Six Huskers to Wrestle at Nationals

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No. 18/22 <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska (10-7-1) at 2007 Big 12 Championships

The Palace of Auburn Hills?Auburn Hills, Mich?March 15-17

Last Year: 16th Place, 40.5 team points, two All-Americans

Television: ESPNU for Sessions III, IV and V, ESPN for Finals

 

Six Huskers Set to Wrestle at Nationals

The 22nd-ranked Nebraska wrestling team will send six wrestlers to the 2007 NCAA Championships, held in Auburn Hills, Mich., on March 15-17.  Included in the six-man contingent for NU are a pair of true freshmen, Jordan Burroughs at 149 pounds and Stephen Dwyer at 165.  Two other Huskers, Chris Oliver (157) and Craig Brester (197), are also making their first career appearances at the NCAA Championships. 

 

Last year, Nebraska had nine wrestlers at nationals, including six first-time national qualifiers, and finished 16th with 40.5 team points.  A pair of seniors, B.J. Padden and Jacob Klein, closed their NU careers as All-Americans.  Padden took third at 197 pounds, while Klein finished seventh at 174 pounds.

 

Last Time Out: Big 12 Championships: Nebraska, 4th-46.0 Points

The Nebraska wrestling team had six wrestlers qualify for the 2007 NCAA Championships and finished fourth with 46 team points at the 2007 Big 12 Championships at the HearnesCenter on March 3.

 

Iowa State won the team championship with 66.5 team points, topping OklahomaState with 61.5 points and Missouri with 61 points in a hotly contested three -team battle for the Big 12 crown.

 

Six Huskers punched their ticket to nationals with a top-three finish. Four Huskers were finalists, including Paul Donahoe (125), Dominick Moyer (141), Chris Oliver (157) and Craig Brester (197), while true freshmen Stephen Dwyer (165) and Jordan Burroughs (149) finished third. Meanwhile, senior 174-pound wrestler Marc Harwood was selected as the first alternate to the wild card spot.

 

In the 125-pound final, Oklahoma’s Sam Hazewinkel defeated Donahoe by major decision, 12-3. Hazewinkel led 5-0 after the first period and 8-0 after the second. Still, Donahoe earned his second career trip to the NCAA Championships and will head to his home state of Michigan with a 30-5 record. His 30 wins this season tie Mike Eierman for ninth in NU history for wins by a sophomore and marks the first 30-win season by a Husker since Jason Powell went 35-6 in 2002-03.

 

At 141 pounds, Moyer’s comeback bid fell just short as he lost in the finals at 141 pounds to Nathan Morgan of Oklahoma State, 6-3. Morgan built a 4-1 lead through two periods, but an escape and a penalty point awarded to Moyer after Morgan was called for a second time for stalling cut Morgan’s lead to 4-3 with 10 seconds remaining in the match. Morgan scored a late takedown to win, 6-3. Moyer will make his third career trip to the NCAA Championships with a 26-6 record.

 

Oliver fell at 157 pounds by major decision to Trent Paulson of IowaState, 11-1. Paulson built a 5-1 lead through the first period and a 10-1 lead through the second period. Oliver’s second-place finish clinched his first career trip to the NCAA Championships. Oliver is 19-6 on the year and has won six of his last seven matches.

 

At 197 pounds, Max Askren of Missouri defeated Brester, 3-2. Askren took a 2-1 lead with a reversal with 1:31 remaining in the match, then added a point for his riding time advantage. Brester heads to nationals for the first time with a record of 17-5 on the season.

 

Burroughs captured third place at 149 pounds with a 16-6 major decision win over Josh Wagner of Missouri. Burroughs scored two takedowns in each of the first two periods and three more in the third period while giving up no takedowns to build his lead. Burroughs qualifies for the NCAA Championships as a true freshman with a 15-11 record.

 

Dwyer also punched his ticket to nationals as a true freshman with a 10-8 overtime win over Matt Pell of Missouri in the third-place match at 165 pounds. Dwyer came back from an 8-2 deficit to tie Pell, 8-8, with a takedown with 18 seconds remaining in regulation. In the sudden victory period, Dwyer scored a takedown with 28 seconds to go to earn the victory. Dwyer heads to the NCAA Championships with an 18-11 record.

 

Marc Harwood finished fourth at 174 pounds after losing to IowaState’s Grant Turner, 5-3. Turner broke a 3-3 tie with a takedown of Harwood with 18 seconds remaining in the match. Earlier in the evening, Harwood defeated Oklahoma’s Josh Weitzel, 4-0. After a scoreless first period, Harwood took a 3-0 lead with a three-point near fall late in the second period and added a point for his 1:59 riding time advantage. Harwood was selected as the first alternate for a wild-card bid to nationals.

 

Levi Wofford saw his season end after a 9-4 loss at 184 pounds to Jake Jensen of OklahomaState. Jensen scored four takedowns to secure the win over Wofford, who ended his redshirt freshman season with a record of 13-17.

 

Cameron Browne also saw his season end after a 12-3 major decision loss to Mark Ellis of Missouri in a consolation match at heavyweight. Browne, who came into the year wrestling at 197 pounds, saw his first season at NU end with a 12-11 record.

 

Last Year at the NCAA Championships: Nebraska-16th, 46.0 Team Points

B.J. Padden finished third at 197 pounds and Jacob Klein claimed seventh at 174 pounds at the 2006 NCAA Championships as the Nebraska wrestling team wrapped up the 2005-06 season. 

