Huskers Host Two to Start New Year

Dual Six: No. 3 Nebraska vs. No. 15 Michigan
Date: Sunday, Jan. 4
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: NU Coliseum, Lincoln, Neb.
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Live Video: Huskers.com

Dual Seven: No. 3 Nebraska vs. Northern Colorado
Date: Sunday, Jan. 4
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: NU Coliseum, Lincoln, Neb.
Live Stats: Huskers.com

Lincoln - The third-ranked Nebraska wrestling team kicks off 2009 with a doubleheader against No. 15 Michigan and Northern Colorado on Sunday. The Huskers (4-0) battle the Wolverines (2-2) at 2 p.m. and face the Bears (1-3-1) at 4 p.m., while UM and UNC will square off at noon. All three duals will be held in the NU Coliseum.

NU wrapped up 2008 with its eighth consecutive home victory, holding off No. 7 Minnesota for a 21-18 win in the NU Coliseum on Dec. 21. The Huskers won six of the first seven matches behind major decisions from Stephen Dwyer, Brandon Browne and Craig Brester at 165, 174 and 197 pounds, respectively, to hand the Golden Gophers their first dual loss of the season. Three other NU wrestlers posted decisions as the Huskers held off a late charge from UM for the victory.

Sunday’s duals will certainly help Nebraska shake off the rust after the holiday break, as NU hosts two formidable foes. The Wolverines enter ranked No. 15 as a team with five wrestlers ranked in the top 11 in the nation, including top-ranked Steve Luke at 174 pounds. Probably lineups have two matchups between Michigan and Nebraska featuring both wrestlers ranked in the top three of their respective weight class. Luke will battle No. 3 Brandon Browne at 174 and No. 3 Tyrel Todd will face No. 2 Craig Brester at 197.

Nebraska’s second dual of the day pits the Huskers against a young Northern Colorado squad. The Bears are 1-3-1 on the season after facing several ranked opponents. UNC may have an advantage at the lower weights behind Tony Mustari at 125. Mustari is the Bears’ only ranked wrestler, earning the No. 16 spot in the latest NWCA poll. UNC has no seniors in its probably lineup for Sunday and five freshmen or redshirt freshmen.

Live stats for all three contests will be available on Huskers.com, while Nebraska’s dual with Michigan will also have live video. Tickets to the event can be purchased by calling (800) 8-BIGRED or online at Huskers.com.

Scouting Michigan (2-2)
A former Wolverine wrestler himself, Joe McFarland enters his 10th season as Michigan’s head coach this year. McFarland has continued a tradition of excellence for UM, guiding the team to eight consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships. Michigan tied for seventh last year with Central Michigan, after four Wolverines claimed All-America honors. UM returns two of those All-Americans and two other NCAA qualifiers this season.

Michigan currently sits at 2-2 in duals this season, but has faced three ranked foes. The Wolverines are ranked No. 15 in the latest NWCA dual rankings. UM opened with a 20-12 loss at No. 22 Lehigh on Nov. 21, but rebounded with a 22-15 victory at No. 21 Penn. UM finished sixth at the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6, but lost 19-12 at home to No. 16 Central Michigan on Dec. 14. Most recently, Michigan won a 23-13 dual over Oregon State in Bozeman, Mont., yesterday.

Invidually, the Wolverines are led by seniors Steve Luke and Tyrel Todd, both two-time All-Americans. Luke claimed second last year at the NCAA Championships at 174 pounds after a 34-4 season, including 22-2 in duals. He is the two-time defending Big 10 champion and is currently ranked first in the nation with a 9-0 start to the season. Todd also went 34-4 last season at 184 pounds, but finished third at the NCAA Championships after Nebraska’s Vince Jones defeated him in the second round. Todd moved up to 197 pounds this season and went 4-0 early, but suffered a knee injury at the Las Vegas Invitational. He is currently ranked third.

Michigan also returns NCAA qualifiers Kellen Russell at 141 and Michael Watts at 125. Russell, a sophomore, posted a 32-7 record as a true freshman and was named the Big 10 Freshman of the Year after winning the conference title. He is 7-2 this season and currently ranked fourth. Watts, a senior, qualified as a true freshman in 2006 and is ranked No. 11 in the country with a 6-1 record this season.

