Three-Dual Weekend Completes NU Regular Season

Dual No. 16:<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

No. 23/19 <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska (8-7) at No. 24/24 Lehigh (14-7)

Leeman-Turner Arena?Bethlehem, Pa.?Friday, Feb. 16?6 p.m.

Live Streaming Video: lehighsports.com (Subscription Required, $4.95/month)

Series History: Lehigh leads, 3-1

Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 25-13, on Jan. 10, 2004 in Hampton, Va.

 

Dual No. 17:

No. 23/19 Nebraska (8-7) at Drexel (16-10)

Daskalakis Athletic Center?Philadelphia, Pa.?Saturday, Feb. 17?11 a.m.

Series History: Nebraska leads, 1-0

Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 35-12, on Nov. 9, 2000 in Philadelphia, Pa.

 

Dual No. 18:

No. 22/21 Nebraska (8-7) at No. 21/20 Penn (7-7)

The Palestra?Philadelphia, Pa?Saturday, Feb. 17? 1 p.m.

Series History: HuskersNside (Subscription Required, video courtesy of Penn)

Series History: first meeting

 

Three-Dual Weekend Completes NU Regular Season

The 19th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team returns to the road for a regular-season ending three-dual weekend in Pennslyvania, starting on Friday at 6 p.m. at No. 24 Lehigh.  The trip continues with a pair of duals in Philadelphia on Saturday, starting with Drexel at 11 a.m.  The Huskers complete their regular season with a dual against 21st-ranked Penn at 1 p.m. at the Palestra. 

 

While Nebraska has wrestled these three teams a combined four times, two of these opponents still hold a place in NU wrestling history.  The Huskers’ 25-13 win over Lehigh in 2004 clinched the 2004 Virginia Duals championship for Nebraska.  NU’s lone meeting with Drexel, which resulted in a 35-12 Nebraska win, was Mark Manning’s first as the head coach of the Huskers in 2000. 

 

With a dual win this weekend, Nebraska can clinch a .500 season, their fifth straight and their 17th in the last 18 years.  The Huskers clinched their 29th straight season with at least eight dual wins with a win over Oklahoma on Friday, Feb. 9. 

 

Last Time Out: No. 1 Minnesota 32, No. 21 Nebraska 6, Feb. 11, 2007, NU Coliseum

Chris Oliver upset second-ranked C.P. Schlatter at 157 pounds, but top-ranked Minnesota defeated the 21st-ranked Nebraska wrestling team, 32-6, in the final home dual of the year for the Huskers. 

 

The Golden Gophers built a 15-0 lead by winning the first four matches, but in three of those matches, Minnesota won by three points or less.  At 125 pounds, No. 13 Paul Donahoe fell 8-6 in the sudden victory period to fourth-ranked Jayson Ness.  Donahoe held a 6-3 lead with 1:00 remaining before Ness scored an escape and a takedown to send the match to overtime. 

 

No. 9 Dominick Moyer was also competitive in his final home match for NU but fell in a 5-2 decision to second-ranked Manuel Rivera at 141 pounds.  Rivera broke a 2-2 tie with a takedown with 1:13 to go in the third period and rode Moyer for the rest of the match. 

 

At 149 pounds, freshman Jordan Burroughs nearly upset top-ranked and undefeated C.P. Schlatter before falling, 9-6.  A Burroughs escape with 1:20 remaining in the match cut Schlatter’s lead to 7-5, but Schlatter sealed the victory for Minnesota with a takedown of Burroughs with 18 seconds left in the match.

 

At 157 pounds, Oliver stormed back to defeat Schlatter 7-4 in overtime after trailing 4-1 midway through the second period.  Oliver escaped with 1:18 to go in the second, then took down Schlatter with 44 seconds to go in the period to tie the match.  After a scoreless third period and sudden-victory period, Oliver rode Schlatter for the first 30 seconds of the tiebreaker, before escaping with eight seconds left in the second half of the tiebreaker to take the lead for the first time in the match.  Oliver added a takedown at the buzzer to polish off his second win over a ranked opponent in three days.