 

The Huskers finished in 16th place with 40.5 team points.  OklahomaState clinched its fourth straight national championship with 122.5 team points.

 

Padden claimed third place with a 5-1 win over Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell.  Padden dominated the match, building a riding time advantage of 4:42 after earning two takedowns and riding Rinaldi for the duration of the second period.  Earlier in the day, Padden defeated Chris Weidman of Hofstra by injury default.  Padden was leading the match, 6-5, when the match was stopped before the start of the third period. 

Highlighted by a four-match winning streak after the quarterfinal loss, Padden finished his senior season with a 28-4 record.  Padden completed his career at Nebraska with a pair of Big 12 Championships at 197 pounds, two All-America honors and a career record of 98-42. 

 

Klein took seventh at 174 pounds after a 2-0 win over James Yonushonis of PennState.  Klein rode Yonushonis for the entire second period then earned an escape in the opening seconds of the third period to take an early 1-0 lead.  Klein earned his second point on the strength of a 2:00 riding time advantage.   

 

A two-time All-American, Klein finished his career as a Husker with a record of 94-33 including a 24-6 senior season.  Klein finished his fourth career appearance at the NCAA Championships with a 4-2 mark. 

 

At 125 pounds, Paul Donahoe’s season ended just shy of the medal round after an 8-3 loss to OklahomaState’s Coleman Scott.  Donahoe completed his freshman season with a record of 26-9 after a 2-2 debut at the NCAA Championships.  Donahoe was one of four first-year Huskers making their first appearance at nationals.

 

At 184 pounds, Vince Jones was defeated in the consolation bracket by Iowa’s Paul Bradley, 10-3.  Earlier on Friday, Jones picked up Nebraska’s only win of Session IV with a 9-6 victory over Ron Howard of ClevelandState.  Jones ended his first season at Nebraska with a 22-13 record.

 

Patrick Aleksanyan fell in the consolation bracket after a 14-7 loss to Scott Jorgensen of BoiseState.  Aleksanyan finished with a 17-16 record after a 1-2 performance in his first trip to nationals.

 

Robert Sanders also saw his season end after a 5-2 loss to Trevor Chinn of Lehigh in the consolation bracket.  Sanders ended his first trip to the NCAA Championship with a 1-2 mark, running his season record to 13-13.

 

A pair of Huskers were eliminated on Thursday.  At 141 pounds, Dominick Moyer ended his second career trip to nationals with a loss by fall to Charles Griffin of Hofstra 1:46 into their consolation match.  Earlier in the session, Moyer defeated Steve Adamcsik of Rutgers, 4-2, to pick up his first career win at nationals.  Moyer finished his junior season with a record of 19-12 after his second career trip to nationals.

 

Junior Marc Harwood also saw his season end during the evening session Thursday after a loss by major decision to Missouri’s Matt Pell at 165 pounds.  Harwood ended his junior season with a 14-10 record.

 

Husker History at the NCAA Championships

Nebraska’s top finish at the NCAA Championships is third in 1993.  126-pound national champion Tony Purler led a six-man contingent of Nebraska All-Americans in 1993, including eventual Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner.  The five All-Americans also set a school record for most All-America honors by NU in one year.  The 1993 team was the third of five teams in a seven-year period that finished in the top 10 at nationals.

 

All-time, Nebraska has 76 All-Americans, including eight national champions and 17 NCAA finalists.  The Huskers have finished in the top 10 15 times in school history.  Nine of Nebraska’s 15 top-10 finishes have come in the last 18 years, including three top-10 finishes under head coach Mark Manning.                

 

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.

 

Donahoe Tied for Fourth for Best First Two Years at NU

Sophomore 125-pound wrestler Paul Donahoe enters the NCAA Championships with a 56-14 record, good for a tie with former NU heavyweight J.R. Plienis for fourth in Husker history with 56 wins in their freshmen and sophomore seasons.  With a win, Donahoe moves into elite company that includes All-Americans Brad Vering, Tolly Thompson and Bryan Snyder.  Snyder, the only four-time All-American in school history, ranks first with 75 wins, while 1995 heavyweight national champion and three-time All-American Tolly Thompson ranks second with 74 wins.  2004 Olympian and 2000 197-pound national champion Brad Vering ranks third with 60 wins in his first two years. 

 

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.  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 389-160-10 with a winning percentage of .705.  With a pair of wins in the last weekend of the regular season, Nebraska earned 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.

 

Next year’s squad will feature six wrestlers with NCAA experience.  Along with the five returners from this year’s nationals contingent, Nebraska also expects the return of heavyweight Jon May, who was sidelined earlier this year with an injury.  In addition, May will be one of only two seniors on the roster for the Huskers.

 

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.

 

Huskers Complete Tough Road to Postseason

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, two of the top three teams in the nation are from the Big 12.  After wrestling Iowa and Hofstra at the National Duals, the Huskers’ schedule included six of the top 10 teams in the nation.  The Huskers, one of only three teams in the country to see five of the preseason top six in the nation on their schedule, wrestled eight of the top 10 teams in the nation during a month-long stretch.  Eleven of Nebraska’s last 12 dual opponents are ranked, including a stretch of 10 straight ranked dual opponents which concluded with the Huskers’ 27-15 win over Lehigh on Feb. 16.

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.