Huskers Look to Bounce Back with Pair of Duals

No. 7 Nebraska (10-1, 1-1 Big Ten) vs. Indiana (6-4, 0-4 Big Ten)
University Gym  I  Bloomington, Ind.  I  Friday, Jan. 20, 2012  I  6 p.m.
Series History: NU leads, 10-5-0
Last Meeting: NU won, 25-9, on Jan. 15, 2005 in Hampton, Va.
Video: BTN.com (subscription required)
Live Updates: www.twtter.com/HuskerWrestling

No. 7 Nebraska (10-1, 1-1 Big Ten) vs. Purdue (6-7, 1-3)
NU Coliseum (4,030)  I  Lincoln, Neb.  I  Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012  I  1 p.m.
Series History: NU leads, 5-1-0
Last Meeting: NU won, 22-19, on Feb. 9, 1992 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Video: HuskersNside (subscription required)
Live Stats: www.huskers.com
Live Updates: www.twtter.com/HuskerWrestling
Greek Day Promotion: Greek houses from around Nebraska's campus will have the opportunity to particpate in a "Sumo Suit" wrestling tournament starting at Noon. The first 25 students in attendance of Sunday's dual will receive a $5 Hu-Hot gift card, while the first 100 students will get free Adidas wristbands.

After suffering its first defeat of the season last Friday, the No. 7 Nebraska wrestling team will be back in action this weekend with a pair of Big Ten Conference duals. The Huskers (10-1, 1-1 Big Ten), who recently completed the best start in school history, will take on the Indiana Hoosiers (6-4, 0-4 Big Ten) on Friday, Jan. 20, in Bloomington, Ind., for their first Big Ten road dual. Action from University Gym will kick off at 6 p.m. and can be seen on BTN.com, but a subscription is required. The Huskers will then return to Lincoln for their match up with the Purdue Boilermakers (6-7, 1-3 Big Ten) on Sunday, Jan. 22, at 1 p.m. inside the NU Coliseum. Live stats for the Huskers' dual with Purdue will be available on Huskers.com, while updates for both duals can be found on the Huskers' Twitter page (www.twitter.com/HuskerWrestling). Fans can also view the match on HuskersNide (subscription required) by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

Sunday at the Coliseum will mark the first-ever Sumo Suit Wrestling Tournament, as the Husker wrestling program hosts Greek Day. Greek houses from around campus will square off against each with action starting at Noon. The championship round of the Sumo Suit Wrestling Tournament will take place in front of the NU Coliseum crowd during the dual.

Students should make sure to get to the Coliseum early because the first 25 in attendance will receive a $5 gift card to Hu-Hot restaurant, while the first 100 students will receive free Adidas wristbands. Students must show a valid student-ID to receive the giveaways and participate in the wrestling tournament.

The Huskers will look to rebound after their loss to the Hawkeyes and get back on track after winning their first 10 duals. Upperclassmen Tucker Lane (Hwt) and Josh Ihnen (184) will lead Nebraska, as both wrestlers are having the best seasons of their careers. Lane is 17-2 and has won 11 consecutive matches, a streak which includes seven ranked opponents. Ihnen owns a 15-2 record this season and has won six consecutive matches. Aside from a medical forfeit by Boise State's Jake Swartz, Ihnen has score more than 10 points in each of this last five duals.

Last Time Out: Huskers Fall to No. 2 Hawkeyes
The No. 7 Nebraska wrestling team saw its 10-dual winning streak come to an end on Friday, Jan. 13, at the NU Coliseum, falling to the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes, 24-9. The Huskers wrestled in front of near sellout crowd of 3,526 fans at the Coliseum, but couldn't overcome the Hawkeyes in their second Big Ten dual.

James Nakashima (197) kicked off the dual with one of the tightest matches of the night against No. 19 Grant Gambrall (UI). After a scoreless first period, the two traded escape points in the second and third periods to send the match to sudden-victory overtime. In overtime, Gambrall was able to takedown Nakashima and capture the 3-1 victory.

Senior Tucker Lane (Hwt) continued his current hot streak by defeating his fourth nationally ranked opponent in row in No. 8 Bobby Telford (UI), 4-1. No. 9 Lane entered the third after giving up an escape in second period, but was dominant from that point on, scoring a takedown with 1:18 remaining in the match and garnering 2:49 seconds of riding time to win, 3-1.

Freshman James Green provided the Huskers a spark in the middle of the lineup at 157 pounds by taking down Nick Moore (UI), 12-7, to give NU its second win of the night. Green entered the third period with a 7-1 lead, but had to hold Moore off in the final period and iced the match with a takedown with 22 second remaining.

