Huskers Host Wildcats in Devaney Dual Opener

No. 13 Nebraska (0-0, 0-0) vs. No. 19 Northwestern (4-0, 0-0)
Devaney Center (7,907) • Lincoln, Neb. • Sunday, Nov. 17 • 1 p.m. CT
Series History: Nebraska leads, 9-2-0
Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 25-12, on Jan. 12, 2013, in Evanston, Ill.
Twitter Feed: @HuskerWrestling
Scoring: TrackWrestling.com
Pre-Dual Events: Jordan Burroughs Tribute Video, Coach Manning Wrestling Instruction Video
Promotions: First 1,000 fans get a $1 hot dog, Nebraska Wrestling Alumni Reunion

The Nebraska wrestling team starts a new era at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday afternoon after years of wrestling at the NU Coliseum as the Huskers host No. 19 Northwestern at 1 p.m. CT.

No. 13 Nebraska will be making its first dual appearance of the season after competing at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open in Brookings, S.D., on Nov. 3 and hosting Wrestle-Offs on Nov. 8. The Wildcats have a perfect 4-0 dual record in the early going of the 2013-14 campaign.

Returning All-Americans Robert Kokesh (174) and James Green (157) will lead the Huskers on Sunday. Kokesh and Green, each juniors, are each ranked fourth in their respective weight classes after winning individual titles at the Daktronics Open.

Redshirt freshman Tim Lambert is expected to get the start at 125 pounds following a runner-up finish in South Dakota. Sophomore Anthony Abidin (141) and junior Jake Sueflohn (149) are each projected to start at their respective weight classes after also garnering second-place finishes at the tournament.

Colton McCrystal is projected to start at 133 pounds after not competing at the Daktronics Open, while TJ Dudley is listed as the starter at 184 pounds following a third-place finish.

Returning NCAA qualifiers Austin Wilson (165) and Caleb Kolb (197) are each expected to start against Northwestern. At heavyweight, either Collin Jensen or Nyle Bartling will start. Jensen, a redshirt freshman, is 4-0 after winning the individual title at the Daktronics Open. Bartling, a junior, finished seventh in South Dakota after a 3-2 mark in the tournament.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 9-2-0. Last season in Evanston, Ill., the Huskers won seven weight classes en route to a 25-12 victory over the Wildcats.

Sunday’s dual can be tracked on Twitter by following @HuskerWrestling. Scoring will be available on TrackWrestling.com. In addition, recap with play-by-play results will be posted to Huskers.com at the conclusion of the matchup.

The first 1,000 fans in attendance at the Devaney Center on Sunday will receive a voucher at the gates for a $1 hot dog. Fans will also get to see two special video presentations before the dual. A tribute to Jordan Burroughs is set to be played on the Devaney Center screens as well as a wrestling instruction video from Head Coach Mark Manning.

Sunday also marks the Nebraska wrestling alumni reunion where 31 past student-athletes will be honored between the fifth and sixth matches.

Last Time Out: Three Huskers Win at Daktronics Open
Robert Kokesh (174), James Green (157) and Collin Jensen (HWT) each captured titles to open the season in the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open at Frost Arena on Sunday, Nov. 3.

Kokesh tore through the bracket at 174 pounds with two pins, one technical fall and two major decisions. The Wagner, S.D., native opened with a fall in 6:04 over Augustana College’s Drake Fanslau and added a pin in 2:06 in the semifinals against Michael Joseph of Minnesota. Kokesh completed his tournament run with a 13-3 major decision over Missouri’s Mike England in the finals.

Green took home the title at 157 pounds with a victory in the finals over Kyle Bradley of Missouri. Green added a pin, major decision and technical fall leading into the final match. His fall occurred in 1:49 in the quarterfinals against Northern Illinois’ Andrew Morse.

Jensen captured the heavyweight crown in South Dakota by winning four matches after a first-round bye. Jensen pinned his first opponent in 2:46 before a major decision in the quarterfinals. He won back-to-back decisions to cap his championship run, including a 7-3 victory over Devon Mellon of Missouri in the finals.

Tim Lambert (125), Anthony Abidin (141) and Jake Sueflohn (149) each made appearances in the finals but fell by decision to finish second. Lambert finished the day with four wins, including two by technical fall. Abidin achieved a pin in 1:08 and a technical fall as part of his four victories on Sunday. Sueflohn won five matches, earning two pins and two major decisions in the process.

