Huskers Look to Build Off Back-to-Back Top 10 NCAA Finishes

The Nebraska wrestling team returns seven NCAA qualifiers, which includes two All-Americans, entering the 2016-17 season. Six of NU’s wrestlers to qualify for last year’s NCAA Championships will be seniors this season, including TJ Dudley (184) and Eric Montoya (133).

Dudley took runner-up honors at the 2016 NCAA Championships, which marked his second All-America accolade. The Irmo, S.C., native, who is also the reigning Nebraska Male Athlete of the Year, enters his final season in a Husker singlet with a career record of 81-26. Dudley, who took second place at the 2016 Big Ten Championships, strung together four wins to begin his third NCAA appearance before falling to top-seeded Gabe Dean (Cornell) in the NCAA Finals, 5-3.

Montoya collected his first career All-America honor with a fifth-place finish at 133 pounds at the 2016 NCAA Championships. He went 29-10 last season, and will look to earn a spot on the podium again in March.

Senior Aaron Studebaker (197) and sophomore Tyler Berger (157) each advanced to the Round of 12 at the national tournament before being eliminated. The pair was a part of the group of four Huskers, including departed seniors Anthony Abidin and Jake Sueflohn, who fell one win shy of All-America status. Studebaker went 23-11 last season, which included a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. Berger, in his first year in the NU lineup, compiled a 24-13 mark at 157 pounds during the 2015-16 campaign.

Seniors Tim Lambert (125), Micah Barnes (174) and Collin Jensen (HWT) also qualified for the NCAA Championships last season. Lambert, a three-time NCAA qualifier, went 25-11 last season, which included a fourth-place finish at the conference tournament. Barnes, in his first year in the Husker lineup, compiled a 22-12 record for the Huskers at 174 pounds. Jensen, a three-time NCAA qualifier, went 23-16 last season.

The Huskers will look to replace departed senior All-American Austin Wilson, who finished seventh at 165 pounds at the 2016 NCAA Championships. Justin Arthur, Dustin Williams and Jaquon Sowell will likely battle for the starting spot for the Big Red in 2016-17.

The loss of departed seniors Abidin and Sueflohn will also open the door at 141 and 149 pounds. Colton McCrystal, Collin Purinton or true freshman Chad Red will represent the Huskers at 141 pounds. Redshirt freshman Jordan Shearer is projected to start at 149 pounds.

Nebraska Head Coach Mark Manning enters his 17th season at the helm of the Husker program, having guided Nebraska to back-to-back top-10 NCAA finishes. The Huskers took eighth place last season after finishing ninth in 2015. Nebraska owns 20 top-10 NCAA team finishes all-time, along with 11 individual national champions, 23 NCAA finalists and 101 All-Americans.

NU opens its 2016-17 campaign with the annual Coaches Clinic/Intrasquad, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 4 at the Devaney Center at 4 p.m. (CT). Also on opening weekend, Montoya will wrestle Zane Richards (Illinois) in the NWCA All-Star Classic in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Huskers will also compete in the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open in Brookings, S.D., on Sunday, Nov. 6.

Before the start of dual season, NU will travel to Ames, Iowa for the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on Sunday, Nov. 13. Nebraska’s first home dual is slated for Friday, Nov. 18 against West Virginia at the Devaney Center, beginning at 7 p.m. The Huskers will hit the road to battle Wyoming on Sunday, Nov. 20 in Laramie, Wyo.

The Huskers will host three teams at the NU Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 3, starting at 10 a.m. NU will grapple against Michigan State (10 a.m.), Drexel (noon) and Princeton (2 p.m.). The following weekend is a trip to North Carolina to face NC State (Dec. 9) and North Carolina (Dec. 10).

NU’s final competition of the 2016 calendar year will be the Midlands Championships, set for Dec. 29-30, in Evanston, Ill.

The Big Ten dual schedule commences on Sunday, Jan. 8 when the Huskers host defending national champion Penn State at the Devaney Center at 2 p.m. The following weekend, NU hosts Wisconsin (Jan. 13) and Michigan (Jan. 15) at the Devaney Center. The matchup with the Wolverines will be the annual Tumble N Rumble event with women’s gymnastics, and also NU’s lone Big Ten Network appearance of the season.

Nebraska’s final three duals of January will be on the road against Minnesota (Jan. 20), Purdue (Jan. 27) and Indiana (Jan. 29). Senior Night at the Devaney Center is set for Friday, Feb. 10 against Ohio State at 7 p.m. Two days later, on Sunday, Feb. 12, NU squares off with Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.

The NWCA National Duals are set for Sunday, Feb. 19, with the site and opponent to be determined.

The Big Ten Championships are scheduled for March 4-5 at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. Last season, the Huskers finished fourth as a team, marking their best finish at the conference tournament since joining the Big Ten in 2011.

The NCAA Championships will be held March 16-18 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. Start times and TV/streaming information will be available closer to the event.