Iowa native Josh Ihnen (184) gave the Huskers their last victory of the night, defeating Vinnie Wagner (UI) in the last match at 184 pounds. No. 7 Ihnen jumped out of the gates with a takedown and led the match 2-1 after one period. Ihnen used a takedown in the second period and two in the final period to pull away, 10-5.

No. 3 Robert Kokesh (165) dropped his first dual match of the season at 165 pounds, falling to ninth-ranked Mike Evans (UI) by decision, 7-3.

A 125 and 133 pounds, No. 2 Matt McDonough (UI) and No. 2 Tony Ramos (UI) gave the Hawkeyes a 12-3 lead four matches into the dual. McDononugh took down Nagel by fall (4:50), while Kiley fell by a 10-3 decision.

True freshman No. 6 Jake Sueflohn (141) was able to get an early takedown against No. 3 Montell Marion (UI), but gave up his first loss in six matches, falling by decision, 9-6. At 149 pounds, Brandon Wilbourn was defeated by Mike Kelly (UI), 7-3, while No. 20 Tyler Koehn (174) fell in his match to No. 11 Ethen Lofthouse (UI) by decision, 8-1.

Scouting the Indiana Hoosiers
The Hoosiers will enter Friday's dual with a 6-4 overall record, while going 0-4 in conference duals so far this season. Indiana has dropped four straight duals since starting the season 6-0, including a loss to Michigan State in their last dual by tiebreaker after the schools finished tied at 20-20. Indiana had an impressive showing at the Las Vegas Invitational, taking 12th place overall and placing two wrestlers on the awards stand. One of those wrestlers was senior Matt Powless, who will lead the Hoosiers with a 23-3 record and a No. 3 national ranking at 197 pounds. Powless was an All-American last season and led the country in major decisions with 13.

Indiana has one other ranked wrestler in No. 20 Taylor Walsh. Walsh is 20-7 on the season and leads the Hoosiers in falls with 10. Ryan LeBlanc is second on the team in victories with 21 at 174 pounds.

IU is coached by Duane Goldman, who has guided a wrestler to the NCAA tournament each year of his 19 years at Indiana.

Husker History vs. Indiana
The Huskers and Hoosiers have met a total of 15 times in their histories, with the Huskers holding a 10-5-0 edge in the all-time series. Nebraska won the last dual between the school's on Jan. 15, 2005, by a 25-9 score in Hampton, Va.

Scouting the Purdue Boilermakers
Before the Boilermakers make it to Lincoln, the will first face off against the Wisconsin Badgers on Friday, Jan. 20. Purdue currently owns a 6-7 overall record and is 1-3 in Big Ten duals, including a tough 40-0 shutout to Minnestoa in its last dual. Purdue's lone Big Ten victory came against Michigan State on Dec. 9, when they took down the Spartans 22-17.

Leading the way for Pudue is Cashé Quiroga, who is ranked at No. 9 at 133 pounds. Quiroga is 7-4 on the season, but has dropped his last three duals. UNC Greensboro transfer Ivan Lopouchanski is ranked at No. 15 at 149 pounds. The junior won his first six matches of the season before being injured against Donnie Vinson of Binghamton on Nov. 26. Since that match, Lopouchanski has gone 2-3.

Purdue is coached by Scott Hinkel, who is in his fifth season as head coach and is in his 28th season of being associated with the Boilermaker program either as an athlete or a coach.

Husker History vs. Purdue
Nebraska holds a 5-1-0 edge over Purdue in the all-time series between the two schools, with the Huskers winning the last match up, 22-19, on Feb. 19, 1992 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Nebraska vs. Minnesota to be Aired on Big Ten Network
Nebraska's upcoming dual against the Minnesota Gophers on Sunday, Feb. 5, will be shown on a the Big Ten Network on tape delay. The dual will begin in Minneapolis at Noon (CT) and will be replayed at 5:30 p.m. (CT) the same day. It will mark the second time the Huskers have been featured on the Big Ten Network this season.

Huskers in the Rankings
For the third consecutive week, the Huskers will have five wrestlers ranked inside the top 10 of their respective weight classes after the newest rankings were released by InterMat on Jan. 18. To go along with the five top 10 rankings, the Huskers also have two more wrestlers ranked in No. 19 Ridge Kiley (133) and No. 20 Tyler Koehn, who was new to the rankings last week.

Ranked Huskers include: No. 6 Jake Sueflohn (141), No. 9 James Green (157), No. 7 Robert Kokesh (165), No. 7 Josh Ihnen (184) and No. 8 Tucker Lane (Hwt).

As a team, the Huskers remained the same in the NWCA Coaches poll this week at No. 7.