Ben Morgan (133), TJ Dudley (184) and Spencer Johnson (197) each finished third in their respective weight classes. Dudley defeated fellow Husker Aaron Studebaker, 9-4, in the third-place match at 184 pounds.

Additional Husker placers include Brandon Wilbourn (fourth at 165), McCoy Newberg (fourth at 174), Shawn Nagel (fifth at 125) and Nyle Bartling (seventh at heavyweight).
Complete brackets and results from the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open can be found on TrackWrestling.com.

Scouting the Northwestern Wildcats
No. 19 Northwestern is 4-0 on the season and opens its Big Ten schedule on Sunday against Nebraska. In their most recent outing, the Wildcats took down Air Force, 28-15, before defeating Northern Colorado, 33-12, at the Denver Duals on Nov. 8. Northwestern started its season at home by dominating the University of Chicago and Stevens Tech by a combined score of 76-6 in Evanston, Ill.

2013 NCAA runner-up Mike McMullan is ranked No. 2 at heavyweight. The junior, who took third at the national tournament in 2012, is Northwestern’s highest ranked wrestler and only returning All-American. Jason Tsirtsis (ninth at 149) and Lee Munster (10th at 174) round out the Wildcats in the top 10 of InterMat’s rankings, which were released on Nov. 12. Pierce Harger is No. 11 at 165 pounds.

Northwestern is coached by Drew Pariano, who is in his fourth season as head coach of the Wildcats. Pariano graduated from Northwestern in 2000 before taking over the program in 2010. He holds a 42-14 record overall, having led Northwestern for the entire duration of his head coaching career.

Huskers Make Return to Devaney Center
After years of wrestling at the NU Coliseum, Nebraska returns to the Devaney Center in 2013-14 for all of its home duals. The Huskers will host six matchups at the newly renovated 7,907-seat venue this season.

In addition to hosting duals, the Devaney Center and Hendricks Training Complex house the wrestling offices, locker room, weight room and wrestling room, all just steps from each other, providing an atmosphere conducive to elite training. The Hendricks Complex, which is inside the Devaney Center, includes a practice facility, coaches’ offices as well as strength and conditioning and athletic medicine areas.

All-Americans Kokesh, Green to Lead Huskers in 2013-14
Nebraska returns two All-Americans and adds world-class newcomers in 2013-14 as the Huskers look to have their first national champion since 2011 and first-ever Big Ten champion.

Following top-eight finishes at last year’s NCAA Championships, juniors Robert Kokesh (174) and James Green (157) will provide the leadership for the Huskers in Head Coach Mark Manning’s 14th season at the helm.

As a team, Nebraska finished 13th at the 2013 NCAA Championships, with seven Huskers qualifying for the tournament. Kokesh capped a 38-4 campaign with a third-place finish, while Green notched his second consecutive seventh-place finish.

Manning Closing In On 200 Career Victories
Nebraska Head Coach Mark Manning is two wins shy of the 200th of his career. Manning, who is in his 17th overall year as a head coach, holds a 198-95-5 record. He has spent 13 seasons at Nebraska, where he is 175-71-3. Prior to coaching the Huskers, Manning spent three seasons with Northern Iowa, compiling a 23-24-2 record with the Panthers.

Newcomers Look to Make Early Impact
The Huskers added 11 newcomers in the offseason and have 13 returning letterwinners from last year. Newcomers Colton McCrystal (133) and Anthony Abidin (141) are projected to start for Nebraska this weekend.

McCrystal, a true freshman, finished his high school career with back-to-back Iowa state titles at Sergeant Bluff-Luton. Abidin, a sophomore, won the 2013 NJCAA national title at 133 pounds at Nassau Community College.

Huskers in the Rankings
Nebraska has five wrestlers ranked in InterMat’s latest poll, released on Nov. 12. Juniors Jake Sueflohn (149), James Green (157) and Robert Kokesh (174) each garnered a No. 4 ranking in their respective weight classes. Redshirt freshman Tim Lambert is 16th at 125 pounds and sophomore Austin Wilson is No. 20 at 165 pounds.