Sunday’s dual with Nebraska features several meetings between highly-ranked opponents. Most interesting will be the clash at 174 pounds between No. 1 Luke and No. 3 Brandon Browne. This will be the third meeting between the two, with Luke winning 3-1 sudden victories in both previous meetings. Luke topped Browne in the semifinals of last year’s NCAA Championships and won in the final of the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6. The matchup at 197 will be just as good, pitting No. 2 Todd against third-ranked Craig Brester. No. 11 Anthony Biondo of Michigan will wrestle No. 13 Vince Jones at 184 pounds.

Husker History Versus Michigan
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Michigan, 4-3, but the Huskers have dualed the Wolverines only twice outside of tournaments. NU lost duals in Ann Arbor during the 1941-42 and 2005-06 seasons, but has faced UM four times at National Duals and once at the Lone Star Duals. The Huskers have won four of the last five meetings, including three straight victories. Sunday will be the Wolverines first time dualing Nebraska in Lincoln.

The last matchup between the two programs was at the 2007 National Duals, with No. 20 Nebraska knocking off No. 11 Michigan, 23-13, at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Huskers sprinted out to an early 11-0 lead after three matches against UM. Paul Donahoe earned his 15th straight win with a 20-7 major decision victory over Michigan’s Michael Watts at 125 pounds. Patrick Aleksanyan followed with an 8-5 win over Chris Diehl at 133 pounds, and Dominick Moyer earned his team-leading sixth major decision win with a 14-5 triumph over Justin Chrzanowski.

After a setback at 149 pounds, Chris Oliver earned his sixth fall of the season, pinning Michigan’s Jeff Marsh with 16 seconds remaining in the first period to give NU a 17-3 lead halfway through the dual. After a loss at 165, Marc Harwood got the Huskers back on the winning track with a 4-1 win over Jordan Sherrod at 174. Michigan cut Nebraska’s lead to 10 with a win at 184, but Craig Brester clinched the dual win for the Huskers with his 5-2 win at 197 pounds over Nick Roy.

Scouting Northern Colorado (1-3-1)
Jack Maughan enters his 22nd year at the helm for the Bears with a 124-158-1 record. Maughan returns a team this season that finished tied for 46th at last year’s NCAA Championships after qualifying two wrestlers. UNC posted a 6-7 dual record, including 4-2 in the Western Wrestling Conference last season. The Bears welcome back eight starters this year, though, including NCAA qualifier Tony Mustari at 125 pounds.

Northern Colorado has started its dual season 1-3-1, after facing some tough competition. The Bears openend with a 39-3 loss at No. 14 Boise State on Nov. 1, before claiming four titles in two tournaments. UNC lost 42-4 to seventh-ranked Minnesota at the Northern Duals on Nov. 29, but posted a 19-19 tie against North Dakota State and defeated Portland State, 36-12, at the same tournament. Most recently, the Bears competed at the UNK Loper Open on Dec. 13, where Mustari won the 125-pound weight class.

UNC’s strengths are the lower weights, led by Mustari. The junior from Greeley, Colo., posted a 32-8 record last season, and is off to a 14-3 start this year. He is the only Bear that is ranked, and is No. 16 in the latest NWCA poll. Fellow junior Kenny Hashimoto qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2007, but redshirted last season while he trained for the Olympics in Judo. He is coming off an injury, but may start for UNC at 141 pounds on Sunday. Freshman Mitchell Polkowske has been wrestling well at 149 pounds for the Bears, earning wrestler-of-the-week honors for the Western Wrestling Conference on Dec. 3. Polkowske had won 16 straight matches before losing at the UNK Loper Open. Overall, Northern Colorado is a young squad, with three seniors on its 29-man roster. UNC has no seniors in its probably lineup for Sunday and five freshmen or redshirt freshmen.

Sunday’s meeting between the Bears and Huskers will feature no clashes of ranked wrestlers.

Husker History Versus Northern Colorado
The Nebraska-Nothern Colorado rivarly dates all the way back to 1946. Unfortunately, it is not a pretty past for the Huskers. Nebraska is 6-12-1 against the Bears, but most of those meetings occured in the 1940s and ?50s as UNC held a six dual winning streak against the Huskers at one point.

