Green Moves Up to No. 1 at 157 Pounds

Nebraska junior James Green jumped to No. 1 at 157 pounds in five different NCAA wrestling polls that were released on Monday and Tuesday.

Green, a Willingboro, N.J. native, entered the weekend ranked third before his 9-7 decision over then-No. 1 Derek St. John of Iowa. Green now claims the top spot in InterMat, Amateur Wrestling News, WIN Magazine, Asics FloRankings and WrestlingReport. St. John falls to No. 2, while Oklahoma State’s Alex Dieringer rounds out the top three in each set of rankings.

In addition to earning the No. 1 ranking, Green collected USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week and Flowrestling.com’s Brute Wrestler of the Week Award.

On Saturday evening, Green’s victory over St. John came in the fifth match of the night as the Husker grappler earned four takedowns against the defending national champion. St. John was undefeated before falling to Green.

Green, a two-time All-American, is 22-0 this season and holds a perfect 8-0 record in duals. He has four pins, three technical falls and five major decisions to go along with five wins over ranked opponents.

During the course of the 2013-14 campaign, Green has earned titles at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open (Nov. 3), Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 6-7) and Reno Tournament of Champions (Dec. 22).

The Huskers hit the road this weekend for a pair of Big Ten duals. Nebraska faces Ohio State on Friday at 6 p.m., in Columbus, Ohio, before Sunday’s matchup against Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., at noon. Both duals will be streamed online on the Big Ten Digital Network.

James Green’s List of Honors This Week

• USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week (Jan. 21)
• Flowrestling.com’s Brute Wrestler of the Week (Jan. 20)
• Ranked #1 in InterMat
• Ranked #1 in Amateur Wrestling News
• Ranked #1 in WIN Magazine
• Ranked #1 in Asics FloRankings
• Ranked #1 in WrestlingReport

* - all rankings reflect the 157-pound weight class only