The WIN Magazine rankings were released on Nov. 11 and feature five Huskers in its poll as well. Sueflohn and Kokesh are each fourth, while Green rounds out the top-five with the No. 5 spot at 157 pounds. Caleb Kolb (197) is ranked 12th and Austin Wilson (165) is No. 14.

In the Amateur Wrestling News poll, released on Nov. 12, five Huskers achieved top-20 rankings. Green and Kokesh each earned the No. 4 position, while Sueflohn is No. 6 at 149 pounds. Collin Jensen (HWT) is 16th and Lambert is No. 17 at 125 pounds.

As a team, Nebraska is ranked in the top 15 of the InterMat, WIN Magazine and USA Today/NWCA/Amateur Wrestling News Coaches rankings. The Huskers are seventh in the InterMat poll, seventh in WIN Magazine and 13th in the Coaches poll.

Huskers Show Depth at Wrestle-Offs
Nebraska held its annual Wrestle-Offs in conjunction with the Fall Coaches Clinic at the Devaney Center on Friday, Nov. 8.

Returning All-American Robert Kokesh (174) made one appearance, winning a 17-2 technical fall over McCoy Newberg. 2013 NCAA qualifiers Jake Sueflohn (149) and Caleb Kolb (197) also competed during Wrestle-Offs and each won both of their matches.
Sueflohn opened with a pin over Luis DeAnda in 2:47 before winning by injury default over newcomer Destin McCauley. Kolb battled Spencer Johnson to extra time twice on the night, winning by a 3-2 margin on both occasions.

At 184 pounds, Aaron Studebaker and TJ Dudley split their matches against each other. Studebaker won the first battle by a 4-2 decision, while Dudley won the second showdown, 6-5.

At 125 pounds, redshirt freshman Tim Lambert defeated Shawn Nagel twice, winning the first by pin in 4:52 and the second by technical fall, 18-0. At 133 pounds, Colton McCrystal put together a pair of victories. McCrystal took down Ben Morgan, 6-1, before defeating Eric Montoya, 7-4.

Micah Barnes (165) won both of his matches, defeating Brandon Wilbourn by injury default and outlasting Ian Ousley, 12-3. At 157 pounds, John Svoboda picked up a pair of wins. Svoboda opened with a 5-2 triumph over Ousley and added a 5-2 decision over Metzler.
The heavyweights battled once on Friday night, with Nyle Bartling notching an injury default victory over Collin Jensen.

At 141 pounds, Anthony Abidin pinned Adam Joseph in 1:27 following Joseph’s 5-3 decision over Tyrell Galloway.

Huskers Face Challenging Schedule
Nebraska is set to make its first of 14 dual appearances on Sunday, leading up to the NCAA Championships, March 20-22, in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Huskers will also compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Reno Tournament of Champions and Big Ten Championships during the season.

The Northwestern dual on Sunday is the first of six home duals at the newly renovated Devaney Center this season. It also marks the first of eight Big Ten matchups for Nebraska in 2013-14. The Huskers will face seven teams that are currently ranked in the USA Today/NWCA/AWN Poll, released on Nov. 12.

Following the showdown with No. 19 Northwestern, Nebraska heads to South Dakota State on Nov. 24 to face the Jackrabbits at 2 p.m. CT. On Nov. 30, the Huskers will wrestle at the Stanford Duals against Utah Valley, Stanford and CSU-Bakersfield, starting at 1 p.m.

NU returns to Lincoln for a four-match home stand starting on Jan. 3 against Wyoming at 7 p.m. The Huskers host Indiana (Jan. 10), Penn (Jan. 11) and No. 4 Iowa (Jan. 18) during that stretch.

The Huskers conclude the dual season with five consecutive matches against top-25 opponents. NU hits the road on Jan. 24 to face No. 9 Ohio State before traveling to No. 21 Purdue (Jan. 26) and No. 7 Illinois (Feb. 1). Nebraska’s final home dual of the season is Feb. 7 against No. 20 Michigan. The regular season finale is Feb. 21 at No. 23 Wisconsin.

BTN, BTDN to Feature Huskers Nine Times
Nebraska will appear on the Big Ten Network twice during the 2013-14 season, while making seven appearances on the Big Ten Digital Network.

The Huskers’ first BTN coverage will occur on Saturday, Jan. 18 against Iowa at the Devaney Center at 4:30 p.m. CT. Nebraska will also be on BTN for its road dual in Champaign, Ill., against Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 1. The matchup starts at 4 p.m.