More recent run-ins have been in favor of NU as the Huskers have put up more than 30 points on the Bears in the last three meetings. Nebraska won 33-11 in Greeley on Feb. 7, 1981, before taking the most extended break in the rivarly. NU put a 34-9 defeat on UNC in the Huskers’ home opener on Dec. 9, 2006, and notched a 38-6 victory over the Bears in their most recent run-in.

The last meeting between the two programs, saw Husker head coach Mark Manning notched a bit of history, as he collected his 100th dual win at Nebraska. NU’s 38-6 win in Greeley on Jan. 2, 2008, helped Manning become the second NU coach to win more than 100 duals.

Nebraska started the match with a forfeit at 133 pounds, but it was all Huskers after that as NU won the final nine matches of the night, including six bonus-point wins. Leading the way for NU was Brandon Browne, who pinned Ryan Johnson in 3:49 at 174 pounds and collected his team-leading 19th win of the season.

Jordan Burroughs and Craig Brester collected technical-fall victories as Burroughs notched a 21-6 win at 149 pounds and Brester improved to a perfect 5-0 in duals with a 21-5 victory at 197. Paul Donahoe also stayed perfect on the year at 125 pounds with a 17-6 major decision over Tony Mustari, while Stephen Dwyer and Vince Jones also collected major decisions at 165 and 184, respectively.

Patrick Aleksanyan notched his second dual win of the season at 141 pounds with a 6-1 decision, while Chris Oliver returned to action at 157 with a 5-0 decision over Justin Gaethje. Jon May captured the lone win of the night over a ranked opponent as he defeated No. 20 Reece Hopkin, 7-6, in the heavyweight class.

Last Time Out: Nebraska Edges Minnesota, 21-18
The No. 3 Nebraska wrestling team won six of its first seven matches before holding off No. 7 Minnesota for a 21-18 dual victory in front of 829 fans at the NU Coliseum on Dec. 21. Nebraska was led by its heavier weights, as Stephen Dwyer (165), Brandon Browne (174) and Craig Brester (197) notched major decision wins to help NU move to 4-0 in dual competition and hand Minnesota its first loss of the season.

A native of Howells, Neb., Brester wasted little time in improving his record to 13-0 on the year. The junior earned two takedowns in the first period and was constantly on the offensive against Minnesota’s Gordon Bierschenk. Brester was awarded three stalling points and racked up 2:52 in riding time to post a 12-3 major decision. He has notched a bonus-point victory in every match except one this season.

Browne was equally as impressive, earning a 20-8 major decision against UM’s Kaleb Young. The senior scored two takedowns in each of the first two periods, but turned up the intensity and posted five takedowns in the final stanza. Browne now leads the Huskers with six major decisions on the year.

Dwyer also held an early lead, but poured on the points late in his match with Minnesota’s Matt Everson. Dwyer went into the third period leading 6-0 after a takedown, reversal and two stalling points. The junior notched three takedowns and a three-point nearfall to earn nine points in the final period and claim the 15-3 major decision.

Nebraska’s Jordan Burroughs, Vince Jones and Robert Sanders all scored victories over their Golden Gopher opponents. Burroughs completed a hat trick, as he is now 3-0 on the season against UM’s Tyler Safratowich. In the only matchup of the night with two ranked wrestlers, No. 2 Burroughs scored two takedowns in the third period to pull away from No. 19 Safratwoich for a 9-4 win at 157. Jones, ranked No. 13 in the nation at 184, posted three reversals in his match to win 7-5, while Sanders scored a reversal with 14 seconds left to secure a 7-5 victory at 149.

UM jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a pin at 141 pounds, but NU’s six straight wins put the Huskers up 21-9. Minnesota scored the upset of the night at heavyweight, as unranked Joe Nord topped No. 12 Tucker Lane of Nebraska, 6-2, to close the gap. UM’s Zach Sanders (125) and Jayson Ness (133) earned a technical fall and major decision, respectively, in the final matches of the day.

Browne Versus Burroughs
Junior Jordan Burroughs is proud of breaking the Huskers’ single-season dual takedown record last season, but the mark may not stand long. Burroughs has 18 takedowns in three duals this season, but senior Brandon Browne posted nine takedowns in his latest action to take the team lead. Browne earned nine takedowns against Minnesota’s Kaleb Young on Dec. 21 and now has 19 on the season. Burroughs beat UM’s Tyler Safratowich for a third time this season, but could only manage two takedowns. With both Huskers ranked in the top three at their respective weight class, many more takedowns are sure to come for Browne and Burroughs.

