Huskers Dominate in Win Over #18 Wildcats

Evanston, Ill. - The No. 17 Nebraska wrestling team completed a weekend sweep of ranked opponents by defeating No. 18 Northwestern, 25-12, at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday night.

The Huskers improve to 8-3 with the win and 2-2 in Big Ten duals. Nebraska is 4-0 on the road this season. The Wildcats drop to 4-4 on the season with an 0-3 record in the Big Ten.

No. 4 Robert Kokesh (174) opened the match with a major decision over No. 9 Lee Munster, 11-3. Kokesh, a sophomore, earned his 10th dual victory of the season and 24th overall win of the 2012-13 campaign. He extends his win streak to 19 while earning his sixth major decision and ninth victory over a ranked opponent.

Senior Josh Ihnen, who is ranked eighth by InterMat, picked up his second technical fall of the weekend with a 16-0 win over Northwestern's Marcus Shrewsbury at 184 pounds. The victory gave Nebraska an early 9-0 lead as Ihnen picked up his 17th win of the season and improved to 9-2 in dual competition.

At 197 pounds, the Huskers suffered their first loss of the dual as Caleb Kolb fell by a 6-1 decision to Alex Polizzi. Nebraska bounced back at heavyweight as Spencer Johnson picked up his first victory of the season. Johnson, a sophomore, won a 6-0 decision over the Wildcats' Jacob Berkowitz. At 125 pounds, Nebraska's Eric Coufal lost a 6-2 decision to No. 18 Dominick Malone, cutting the Husker lead to 12-6.

The Huskers responded by winning the next four matches, starting at 133 pounds. Junior Shawn Nagel capped an impressive weekend with a 14-6 major decision over Garrison White. Nagel, who provided a crucial pin in Friday night's win over Michigan, won his 12th match of the season and improved to 6-5 in duals.

Ridge Kiley (141), Jake Sueflohn (149) and James Green (157) added decisions to extend the Huskers' lead to 25-6. Kiley won a 4-3 decision over Pat Greco to improve to 11-6 on the season. Sueflohn, who lost on Friday night, shut out Northwestern's Dylan Marriott, 5-0, for his 15th win of the season.

Green handed No. 2 Jason Welch his first loss of the season in a 9-8 decision. Green, a sophomore, capped a 2-0 weekend to improve to 7-0 in duals this season and 14-2 overall. In the final match of the night, Austin Wilson (165) was pinned by No. 13 Pierce Harger in 1:56.

The Huskers return home to host No. 6 Illinois at the NU Coliseum on Friday at 7 p.m. The dual will be available on Big Ten Digital Network.

Jan. 12, 2013
#17 Nebraska 25, #18 Northwestern 12
Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Ill.

Results
174: #4 Robert Kokesh (NEB) by major dec. over #9 Lee Munster (NU), 11-3 (NEB 4, NU 0)
184: #8 Josh Ihnen (NEB) by tech. fall over Marcus Shrewsbury (NU), 16-0 (NEB 9, NU 0)
197: Alex Polizzi (NU) by dec. over Caleb Kolb (NEB), 6-1 (NEB 9, NU 3)
HWT: Spencer Johnson (NEB) by dec. over Jacob Berkowitz (NU), 6-0 (NEB 12, NU 3)
125: #18 Dominick Malone (NU) by dec. over Eric Coufal (NEB), 6-2 (NEB 12, NU 6)
133: Shawn Nagel (NEB) by major dec. over Garrison White (NU), 14-6 (NEB 16, NU 6)
141: Ridge Kiley (NEB) by dec. over Pat Greco (NU), 4-3 (NEB 19, NU 6)
149: #8 Jake Sueflohn (NEB) by dec. over Dylan Marriott (NU), 5-0 (NEB 22, NU 6)
157: #7 James Green (NEB) by dec. over #2 Jason Welch (NU), 9-8 (NEB 25, NU 6)
165: #13 Pierce Harger (NU) by fall over Austin Wilson (NEB), 1:56 (NEB 25, NU 12)