No. 1 Kokesh Leads Huskers in Big Ten Pre-Seeds

Five Huskers earned top-five pre-seeds for this weekend’s Big Ten Championships when the conference announced them on Monday.

Senior Robert Kokesh, a two-time All-American, leads Nebraska with the top spot at 174 pounds. Kokesh holds a perfect 30-0 record this season and is one of eight top contenders for the WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy.

Three-time All-American James Green is the No. 3 seed at 157 pounds. Both Kokesh and Green captured Big Ten titles last season before earning top-four finishes at the NCAA Championships.

Additional Huskers in the top five include Anthony Abidin (No. 3 seed at 141 pounds), Tim Lambert (No. 4 at 125) and Aaron Studebaker (No. 5 at 197). TJ Dudley (No. 6 at 184), Justin Arthur (No. 7 at 149), Eric Montoya (No. 9 at 133), Austin Wilson (No. 9 at 165) and Collin Jensen (No. 10 at heavyweight) also garnered top-10 pre-seeds.

Nebraska finished the dual season with a 14-1 mark, which tied the school record for fewest dual losses in a season. NU posted an 8-1 record in Big Ten duals, which marked its best since joining the conference in 2011. The Huskers ended the season on a 10-match winning streak and also posted a 5-0 mark against ranked opponents.

The Big Ten Championships begin on Saturday at 9 a.m. (CT) at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Session II is slated for a 5 p.m. start on Saturday. Sunday’s action will consist of Session III, which starts at noon, and Session IV, which is set for 2 p.m. The first three sessions will be streamed on BTN Plus (subscription required), and the final session will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network.

Nebraska Pre-Seeds for Big Ten Championships
125: #4 Tim Lambert
133: #9 Eric Montoya
141: #3 Anthony Abidin
149: #7 Justin Arthur
157: #3 James Green
165: #9 Austin Wilson
174: #1 Robert Kokesh
184: #6 TJ Dudley
197: #5 Aaron Studebaker
HWT: #10 Collin Jensen