NU Set for First Tournament at Daktronics Open

#12 Nebraska Cornhuskers at Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open | Sunday, Nov. 4, 9 a.m. (CT) Brookings, S.D. (Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex) | Live Broadcast: FloWrestling (Subscription only)  

Brookings, S.D. -- The Nebraska wrestling team opens the regular season on Sunday, Nov. 4 at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open, as the Huskers are set to bring 17 of its 35 wrestlers to the tournament contested Sunday in Brookings, S.D. Action at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex is set to begin at 9 a.m. and the tournament will be broadcast live on FloWrestling (subscription required). Live results and brackets will be available at TrackWrestling.com

The Daktronics Open marks the first regular-season competition for Nebraska in 2018-19, and will assist the coaching staff in forming the dual lineup, as NU begins its dual season Nov. 16 against Wisconsin at the Devaney Center.

NU will compete with wrestlers from the University of Minnesota in addition to the host team, South Dakota State University. The Gophers, who finished fifth at the 2018 Big Ten Championships, went 7-5-0 in dual action last year. SDSU is coming off a 2017-18 campaign that resulted in a 12th place finish at the NCAA Championships.

The Huskers return 21 letter winners from last season, including seven starters and five NCAA qualifiers. All-Americans Tyler Berger (157 pounds), Chad Red Jr. (141 pounds) and Taylor Venz (184 pounds) highlight a strong group of returners. The Huskers will need to replace three starters from its 2017-18 group.

Although the Huskers return five NCAA qualifiers from last year’s team, only Eric Schultz (197) will be competing at the Daktronics Open. Tyler Berger (157), Chad Red. Jr. (141), Taylor Venz (184) and Isaiah White (165) are the four others who qualified for the 2018 NCAA Championships, but none will be making the trip. Highly regarded West Virginia transfer Zeke Moisey (125) won’t compete this weekend either, as he continues to recover from injury. He’s expected to make his Husker debut next weekend at the Northeast Duals.

The Huskers first home dual of the season will be against Wisconsin on Nov. 16 at the Devaney Center. Tickets to the Wisconsin dual, as well as each of the other six home duals, are on sale now, and can be purchased at Huskers.com/tickets or by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED.

Huskers Scheduled to Compete at the Daktronics Open:

133 pounds

Brian Peska, Jordan Kelber, Christian Miller, Tucker Sjomeling

141 pounds

Aris Shino

149 pounds

Collin Purinton, Kyle Ruettiger, Jordan Shearer

157 pounds

Zemua Baptista, Caleb Licking,

165 pounds

Johnny Blankenship, Dalton Peters

197 pounds

Eric Schultz, Cade Svoboda, Colton Wolfe

Heavyweight

Patrick Grayson, Christian Lance

Nebraska’s History at the Daktronics Open

Nebraska is competing at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open for the sixth time, as the Huskers have competed at the tournament in Brookings, S.D., in the last three seasons, as well as in 2012 and 2013.

Husker wrestlers have claimed a total of 25 weight class titles at the Daktronics Open, and four current Huskers own Daktronics Open titles. Tyler Berger has won the 157-pound title each of the last three seasons, while Chad Red Jr. has won at 141 in two straight years. Mikey Labriola (174) and Taylor Venz (184) each won their first Daktronics Open title in 2017-18. None of these four will be competing this time around, however. Eric Schultz (197) is the team’s lone NCAA qualifier who will wrestle Sunday.

Nebraska’s Champions at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open

2012: Tim Lambert (125); Shawn Nagel (133); Skylar Galloway (141); Jake Sueflohn (149); James Green (157); Robert Kokesh (174); Tyler Koehn (174); Josh Ihnen (184)

2013: James Green (157); Robert Kokesh (174); Collin Jensen (HWT)

2015: Kris Williams (125); Tim Lambert (125); Eric Montoya (133); Jake Sueflohn (149); Tyler Berger (157); Dustin Williams (165); Micah Barnes (174)

2016: Chad Red Jr. (141); Tyler Berger (157); TJ Dudley (184)

2017: Chad Red Jr. (141); Colton McCrystal (149); Tyler Berger (157); Mikey Labriola (174);

Taylor Venz (184)

Nebraska to Face Strong Dual Schedule

Nebraska posted a 10-4 dual record in 2017-18, its eighth consecutive winning season and 29th winning season in the last 31 years. This winter, the Huskers will look to continue that streak and build off a ninth-place finish at the 2018 NCAA Championships.

