Huskers Open New Year with Dual Against Oregon State

Dual No. 7:
No. 20/17 <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska (6-0) vs. NR/RV OregonState (6-0)
NU Coliseum?Lincoln, Neb.?Friday, Jan. 5?7 p.m.
Series History: NU leads, 8-1
Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 33-10, on Dec. 17, 2006, in Lincoln, Neb.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Huskers Open New Year with Dual Against OregonState
After the holiday break, the Nebraska wrestling team returns to action with its fifth straight home dual as the Huskers take on Pac-10 power Oregon State on Friday, Jan. 5, 2007 at 7 p.m., at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb.  The unranked Beavers are 6-0 after defeating in-state rival Oregon 33-6 on Saturday, Dec. 9.  Former Iowa head coach Jim Zalesky is in his first year as the head coach at OSU, which took third at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 20.  This is the seventh straight season that the Beavers and Huskers have squared off on the mat, with Nebraska winning the previous six matchups. 

Last Time Out: NU 34, Wyoming 10/NU 30, Nebraska-Kearney 18
The 18th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team rode 10 bonus-point victories in two duals to defeat Wyoming, 34-10, and Nebraska-Kearney, 30-18, in the 2006 Nebraska Duals at the NU Coliseum on Saturday.

The Huskers’ explosiveness has been on display throughout the early part of this season.  Of Nebraska’s 43 individual dual wins, 24 have been bonus-point triumphs. 

Against Wyoming, Nebraska built a 15-point lead after four matches, thanks in part to two bonus-point wins.  It started with Paul Donahoe’s 20-7 major decision victory over Nick Ramirez at 125 pounds.  After Patrick Aleksanyan’s 8-6 overtime victory over Cory VomBaur, Dominick Moyer gave NU its second bonus-point win with a 19-2 technical fall win over Brandon Gifford at 141 pounds.  Robert Sanders made a strong bid for his own major decision victory, but fell just shy in a 14-7 win over Garrett Desmond.

 

The Huskers would add another four-match winning streak after a setback at 157 pounds.  Stephen Dwyer would get Nebraska back on the winning track in a big way with a pin of Kyle Morrow with 37 seconds remaining in their match at 165 pounds.  Marc Harwood added a 9-3 win over Bryan Bernal at 174 pounds, then Nebraska put the dual out of reach with back-to-back bonus-point victories.  It started with Levi Wofford’s 14-4 major decision win over Preston Pavich at 184 pounds.  Wofford took control of the match in the second period, when he notched four takedowns.  At 197 pounds, Craig Brester pinned Chet Slavin 52 seconds into their match after an early takedown put Brester in the driver’s seat of the battle from the beginning.

With the win, Mark Manning became just the third coach in school history with 90 dual wins.  He needed only 123 duals to reach the milestone, eight fewer than Bob Fehrs, the first coach in Husker history to win 90, and nine fewer than Tim Neumann, who holds the school record in dual wins with 199.

Donahoe gave Nebraska a strong start against the Lopers with a second-period win by fall over Trevor Charbonneau.  Donahoe continues to be a force for Nebraska in dual matches, earning the Huskers bonus points in five of his six dual outings.  

 

After a loss at 133 pounds, Moyer defeated Jeff Rutledge 3-0 at 141 pounds.   Moyer escaped 10 seconds into the second period to gain a one-point lead, then rode Rutledge the duration of the third period to earn the victory.  

Back-to-back losses at 149 and 157 pounds gave UNK a momentary 12-9 lead, but Nebraska answered with four straight bonus-point victories to earn the dual win.  Dwyer put the Huskers back ahead for good with a 13-4 major decision win over Keenan McCurdy at 165 pounds.  Dwyer posted six points in the last minute of the match to seal the win and give Nebraska a one-point edge with four matches remaining.

 

At 174 pounds, Harwood followed with a win by fall over Taylor May in a hotly contested match that entered the third period with Harwood holding a 2-1 lead before Harwood escaped early in the period, then earned two takedowns in the last minute.  Wofford continued the Husker hot streak with a third-period pin of Dan Hospodka at 184 pounds.  Brester closed the dual for NU with a 22-4 win by technical fall over Preston Pavich.  With the dual decided, Nebraska dropped the heavyweight match.

The win completed Nebraska’s first semester competition.  For the fifth time in Manning’s seven years at NU, the Huskers entered the holiday break undefeated.  In fact, Nebraska is 42-3 under Manning in the months of November and December. 

 

Scouting OregonState
Oregon State is off to a 6-0 start under first-year head coach Jim Zalesky and closed first-semester competition with a third-place finish at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 20.  The Beavers are led by 174-pound wrestler Jeremy Larson, went to Christmas break ranked 14th, and heavyweight Ty Watterson, who is ranked fifth.  Kyle Larson also took the 141-pound title at the Reno Tournament of Champions.    

 

Last Matchup: Nebraska 33, OregonState 10, Dec. 17, 2005 in Lincoln, Neb.
Nebraska head wrestling coach Mark Manning picked up his 100th career dual win as the 11th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team defeated OregonState, 33-10, at the Nebraska Duals at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb.

 

NU opened the dual against OregonState with four straight victories.  Robert Sanders started the winning streak for the Huskers with a hard-fought 7-6 win over Orlando Perez.  Sanders took the lead with eight seconds to go with his third reversal in a match that saw five lead changes and one tie.  After a forfeit by the Beavers at 165 pounds, sixth-ranked Jacob Klein defeated Jeremy Larson, 10-5.  Klein scored three takedowns in the first period to take a 6-3 lead and added an escape and a takedown in the third.  At 184 pounds, Brandon Browne picked up his first dual win of his career with a pin of Neal Beaudry with 27 seconds to go in the first period to give Nebraska a 21-0 lead in the dual. 

After a major decision setback at 197 pounds, 17th-ranked heavyweight wrestler Jon May clinched the dual victory with a 3-2 win over 18th-ranked Ty Watterson.  May broke a 2-2 tie with his escape 21 seconds into the third period.  

 

13th-ranked Paul Donahoe followed May’s lead with a 13-6 win over 20th-ranked Eric Stevenson.  Donahoe jumped ahead 7-3 after the first period, and sealed the victory with a third period that saw him score a takedown and two-point near fall. 

In the next match, Patrick Aleksanyan capped a frantic third period with his pin of Jake Gonzalez with one second to go in the match.  Aleksanyan scored five takedowns in the final period of the match, including one with six seconds to go that set up his win by fall.  With the dual already wrapped up, the Huskers suffered a setback at 141 pounds.

 

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.  In fact, according to the WIN Magazine rankings, four of the top six teams in the nation are in the Big 12, and top-ranked Minnesota also appears on Nebraska’s schedule.  Nebraska will take the challenge of the Big 12 Conference head on when it faces five of the top nine 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 preseason 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 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.

Non-Varsity Notes

Nebraska’s non-varsity wrestlers return to the mat for the Dana College Open in Blair, Neb., on Saturday, Jan. 6.  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. 

In the first weekend of the season, 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.

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 National Duals, UNI Dome, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jan. 13-14, 2007
Nebraska enters the stretch run of its dual schedule with the 2007 NWCA National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday, Jan. 13 and Sunday, Jan. 14.  In 2006, the Huskers finished third in the National Duals, defeating top 10 foes Michigan and Iowa back-to-back in the first two rounds.