletes Join NU Wrestling

Nebraska head wrestling coach Mark Manning announced the signing of three student-athletes during the early signing period that will join the Huskers for the 2007-08 academic year.  The three signees, Andy Pokorny of Bennington, Neb., Tucker Lane of Nucla, Colo., and Chris Hacker of El Reno, Okla., represent Nebraska’s continued success in wrestling both on and off the mat.

 

Pokorny is a two-time state champion, winning last year’s class C crown at 112 pounds after winning in 2005 at 103.  A 2006 Junior Freestyle All-American, Pokorny is the fourth-ranked 112-pound wrestler in the nation by Wrestling USA and is the 52nd ranked high school wrestler overall by Intermat.  His accomplishments are not limited to the mat, however, as he is currently second in his class with at 3.935 GPA and a 30 on his ACT.

 

Lane also comes to Nebraska with glittering athletic and academic credentials.  A two-time state champion, Lane is the nation’s second-ranked 215-pound wrestler by Wrestling USA and is the 40th ranked high school wrestler overall, according to Intermat, which has recognized him as a four-star recruit.  Lane also was a Junior Freestyle All-American in 2006.  Like Pokorny, Lane is also accomplished in the classroom.  He earned a 31 on his ACT and entered his senior year at NuclaHigh School with a 4.25 GPA, tops in his graduating class.

 

A four-time Cadet All-American and two-time Junior All-American, Hacker also joins the Huskers with an impressive resume at both the state and national levels.  Hacker captured the Class 4A championships at 152 pounds last year, and is the No. 6 152-pounder according to Wrestling USA and is the 53rd-best high school wrestler in the nation, according to Intermat.  Hacker also received recruiting attention from Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Missouri, among others.

 

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 rankings.  In both major polls, four of the top seven teams in the nation are from the Big 12.  With the Huskers’ draw of third-ranked Hofstra in the first round, Nebraska now has six of the top seven teams in both polls on its schedule.  The National Duals begin a challenging stretch of the schedule for Nebraska, in which they will face at least six of the top seven teams in the nation in a month-long stretch between Jan. 13 to Feb. 11.  The Huskers, one of only three teams in the nation to see five of the preseason top six in the nation on their schedule, will open Big 12 ocmpetition on Jan. 20 at home against No. 6 Iowa State before hitting the road the following week to take on top-ranked Missourii.

Non-Varsity Notes

Five Nebraska wrestlers earned top-four finishes at the Dana College Open on Jan. 6 in Blair, Neb.  The Huskers were led by Cameron Browne, who won the 197-pound championship.  Austin Baier (133) and Robert Sanders (149) finished third in their respective weight classes, while Derek Moyer (149) and Cody Foust (165) earned fouth-place finishes.

 

In the first weekend of the season, Matt Vacanti was the lone Husker to place at the Harold Nichols Open.  Vacanti took third with a 5-3 win over Robert Struthers of Wartburg at 125 pounds.  Austin Baier advanced to the semifinals at 141 pounds before he was defeated by Joey Slaton of Iowa.  Meanwhile, a pair of true freshmen earned gold medals at the Cowboy Open in Laramie, Wyo.  Salazar was 4-0 in a championship run in the amateur division at 149 pounds, while Dwyer was 4-0 en route to the 165-pound amateur championship.

 

At the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 18, the Huskers were led by Vacanti, who dominated the field on his way to the championship in the 125-pound amateur bracket.  He won his first three matches in the tournament by fall in a total of 7:12.  Vacanti defeated Terrance Young of Iowa Central by decision, 3-1, before knocking off OklahomaState’s Ben Ashmore, 3-2, in the finals.  In addition to Vacanti’s title, a pair of Nebraska wrestlers earned third-place finishes in their respective amateur brackets, including Salazar at 149 pounds and Stephen Dwyer at 165 pounds.  Jordan Burroughs took fourth at 149 pounds, while Casey Gubbels and Cameron Browne finished in fifth place at 141 and 197, respectively.  Alex Ward finished sixth at 165 pounds.  On Dec. 2, Vacanti earned a third-place finish at 125 pounds to lead the Huskers’ effort at the UNI Open.  Curtis Salazar finished fourth at 149 pounds at the UNK Loper Open on Dec. 9 in Kearney, Neb, the last scheduled tournament for Nebraska’s non-varsity wrestlers before the holiday break.  Nebraska will wrap-up scheduled non-varsity competition with the Glen Brand Open, hosted by the University of Nebraska at Omaha, on Jan. 20.

 

Next up: Nebraska vs. IowaState, Jan. 20, 2007, NU Coliseum, Lincoln, Neb.

Nebraska opens Big 12 competition with a home dual against IowaState on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb.  The Huskers look for their third straight win over IowaState after back-to-back, one-point victories over ISU in the last two years.  It could be a rematch of a second-round matchup in the National Duals.  If both the Huskers and the Cyclones either win or lose in the first round on Saturday, they will face each other Saturday afternoon.