Sanders On The Move
Senior Robert Sanders made his season debut at 149 pounds against Minnesota on Dec. 21. A bit of a journeyman, Sanders has wrestled at three weight classes for the Huskers during his career. He qualified for the NCAA Championships at 149 pounds in 2006, but battled three other Huskers for the starting nod at 141 last season. Sanders started this season at 157, but dropped to 149 with the move up of Jordan Burroughs. Sanders made his debut a winning effort, as he secured a late reversal for the 7-5 victory against Minnesota’s Brian Peterson. Sanders is in the probable lineup for Nebraska on Sunday.

Big Time at the Big Weights
Nebraska heavyweight Tucker Lane lost a close decision in the Huskers’ dual with Minnesota on Dec. 21, but NU has posted an impressive mark so far this season in the upper weights. In four duals, Nebraska has a 19-1 record from 157 pounds to heavyweight, including seven wrestlers holding an undefeated dual record in that weight range.

Tickets on Sale for Big 12 Wrestling Championships
The University of Nebraska has announced that tickets are now on sale for the general public for the 2009 Big 12 Wrestling Championships, which will be held at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb., on March 7. Fans can purchase tickets by calling the Nebraska Ticket Office at (800) 8-BIGRED or online at Huskers.com.

All-session tickets are $20 for reserved seating (north and south stands) and $15 for general admission (east and west balcony). Individual-session tickets will be available on March 7 for $8 reserved and $7 general admission. The first session begins at 11 a.m., while the second sessions commences at 4 p.m. Finals are contested at 7 p.m.

The Huskers host the conference tournament for the third time since the inception of the Big 12. Nebraska finished fourth when it hosted the event in 2000 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center and third at the Qwest Center in Omaha in 2005. This year’s tournament will be contested at the NU Coliseum, which holds more than 4,030 fans. The Coliseum is located in the heart of NU’s campus next to Memorial Stadium and has provided a thrilling match-day environment for fans, including hosting the National Duals from 1993 to 1997.

Perfect So Far
Three Husker wrestlers remain in the ranks of the undefeated. Of NU’s 29 wrestlers that have competed, Jordan Burroughs (157), Craig Brester (197) and Ridge Kiley (125) still have unblemished records. Nebraska has 23 wrestlers with winning records in 2008-09.

Brester is 13-0 after earning two tournament titles at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 22 and the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5-6. He has also picked up four dual victories. Likewise, Burroughs has won two tournaments, but only has three dual wins for a 12-0 mark. Kiley is 8-0 after finishing first in the amateur division at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 22 and competing in the UNK Loper Open on Dec. 13.

Running up the Rankings
The Huskers stayed tied for third in the latest NWCA dual rankings after defeating No. 7 Minnesota on Dec. 21. NU moved up to fourth after winning the Las Vegas Inviational. Nebraska started the season ranked sixth in the nation and has been ranked in the top 25 ever since the NWCA and InterMat polls combined in 2004, including 15 straight polls in the top 10.

The Wrestler Formerly Known as Jordan
Nebraska’s Jordan Burroughs is quickly earning a new nickname - OW. The junior from Winslow Township, N.J. has claimed three Oustanding Wrestler honors at three tournaments. He posted a technical fall and major decision en route to being named the Outstanding Wrestler at last year’s Big 12 Championships, while also earning the title at last month’s Kaufman-Brand Open with a 5-0 record on the day and a defeat of former NCAA champion Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota. Burroughs picked up his third OW honor earlier this month at the Las Vegas Invitational when he posted another five wins, including two over All-Americans and another against a former NCAA champion in Cornell’s Jorden Leen.

Bonus-Point Brester
Craig Brester has been a bonus-point machine for the Huskers this season. A junior from Howells, Neb., Brester has posted a perfect 13-0 record so far, including 4-0 in duals. Twelve of his 13 wins have come by bonus-points, including six pins, one technical fall and five major decisions. Brester notched five pins in his first six matches, and has rolled from there. Earlier this month he went 5-0 at the Las Vegas Invitational to claim the title at 197 pounds. He started the tournament with a fall, posted his first technicall fall of the season in the second round, and finished with three straight major decisions.