NU will face a challenging schedule that features 13 of the top-25 team finishers from last year’s NCAA Championships. The home schedule is highlighted by matchups against top-25 finishers Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Northern Iowa and Illinois. Stanford will also travel to the Devaney Center for the regular-season finale on Feb. 23. The Cardinal finished tied for 34th at the NCAA Championships.

As for tournament action, NU opens the season this weekend with the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open on Nov. 4. On Saturday, Nov. 10, the Huskers head to Albany, N.Y., for the Northeast Duals. They will also travel to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational Nov. 30-Dec. 1 for the second straight year.  The Big Ten Championships will take place March 9-10 in Minneapolis, Minn., where the Huskers will look to improve on three straight top-five finishes. The NCAA Championships are set for March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa., as NU will look to make it five consecutive top-10 national finishes.

Berger Looks to Earn Third All-America Award

A 157-pound senior from Prineville, Ore., Tyler Berger returns looking to become the 17th Husker to achieve All-America status in three separate years. He finished third after earning 15.5 points at the NCAA Championships last season, continuing a string of success at that weight in recent years. The Huskers have had an All-American at 157 in six of the past eight seasons.

Berger was second on the team last year with 28 wins, giving him a career record of 88-28. His performance on the mat in 2017-18 puts him just 12 wins away from joining Nebraska’s 100-win club. He would be the 28th all-time member of the 100-win club and first since Tim Lambert joined in 2016-17. Of Berger’s nine losses last season, six of them came against Hayden Hidlay of N.C. State, Andrew Crone of Wisconsin or Alec Pantaleo of Michigan. Berger fell to each of these opponents twice. A three-time NCAA Championships qualifier, he finished fourth at the Big Ten Championships last season.

NU Goes for Five Straight Top-10 finishes

Nebraska’s seven-member senior class of Tyler Berger, Tanner Farmer, Zak Hensley, Zeke Moisey, Brian Peska, Aris Shino and Dustin Williams enter the 2018-19 season looking to ensure that Nebraska’s streak of four consecutive top-10 NCAA finishes continues this season. Peska and Shino are two of the top competitors projected to take over the starting job at 133 pounds, while Zak Hensley posted an 11-4 record at 141 pounds last season. Tyler Berger looks to etch his name in the Husker history books as a senior. His career-best win total in a season is 36 in 2016-17 and he sits 40 wins behind Jordan Burroughs, who ranks in fourth place on the NU all-time wins list.

Dual Experience A Plus for NU

Nebraska returns 13 wrestlers with dual experience this season, including All-Americans Tyler Berger, Chad Red Jr. and Taylor Venz. Along with the three aforementioned wrestlers, redshirt sophomore Eric Schultz and junior Isaiah White return as NCAA qualifiers who gained significant dual experience last season. They combined to go 21-6 in duals. Berger, Red Jr. and Venz also won at least nine duals in 2017-18.

Brian Peska (133), Zak Hensley (141), Collin Purinton (149), Johnny Blankenship (165), Patrick Grayson (HWT) and David Jensen (HWT) all gained dual experience last season. As a team, NU won 10 of its 14 duals overall and seven of its nine Big Ten duals.

2017-18 Review:

NCAA Championships

Nebraska finished ninth overall with 47.0 points, marking the fourth straight season in which NU finished in the top 10.

Three Huskers earned All-America honors, including junior Tyler Berger (3rd - 157) and redshirt freshmen Chad Red Jr. (7th - 141) and Taylor Venz (4th - 184). Berger will be vying for his third All-America honor in his senior season while Red Jr. and Venz will work towards their second All-America honor in 2018-19.

Four other Huskers qualified for the NCAA Championships, including graduated senior Colton McCrystal

(DNP - 149), departed transfer Jason Renteria (Did not compete - 133), sophomore Isaiah White (Round of 12 - 165) and redshirt freshman Eric Schultz (DNP - 197).

Big Ten Championships

Nebraska finished fifth overall with 72.5 points. Graduated senior Colton McCrystal finished third overall at 149 pounds, while Berger (157) and Venz (184) each took fourth. Red Jr. (141), White (165) and Schultz (197) all took seventh place in their respective weight classes.

Regular Season

Nebraska posted a 10-4 record, with a 7-2 mark in the Big Ten. NU finished the dual season ranked 13th in the NWCA Coaches Poll. The Huskers won five out of its seven duals in the friendly confines of the Devaney Center last season.