Lane Riding Hot Streak Over Ranked Foes
Senior Tucker Lane is currently riding one of the hottest streaks of any Husker in recent history having beat four straight nationally ranked opponents. The last Husker to win four straight matches over ranked foes was Stephen Dwyer in 2010. Lane's current streak surpasses the number of ranked opponents that he defeated last year, which was 3. The Redvale, Colo., native has defeated a total of seven ranked opponents this year and has won 11 straight matches to help him reach his 17 total victories.

Lane Five Victories Away from 100-Win Club
Lane is only five wins away from becoming the 20th wrestler in Nebraska history to win 100 matches during his career at Nebraska. Lane is a four-year starter at heavyweight for the Huskers, and has posted at least 23 victories in each of his first three seasons. The three-time NCAA qualifier won 28 matches during his redshirt freshman season, before winning 23 his sophomore year and 27 last season.

The latest Husker to join the 100-win club was two-time NCAA champion Jordan Burroughs, who did so in 2010-11.

Green Looks to Break Top 10 for Freshman Wins
True frehman James Green currently sits six victories away from cracking the top 10 for most victories in a season by a true freshman. Green's 21 victories is good enough for third on the team and leads all varsity starters. Former Husker Justin Ruiz currently sits at No. 10 with a 27-11 record in 2001-02 as a freshman.

Green has won nine straight matches that have included three wins by major decision and three over ranked  foes.

Freshmen Making Mark
The Huskers have received a boost from four freshmen in the middle of the lineup to help propel the team to its 10-1 start. Redshirt freshmen Brandon Wilbourn (149) and Robert Kokesh (165), along with true freshman Jake Sueflohn (141) and James Green (157) have combined to capture 31 dual victories. Green leads the pack with 21 overall victories and has won seven duals by major decision. The Willingboro, N.J., is currently ranked at No. 9 by InterMat. Kokesh has been nearly perfect this season, only dropping three matches to en route to his 18-3 record and a No. 7 ranking. The Wagner, S.D., native has won 14 out of his 19 matches in bonus-point fashion, with seven pins, one technical fall and six major decisions. Sueflohn has won 16 matches this season and has a 9-2 dual record, while Wilbourn has won five out of his last seven matches to improve his record to 9-6.

Kokesh Earns Big Ten Honor
Redshirt freshman Robert Kokesh became the first Nebraska wrestler to earn Big Ten Wrestler-of-the-Week honors this season, when the conference announced the award on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Kokesh was rewarded for efforts in Nebraska's 19-15 upset of No. 14 Wyoming at the NU Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Kokesh extended the NU's lead over Wyoming to seven points with only two matches remaining with his 5-0 decision over No. 3 Shane Onufer at 165 pounds. The win avenged a 6-2 loss that Kokesh suffered to Onufer earlier in the year at the UNK Open.

Manning Wins No. 150 at Nebraska
Head Coach Mark Manning became only the second coach in school history to record 150 dual victories at Nebraska when the Huskers defeated Kent State on Nov. 12. Manning joins former coach Tim Neumann as the only other coach to reach the mark, with each coach doing so in their 12th season.

Manning has averaged over 13 dual victories per season at Nebraska en route to his 159-61-3 record, which is the best clip in school history. For his career, Manning owns a 182-85-5 record after spending three seasons at Northern Iowa.

Manning Named FILA Freestyle Coach of the Year
After helping former Husker Jordan Burroughs become the first American to claim a World Championship since 2006, Nebraska Head Coach Marking Manning was named the international freestyle coach of the year for 2011, announced by FILA, the international wrestling federation, on Nov. 1. Manning was Burroughs' personal coach, as he made a meteoric rise through the international wrestling ranks and won his first World Championship in September.

Manning helped Burroughs capture the gold medal at 163 lbs./74 kg at this year's World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, after already winning the U.S. Open and U.S. Team Trials titles earlier this year. Before his success at the international level, Burroughs became the school's only two-time national champion after capturing the 165-pound national title in 2011 and earning the prestigious Hodge Trophy, given to the nation's most outstanding wrestler, under Manning's tutelage.

Manning has an impressive track record on the international level having been a part of numerous World Team coaching staffs. Along with being a member of the 2011 staff, Manning also helped coach the 2009 team that competed in Denmark and placed seventh and was also part of the staff in 2010. In 2001, Manning was named the Head Coach of the freestyle team, but could not travel with the team after the tournament was moved from New York to Bulgaria following the September 11th attacks because of his collegiate coaching responsibilities. Manning was an assistant coach on the U.S. Olympic Team staff in 1996 and 2000.