Burroughs Earns Second-Straight Big 12 Honor
The Huskers’ Jordan Burroughs was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, the conference announced on Dec. 8. A native of Sicklerville, N.J., he earns the honor after being named the Big 12’s Wrestler of the Month on Dec. 1.

Burroughs won the individual title at 157 pounds to lead No. 6 Nebraska to the team crown at the 2008 Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5-6. Burroughs, who was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler, posted a perfect 5-0 record over the weekend to improve his mark to 11-0 on the season.

The junior opened the tournament with two major decisions over Michigan’s Aaron Hynes (16-7) and North Dakota State’s Andrey Patselov (18-5) before wrapping up Friday’s competition with a 5-2 decision over Minnesota’s Tyler Safratowich. Burroughs was just as impressive on Saturday, posting decisions over two All-Americans. He earned a 3-2 victory over No. 5 J.P. O’Conner of Harvard in the semifinals, then moved on to claim a 10-8 win against the defending national champion and sixth-ranked Jordan Leen of Cornell in the finals.

Quickest Pin
The award for quickest pin so far this season goes to freshman Josh Ihnen at 184 pounds. Ihnen notched a 28 second fall of Morningside’s Joe Lockett at the UNK Loper Open on Dec. 13 to earn the honor. Ihnen has three pins on the year, while the Huskers as a whole have notched 58 so far.

Judging Jordan
Jordan Burroughs earned All-America honors with his third-place finish at last year’s NCAA Championships, but his proudest accomplishment may be setting Nebraska’s single-season dual takedown mark with 98 last season.

Judging by his performance in his three dual appearances this season, he may be well on his way to breaking the record again. He has notched 18 dual takedowns so far, including eight against Oregon State’s Jon Brascetta on Nov. 28. With at least 15 duals left, and maybe more because of National Duals, Burroughs would have to average 5.3 takedowns per match to break the record. He would also have to appear in all of NU’s duals, a feat he accomplish last season when he averaged 5.8 takedowns per dual.

The Pin King
Vince Jones, Nebraska’s resident pin king, is back at it again this season. He led the Huskers in falls with 12 in 2005-06 and accomplished the feat again with 10 in 2007-08. The senior is well on his way again this season with eight pins already in 18 matches, including three straight to start the year.

Jones has some competition this season from junior Craig Brester, the Huskers’ 197-pounder. Brester is 13-0 on the year with six pins and one technical fall and five major decisions. All of Brester’s falls have come in the first period, including one against No. 14 Andrew Anderson of Northern Iowa at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 22.

Ranking the Returning
Nebraska welcomes back four All-Americans this season from the contingent of five Huskers that earned the honor last season. Jordan Burroughs, Craig Brester and Stephen Dwyer return for their junior seasons at 157, 197 and 165 pounds, respectively, while Brandon Browne wrestles his senior season at 174 pounds. NU’s four returning All-Americans are the most for Nebraska since 1995-96, when the Huskers welcomed back Brad Canoyer (118), Temoer Terry (150), Ryan Tobin (190) and Tolly Thompson (Hwt.).

Cowboy Larry Lane’s Son
Redshirt freshman Tucker Lane is almost following in his father’s footsteps. Tucker, like his dad Larry, is wrestling collegiately. He enters his second season in the Nebraska program as the projected starter at heavyweight, after being named NU’s 2008 Redshirt of the Year. Larry spent his college years wrestling for the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., and was also on the All-Army wrestling team. Tucker has yet to follow in one footstep though. Larry went on to wrestle professionally from 1973 to 1983 as "Red Dog Lane" and "Cowboy Larry Lane".

Non-Varsity Notes
The Huskers sent a contingent of wrestlers to Blair, Neb., today for the Dana Open. Results from the open tournament will be included in next week’s preview of the National Duals. The next competition for NU’s non-varsity wrestlers is the Glen Brand Open. Hosted by the University of Nebraska-Omaha, action begins at 9 a.m. in the Sapp Fieldhouse in Omaha.

Next up: Huskers Face Tough Competition at National Duals
Nebraska returns to the National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Jan. 10 and 11. The Huskers claimed second at the dual tournament last season, knocking off three ranked foes, including No. 1 Penn State, en route to the finals. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. both days at the UNI Dome.