Three Huskers Earn Reno Titles

Reno, Nev. – Jake Sueflohn (149), James Green (157) and Robert Kokesh (174) each won their respective weight division titles to lead Nebraska to the team championship at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday.

The Huskers finished with 159 points, which was 56 ahead of second-place Wyoming. North Carolina finished third with 97 points.

After Sueflohn took a first-round bye, he won back-to-back major decisions before capping his perfect day with three consecutive decisions. He won the championship match by a 7-1 margin over The Citadel’s Matt Frisch. Sueflohn, the No. 6 wrestler in InterMat’s rankings, improves to 18-3 on the season.

Green pinned three of his five opponents in Reno, while adding a technical fall and one decision. He took down Andy McCulley of Wyoming in the championship bout, 9-5. Green, the No. 4 wrestler by InterMat, moves to 18-0 and earns his third tournament title of the season. He won the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open and Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational titles as well.

Kokesh capped his performance with a 3-1 decision over Southern Oregon’s Brock Gutches in the finals. Kokesh added a decision in his opening bout, but earned two pins and two major decision in his other matches. His quickest pin came in the third round in a time of 1:02. Kokesh improves to 20-1 this season.

Tim Lambert (125) and Austin Wilson (165) each made it to the finals in their respective weight classes, but ultimately took runner-up honors. Lambert went 4-1 with a major decision before falling to Wyoming’s Tyler Cox in the finals by a 4-3 margin. Wilson opened with back-to-back technical falls before a major decision in the third round. He lost to Corey Mock of Tennessee-Chattanooga, 9-1, in the championship match.

At 141 pounds, Anthony Abidin earned a third-place finish, winning a 13-0 major decision over CSU-Bakersfield’s Ian Nickell in his final match. Abidin registered two pins on his way to the semifinals before falling by an 8-3 decision to Joey Ward. Abidin won two matches in the consolation bracket following his lone loss of the day.

Spencer Johnson (197) and Collin Jensen (HWT) each finished fifth. Johnson dropped a 3-1 decision to Reuben Franklin of CSU-Bakersfield in his first match of the day, but reeled off five consecutive victories before suffering his second loss. He defeated Upper Iowa’s Carl Broghammer by injury default in the fifth-place match.

Jensen pinned his first opponent, but lost in the second round. In the consolation bracket, he won five matches, two of which were by fall. His final victory was a pin in 5:37 over Wayne Purnell of West Virginia.

Colton McCrystal (133), Ben Morgan (133), Brandon Wilbourn (165), McCoy Newberg (174), TJ Dudley (184) and Aaron Studebaker (197) also competed at the Reno Tournament of Champions for the Huskers.

Nebraska returns to dual competition on Jan. 3 when the Huskers host Wyoming at the Devaney Center. The dual starts at 7 p.m., and will be available on the Big Ten Digital Network. NU’s next Big Ten matchup is Jan. 10 against Indiana. The Huskers and Hoosiers are set for a 7 p.m. start at the Devaney Center, with video streaming on BTDN.