The first of Nebraska’s BTDN appearances is Friday, Jan. 3 against Wyoming. The dual starts at 7 p.m., at the Devaney Center. The Huskers’ other nonconference dual on BTDN is the Jan. 11 home matchup against Penn. The start time will be announced at a later date.

NU’s first of five inner-conference BTDN appearances is Friday, Jan. 10 as the Huskers host Indiana at 7 p.m. The Huskers’ home dual against Michigan on Friday, Feb. 7 will also be on BTDN, starting at 7 p.m.

Road appearances on BTDN include matchups with Ohio State (Jan. 24 at 6 p.m.), Purdue (Jan. 26 at noon) and Wisconsin (Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.).

The Big Ten has also announced times and coverage for the Big Ten Championships, March 8-9, in Madison, Wis. Session I on March 8 starts at 10 a.m., with a stream on BTDN. Session II on the same day begins at 5 p.m., on BTDN. Sunday’s Session III commences at 11 a.m., with the third-place matches slated for 1 p.m., on BTDN. BTN will broadcast the first-place matches at 1 p.m., on Sunday.

BTDN is available at http://video.btn.com/allaccess/ and requires a subscription. All dates and times of scheduled events are subject to change and can be found on www.BTN.com.
Any changes to Nebraska’s schedule during the season can be found on Huskers.com.

Burroughs Wins Second FILA World Title
Former Husker Jordan Burroughs added to his international wrestling legacy this fall by winning the 74-kg freestyle gold medal at the 2013 FILA World Championships on Sept. 18.

Burroughs captured his third consecutive world title with the win, which includes the 2012 Olympic Gold Medal in London, England, and the 2011 FILA World Championship. His crown marks the third FILA freestyle title won by a former Husker as Bill Scherr won at 90 kg in 1985.

In the gold medal match, Burroughs defeated Iran’s Essadollah Akbari by a 4-0 decision. Burroughs took a 1-0 lead late in the first period following a push out and extended the lead to 2-0 in the second period with an additional push out. With time winding down in the match, the Sicklerville, N.J. native took down Akbari to close out the match.

Burroughs opened the tournament with a 9-2 technical fall over Gamid Dzhalilov of Tajikistan before winning 7-0 over India’s Narsingh Yadav in the second round.

After the first round of the quarterfinals, Burroughs managed a 1-0 lead over Jabrayil Hassanov of Azerbaijan. The American struck quickly in the second period, however, and extended his lead to 7-0, which stood as the final score.

Burroughs faced Ali Shabanau of Belarus in the semifinals and trailed 0-1 before a double at the end of the first period gave him the lead. Burroughs expanded his lead as Shabanau received penalties for hitting Burroughs in the face. Burroughs held on to a 6-1 lead at the five-minute mark but Shabanau received his third caution and was ultimately disqualified.

Burroughs extended his international winning streak to 65 consecutive matches with his performance in Hungary. He was a two-time NCAA champion at Nebraska and won the Hodge Trophy in 2011.

Green Competes at World University Games
Nebraska All-American James Green went 1-1 representing the United States in freestyle wrestling at the 2013 World University Games at Ak Bars Wrestling Palace on July 11.
Green, a junior from Willingboro, N.J., defeated Finland’s Petteri Martikainen, 4-0, in his opening match in the 66 kg class. Martikainen finished fifth at the 2012 World University Championships.

Nebraska’s two-time All-American was then eliminated from medal contention in the round of eight with a loss to Kyrgyzstan’s Ulukman Mamatov.

Russia’s Magomed Kubanaliev defeated Armenia’s Devid Safaryan 3-1 to capture the gold medal at 66 kg.

Green was one of seven wrestlers from Big Ten schools competing on the 14-member USA Wrestling Team at the World University Games.

Green earned his place on the USA Wrestling World University Games Team by capturing the 66 kg/145.5-pound championship at 2013 ASICS University Freestyle Nationals in Akron, Ohio in late May.

Green was one of four U.S. wrestlers competing in freestyle at the World University Games, along with Ed Ruth (Penn State, 84kg), Nico Megaludis (Penn State, 55 kg) and Tyrell Fortune (Grand Canyon, 120 kg), who earned a bronze medal for the United States.