Huskers Ink Five Wrestlers

Lincoln, Neb. – Nebraska Wrestling Head Coach Mark Manning announced the signing of five student-athletes on Friday. The signees include Chad Red, Beau Breske, Eric Schultz, Taylor Venz and Johnny Blankenship.

“This is a tremendous recruiting class of guys with outstanding records in high school,” Manning said. “We are most impressed by their level of development and commitment to being the best. It bodes very well for our program moving forward. I’d like to commend my entire staff on a great job.”

Chad (CJ) Red - New Palestine, Ind. (New Palestine) - 141
Chad Red is the No. 5 pound-for-pound wrestler in the nation and the top-ranked 132-pounder in the country, according to the Asics FloRankings. Red is a three-time state champion, capturing the 126-pound title in 2015 after winning at 120 pounds in 2014 and 106 in 2013. The New Palestine, Ind., product won the 2015 FloNationals crown at 126 pounds after finishing fourth in the tournament at 120 pounds in 2014. In addition, Red is the 2014 Super 32 champion (126) and 2014 Fargo Junior Cadet Nationals champion (126).

Beau Breske - Hartford, Wis. (Hartford Union) - 174
Beau Breske is the No. 2-ranked wrestler nationally at 182 pounds in the FloRankings, and is No. 9 in overall class ranking. The two-time state champion won at 170 pounds in 2014 after taking the 152-pound crown in 2013. Breske collected runner-up honors in 2015. He finished fourth in the 2015 UWW Cadet University Nationals (76 kg). In addition, he captured titles in the 2015 Fargo Junior Freestyle (170), 2014 Fargo Junior Cadet Nationals (170), 2013 Fargo Cadet Freestyle (170) and 2013 Fargo Cadet Greco-Roman (170). Breske earned runner-up accolades in the 2014 FILA Cadet Freestyle (168) and 2014 FILA Cadet Greco-Roman.

Eric Schultz - Tinley Park, Ill. (Tinley Park) - 197
Eric Schultz is ranked fourth at 195 pounds by FloRankings, and is No. 26 in overall class ranking. Schultz won weight class titles in the 2015 Illinois Freestyle (195), 2015 Illinois Greco-Roman (195) and 2015 TOA Dominate in the Dells (195). He finished fourth in the 2015 Cadet Folkstyle Nationals (195).

Taylor Venz - Farmington, Minn. (Farmington) - 184
Taylor Venz won the 2015 Minnesota Junior State Freestyle at 170 pounds and finished runner-up in the Cliff Keen USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals. Venz took third in the 2014 Air Force Minnesota Christmas Tournament at 145 pounds. In addition, he won the state folkstyle title as a freshman at 106 pounds.

Johnny Blankenship - Platte County, Mo. (Platte County) - 165
Johnny Blankenship is the No. 13 wrestler at 160 pounds in the FloRankings. The 2014 state champion at 145 pounds collected runner-up honors in the 2014 Fargo Junior Cadet Nationals at 152 pounds. Blankenship took sixth in the 2015 Cadet Freestyle at 69 kg and finished third in the 2014 USA Wrestling Folkstyle at 145 pounds.