Huskers Ready to Go Against UNI at Tumble N' Rumble

#11 Nebraska Cornhuskers 6-2 (1-1) vs. #14 Northern Iowa Panthers 2-2 (2-0)

Saturday, Jan. 12 (Tumble N’ Rumble)

7 p.m.

Lincoln, Neb.

Bob Devaney Center

Live Streaming: Huskers.com

Live Stats: TrackWrestling

 

Lincoln, Neb. -- The #11 Nebraska Cornhuskers will host the #14 Northern Iowa Panthers at the Devaney Center on Saturday, Jan. 12. The dual will begin at 7 p.m. with live streaming available on Huskers.com.

The Panthers lead the all-time series over the Huskers 29-16-1, however, UNI hasn’t beaten the Huskers since the 1990-91 season. NU is undefeated in its last 12 duals against UNI (11-0-1).

Saturday’s dual will be a part of the Tumble N’ Rumble promotion with the Nebraska women’s gymnastics team. They host Washington at the same time at the Devaney Center. Feb. 12, 2016 was the last Tumble N’ Rumble was hosted by Nebraska, announcing an official attendance of 3,152.

Northern Iowa returns five NCAA qualifiers from a team that finished 24th overall at last year’s NCAA Championships and 2nd at the Big 12 Championships. Now in the ninth year of the Doug Schwab era, the head coach has guided nine wrestlers to All-America status at UNI.

Eight of the ten NU starters are ranked in the top 20 of their weight class by InterMat. Tyler Berger (157) is the highest ranked Husker at #2 nationally.

Nebraska’s Projected Starters:

125: #14 Sr. Zeke Moisey (6-5)

133: R-Fr. Tucker Sjomeling (11-5) -OR- R-Fr. Christian Miller (3-6)

141: So. Chad Red Jr. (11-5)

149: Jr. Jordan Shearer (6-3) -OR- Jr. Collin Purinton (8-5)

157: #2 Sr. Tyler Berger (14-1)

165: #6 Jr. Isaiah White (9-3)

174: #9 R-Fr. Mikey Labriola (14-2)

184: #5 So. Taylor Venz (11-3)

197: #12 So. Eric Schultz (13-5)

285: #14 Jr. David Jensen (9-0)

 

Northern Iowa’s Projected Starters:

125: Jr. Jay Schwarm (5-5)
133: R-Fr. Jack Skudlarczyk (3-6)

141: #8 Sr. Josh Alber (18-4)
149: Jr. #8 Max Thomsen (12-3)

157: R-Fr. Patrick Schoenfelder (4-13)

165: #12 Jr. Bryce Steiert (13-4)
174: #8 Jr. Taylor Lujan (15-2)
184: #6 Sr. Drew Foster (15-2)
197: Fr. Tyrell Gordon (12-4)

285: So. Izaak Shedenhelm (5-11)

 

Top Matchups to Watch:
141: #20 Chad Red Jr. (NEB) vs. #8 Josh Alber (UNI)

165: #6 Isaiah White (NEB) vs. #12 Bryce Steiert (UNI)

174: #9 Mikey Labriola (NEB) vs. #8 Taylor Lujan (UNI)

184: #5 Taylor Venz (NEB) vs. #6 Drew Foster (UNI)

 

Scouting Northern Iowa

• Head Coach: Doug Schwab

• Career Record: 72-49-0 (Ninth year)

• Record at Northern Iowa: 72-49-0 (Ninth year)

 

• 2018-19 Record: 1-2 (0-0 Big 12)

Wins (1): at West Virginia

Losses (2): at #18 Pittsburgh, #7 Cornell

 

• In his nine-year career at UNI, Head Coach Doug Schwab has guided nine wrestlers to All-American status. Last season, UNI had six wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships. Jacob Holschlag (197) expired his eligibility last season, however, he was the only Panther to garner All-America honors, finishing fifth in his weight class after entering the tournament unseeded.

 

• The five NCAA qualifiers from last year who returned in 2018-19 are Jay Schwarm (125), #8 Josh Alber (141), #8 Max Thomsen (149), #12 Bryce Steiert (165) and #8 Taylor Lujan (174).

 

• Coach Schwab has led UNI to three top 20 NCAA finishes during his tenure, including back-to-back 15th-place finishes in 2013 and 2014.

 

Eight Huskers Ranked in Intermat, OpenMat, FloWrestling Rankings

• Eight Nebraska wrestlers are currently ranked in the top 20 of their weight class by the weekly rankings services. Tyler Berger (157) is the highest-ranked Husker, standing as the No. 2 ranked wrestler in his weight class in all three rankings services.

 

• Zeke Moisey (125) checks in at No. 14 in the InterMat rankings, No. 13 in the OpenMat rankings and No. 15 on the FloWrestling rankings.

 

• Taylor Venz (184) ranks as the No. 5 wrestler by both InterMat/OpenMat while coming in at No. 4 on FloWrestling’s rankings. Eric Schultz (197) is ranked as high as No. 6 in the country in the OpenMat rankings.

 

• Chad Red Jr. (141) ranks as the No. 17 wrestler in the OpenMat rankings and No. 20 in InterMat/Flo.

 

• Isaiah White (165) ranks as the No. 6 wrestler in his weight class in the FloWrestling and InterMat rankings, and No. 7 in OpenMat’s rankings. David Jensen (HWT) remains the No. 14 wrestler in his class in the InterMat rankings, while coming in at #15/19 in FloWrestling and OpenMat’s rankings.

 

Berger Notches Wins and Earns National Accolades

• After winning his 102nd career match on Sunday against Northwestern’s #2 Ryan Deakin, redshirt senior Tyler Berger sits seven wins away from entering the top-15 in the all-time wins list at Nebraska.

 

• Prior to Sunday, his top victory of the season came against #4 Hayden Hidlay of NC State. Hidlay, who lost just one match last year on the way to a national runner-up finish, defeated Berger twice in 2017-18.

 

• Long awaiting revenge, Nebraska’s 157-pounder earned a 5-2 decision over Hidlay on Dec. 16 in Raleigh, N.C., beating his fist on the mat in the bouts’ waning seconds as he celebrated a hard-fought victory.

 

• Berger has been unshy about stating that being the national champion at 157 pounds is his goal this year. After Sunday’s win over No. 2 Ryan Deakin, Berger has now defeated three of the top seven wrestlers in the country at 157 pounds (#2 Deakin, #4 Hidlay, #7 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State)).

 

• On Monday, Jan. 7, OpenMat honored him with their National Wrestler of the Week Award. Two days later, USA Wrestling named the senior its Athlete of the Week.

 

Huskers Host Honorary Captain

• The Huskers wrestling team honored Lincoln North Star student Harley Kessler before last Sunday’s dual against Northwestern. Head Coach Mark Manning named Kessler an honorary captain after meeting him at a Magic Moments event through Union Bank & Trust hosted by his school last month.

 

• An avid Husker wrestling fan, Kessler was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer called Osteosarcoma in August of 2018. His battle with cancer is ongoing.

 

Last Time Out: The Huskers earned a Big Ten victory over the Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday at the Devaney Center. After starting out in a 14-4 deficit, NU won the final six matches to win 26-14.

 

Up Next: Nebraska heads to the east coast next weekend for two road duals in less than 72 hours. The team travels to College Park, M.D. to battle Maryland on Friday, Jan. 18 and State College, Pa., to take on the #1 Penn State Nittany Lions on Sunday, Jan. 20.