 

Three straight wins would clinch the dual for Minnesota, but at 197 pounds, Craig Brester got back on the winning track with an 8-1 win over Yura Malamura.  Brester scored eight unanswered points, including seven in the third period.  Brester started the final stanza down, but scored a reversal 58 seconds into the period.  Brester rode Malamura the rest of the way and scored a pair of nearfalls in the last 23 seconds of the match.

 

Scouting Lehigh

No. 24 Lehigh is 14-7 this season after wins over Army and Rutgers on Feb. 10.  The Mountain Hawks have won six of their last seven including wins over 14th-ranked Cornell.  The only loss during that span was a 30-6 loss at Hofrsta on Jan. 28.  Lehigh finished ninth at last year’s NCAA Championships, but lost five of nine national qualifiers and all three All-Americans.  The Mountain Hawks are led by 20th-ranked Matt Ciasulli at 141 pounds and No. 12 David Craig at 184. 

 

Last Matchup: Nebraska 35, Lehigh 13, Jan. 10, 2004 in Hampton, Va.

Nebraska claimed its second team title of the 2004 season as they defeated seventh-ranked Lehigh, 25-13.

In the championship match, NU jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind Jason Powell’s 18th straight win over No. 14 Mario Stuart. After Lehigh responded with back-to-back victories, NU won the next two matches, highlighted by No. 17 B.J. Wright’s upset victory over fourth ranked and All-American Derek Zinck, 7-2.

 

Lehigh answered with back-to-back wins give them a 13-12 lead heading into the final three weight classes. NU regained the lead with fourth-ranked Travis Pascoe’s 12-4 major decision over eighth-ranked Travis Frick at 184 pounds. After the Pascoe victory, Lehigh dropped the final two matches to gave the Huskers the championship.

 

Scouting Drexel

Drexel is 16-10 on the season after winning five of its last six duals.  The Dragons are set to wrestle Rutgers on Thursday in Philadelphia.  Drexel returned nine starters from last year’s squad which earned a 20-9 finish in duals.  Under the guidance of 30-year head coach Jack Childs, the Dragons are led by Ryan Hluschak (157), who is the lone ranked Drexel wrestler. 

 

Last Matchup: Nebraska 35, Drexel 12, Nov. 9, 2000, Philadelphia, Pa.

The No. 6 Nebraska wrestling team used three pins and two technical falls to win its first dual of the 2000-01 season against Drexel, 35-12, in Philadelphia, Pa. The victory also gave Mark Manning his first career win at NU.

 

The night started at 149 pounds, where redshirt freshman Travis Baker came back and scored 12 unanswered points after trailing Brad Denker, 5-4, at the end of the first period, to win 16-5.

 

Two-time All-American and second-ranked Bryan Snyder started the pinning party for the Huskers with a fall over Jason Staso 3:17 into the match. The Big Red then suffered a setback at 165 pounds, as senior Ryan Schultz dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 19 Dave Dietrich, putting the team tally to 10-3.  At 174 pounds, No. 14 Ati Conner dominated his opponent, earning five team points with a 27-12 technical fall victory. Wrestling up a weight, redshirt freshman Matt Fletcher filled in well for the injured Charles McTorry (nerve condition), with a 9-5 decision over Pat Shufelt to give NU an 18-3 lead.

 

Defending 197-pound NCAA champion Brad Vering came away with a 20-4 technical fall victory over Chris Jones just 4:28 into the match. At heavyweight, sophomore Pat Miron dropped his match with Mike Carroll, 3-2.  With a 23-6 lead, redshirt freshman Jason Powell and All-American Todd Beckerman registered falls in the next two weights to finish out Nebraska’s scoring.

 

Scouting Penn

The 20th-ranked Penn Quakers are 7-7 after losing back-to-back duals to Cornell and Columbia.  They are led by defending 133-pound national champion Matt Valenti and returning All-American Matt Herrington at 165 pounds.  Penn has faced six foes in the top 13, including top-ranked Minnesota.  The Golden Gophers defeated the Quakers, 28-12, at the Northeast Duals on Nov. 28.  

 

Nine NU Wrestlers Named to Big 12 Honor Roll

The Nebraska wrestling team had nine wrestlers named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, awarding those who achieved a 3.0 or higher grade-point average during the 2006 fall semester.

 

The list was led by former Husker Matt Murray, who earned a 4.0 GPA during the fall semester.  Murray, who was an All-American in 2004 and a two-year letterwinner for the Huskers before completing his eligibility in the spring of 2005, also was a two-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 performer, a two-time NWCA All-Academic Team honoree and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American. 

 

Also included on the list were four NU wrestlers who have earned the honor multiple times, led by Casey Roberts.  An architecture major from Lincoln, Roberts has been named to the last five Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Rolls.  Robert Sanders earned his fourth straight appearance on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.   Sanders, a Blanding, Utah native, is a nutrition, fitness and health promotion major. 

 

Austin Baier and Rob Plambeck were honored for the third time in their respective careers.  Baier is a business administration major from Greenfield, Iowa, while Plambeck is a biological sciences major from Lincoln.  Brady LaMar rounds out the list of multiple-time honorees as the finance major from Silver Lake, Kan., earned his second straight honor roll citation. 

 

Three true freshmen, Casey Gubbels, Andy Johnson and Frank Jonas, earned honor roll status in their first semesters at Nebraska. 

 

Nebraska had a total of 270 honorees through 23 sports, including 33 who had a 4.0 GPA.

 

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 made his dual debut for Nebraska at the National Duals, moving into a heavyweight spot in which the Huskers forfeited for five straight 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 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. 

 

Huskers Continue Winning Tradition

With its victory over Oklahoma on Feb. 9, the Nebraska wrestling team continued a streak of 29 years in which the Huskers have won at least eight duals during the season.  The streak dates back to the 1978-79 season, Bob Fehrs’ first as Nebraska’s head coach.  In the 58 seasons of NU wrestling before the streak started, the Huskers had only four seasons with eight or more dual wins, only 13 winning seasons and a record of 174-344-18 with a winning percentage of .341.  In the 29 campaigns since, the Huskers have had only three losing seasons and have earned a record of 387-160-9 with a winning percentage of .704.  A pair of wins this weekend would give Nebraska double-figure wins for the fifth straight season and for the 18th time in 19 years. 

 

Experienced but Young Huskers Tackle the 2006-07 Season

Nebraska was in a unique position entering the 2006-07 season.  The Huskers returned eight starters and seven NCAA qualifiers from last year’s team, which ranked 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 matched 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 who 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, three of the top four teams in the nation are from the Big 12.  After wrestling Iowa and Hofstra at the National Duals, the Huskers’ schedule now includes six of the top 10 teams in the nation.  The Huskers, one of only three teams in the nation to see five of the preseason top six in the nation on their schedule, have wrestled eight of the top 10 teams in the nation after this month-long stretch.  Eleven of Nebraska’s last 12 dual opponents are ranked, including a stretch of 10 straight ranked dual opponents which will conclude with the Huskers’ dual Friday against Lehigh.

Non-Varsity Notes

Eight Nebraska non-varsity wrestlers finished in the top four in their respective weight classes at the Glen Brand Open on Saturday, Jan. 20 in Omaha, Neb. Matt Vacanti won the championship at 125 pounds, while Patrick Aleksanyan finished second at 133 and Andy Johnson took second at 174.  Cody Foust (165) and Casey Roberts (184) earned third-place finishes, while Austin Baier (141), Casey Gubbels (149) and Rob Plambeck (157) took fourth in their respective weight classes.  The Brand Open is the last scheduled non-varsity competition for NU wrestlers this season.

 

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. 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.  Curtis Salazar was 4-0 in a championship run in the amateur division at 149 pounds, while Stephen 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 Dwyer at 165 pounds.  Jordan Burroughs took fourth at 149 pounds, while 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.  Salazar finished fourth at 149 pounds at the UNK Loper Open on Dec. 9 in Kearney, Neb.

 

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

 

Next up: Nebraska at the Big 12 Championships, HearnesCenter, Columbia, Mo., March 3

Nebraska will take take a week off then travel to Columbia, Mo., for the 2007 Big 12 Championships.  Thirty-eight wrestlers will qualify for the NCAA Championships at the Big 12 Championships, including the top-three finishers at each weight class and eight wild-card selections.