Husker Wrestling: Season in Review

Season Highlights

Season Recap: 

• The 2019-20 campaign featured incredible highs and difficult-to-fathom lows for the Nebraska wrestling program.
• The early portion of the season saw the Huskers climb as high as No. 2 in the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll, tying the highest ranking in program history.
• NU capped a remarkable two-day run in Las Vegas, Nevada, by winning their third Cliff Keen Invitational team title in program history.
• The team showed incredible resilience, rebounding from a three-meet losing streak (all against Top 10-rated opponents) to defeat No. 3 Ohio State at the Devaney Center, the program's first win over a Top 3-rated opponent since 2008.
• The Huskers ultimately ended the regular season on a six-match winning streak and carried that positive momentum to the Big Ten Championships, where the Big Red placed second, the program's best finish as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
• NU qualified all 10 starters for the NCAA Championships but none of them had the chance to take the mat in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as the tournament was canceled due to concerns regarding the spread of the coronavirus.
• All told, the Huskers finished the season 11-3, marking Coach Manning's 10th consecutive campaign of ten or more wins and the 18th time in 20 seasons Manning has accrued at least 10 victories.     

Quick Notes - Dual Season

• Nebraska outscored its 14 dual opponents by a combined score of 373-170.
• Nebraska won 92 of 140 (66%) of the individual matches in dual competition.
• As a program, Nebraska has won 724 duals all-time after starting the season at 713 dual victories.
• The Huskers went 11-3, with all three losses (18-25 at #8 Wisconsin, 6-26 at #1 Iowa and 18-20 vs. #2 Penn State) coming to opponents ranked inside the Top 10 at the time of the dual.  
• With the win over Northern Iowa on Nov. 24, Head Coach Mark Manning picked up his 250th win at Nebraska. He is the all-time winningest coach in program history.
• Five Huskers won at least 20 matches this season and ten qualified for the NCAA Championships.
• Nebraska faced eight ranked teams, including three of the top-five, who were ranked in the final NWCA Coaches Poll: #1 Iowa, #2 Penn State, #5 Ohio State, #13 Minnesota, #14 Wisconsin, #15 Purdue, #16 Northern Iowa and #22 Michigan.
• Nebraska welcomed 15,101 fans for seven duals at home this season, setting a single-meet attendance record (5,960) at the Penn State dual on Jan. 24. 

Huskers Qualify All 10 Starters for NCAA Championships

• Nebraska was slated to bring its entire starting lineup to Minneapolis prior to the the tournament being canceled due to concerns regarding the spread of the coronavirus.
• All 10 wrestlers earned automatic bids with their performances at the Big Ten Championships.
• It marked the first time the Huskers had 10 NCAA qualifiers since 2016 and only the fifth time the program has accomplished this feat since 1980.
• NU was one of only two teams (Iowa) to qualify its entire lineup for the 2020 NCAA Championships. 

NCAA Qualifiers Breakdown By Class:

• Seniors (3): David Jensen (HWT), Collin Purinton (149), Isaiah White (165)
• Juniors (3): Chad Red Jr. (141), Eric Schultz (197), Taylor Venz (184)
• Sophomores (1): Mikey Labriola (174)
• Freshmen (1): Ridge Lovett (133)
• Redshirt Freshmen (2): Peyton Robb (157), Alex Thomsen (125)

Huskers Finish Second at 2020 Big Ten Championships

• The fourth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team finished in second place with 132 points at the 2020 Big Ten Championships, the program's best-ever finish as a member of the Big Ten conference and its best conference championships finish since tying for first at the 2009 Big 12 Championships. NU finished behind Iowa, which scored 157.5 points.
• When all was said and done, the entire Nebraska lineup clinched automatic bids to the 2020 NCAA Championships, the first time the program has accomplished that feat since 2016.
• The Huskers were led by Eric Schultz (197), who placed second at 197 pounds. In the title bout, No. 2 seed Schultz was matched up against No. 1 seed Kollin Moore (Ohio State). Moore handed Schultz the latter's lone dual meet loss of the season in Lincoln on Feb. 2 and proved his mettle once again, topping Schultz 4-1 to capture his third career Big Ten title.
• Chad Red Jr. (141), Collin Purinton (149), Peyton Robb (157), Isaiah White (165) and Taylor Venz all finished third; David Jensen (HWT) placed fifth; Alex Thomsen (125) and Mikey Labriola (174) finished sixth; and Ridge Lovett (133) placed seventh.
• 125: Alex Thomsen...........................................................................6th (3-3)
• 133: Ridge Lovett.............................................................................7th (3-2)
• 141: Chad Red Jr............................................................................. 3rd (4-1)
• 149: Collin Purinton......................................................................... 3rd (5-1)
• 157: Peyton Robb............................................................................ 3rd (4-1)
• 165: Isaiah White............................................................................. 3rd (4-1)
• 174: Mikey Labriola.......................................................................... 6th (3-3
• 184: Taylor Venz............................................................................... 3rd (4-1)
• 197: Eric Schultz .............................................................................2nd (2-1)
• HWT: David Jensen..........................................................................5th (4-2)

Nine Huskers Finish Season in National Rankings

• Nine Nebraska wrestlers finished the season ranked in the top 20 of their weight class by InterMat. Eric Schultz (197) is the highest-ranked Husker, standing as the No. 3 ranked wrestler in his weight class.
• Isaiah White (165) checks in at No. 5.
• Chad Red Jr. (141) is ranked No. 6.
• Mikey Labriola (174) and Taylor Venz (184) are both ranked at No. 9.
• Ridge Lovett (133) moved up to No. 12, the same spot at which Collin Purinton (149) resides.
• Peyton Robb (157) is the No. 14 wrestler in InterMat's rankings.
• David Jensen (HWT) rounds out the bunch, ranking No. 17 in the InterMat rankings. 

Huskers Tie Highest NWCA Ranking in Program History

• The Nebraska wrestling team made history when they were ranked No. 2 in the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Nov. 26. 
• The No. 2 ranking tied the highest ranking in school history and marked the first time the program occupied the second spot since February 2008.

NU Claims Cliff Keen Team Title

• Isaiah White (165) won his second consecutive individual title and the Nebraska wrestling team won their third Cliff Keen Invitational team title in program history on Dec. 7 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
• White was one of nine Huskers who placed as NU amassed 118 team points, the most among the 32 schools competing.
• The team title was Nebraska's first since 2008; the Huskers also took home the title in 2003. In both seasons, Nebraska went on to record Top-5 finishes at the NCAA Championships.
• Ridge Lovett (133) went 5-1 over the course of the weekend, including a win against then-#9 Taylor LaMont of Utah Valley, to finish third.
• Mikey Labriola (174) also went 5-1 to finish third, picking up a win over then-#14 Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) in the process.
• Returning All-American Chad Red. Jr (141) pinned then-#12 Tariq Wilson of NC State on his way to a fifth-place finish.
• Taylor Venz (184) recorded three pins and three wins over ranked foes en route to a fifth-place finish of his own.
• Eric Schultz (197) rounded out the trio of fifth-place finishers, as he went 5-2 over the course of the tournament.
• 125: Alex Thomsen....................................................................... DNP (1-2)
• 133: Ridge Lovett........................................................................... 3rd (5-1)
• 141: #6 Chad Red Jr. ......................................................................5th (4-2)
• 149: #13 Collin Purinton..................................................................8th (3-3)
• 157: Peyton Robb............................................................................7th (4-2)
• 165: #4 Isaiah White........................................................................1st (5-0)
• 174: #5 Mikey Labriola ................................................................... 3rd (5-1)
• 184: #6 Taylor Venz..........................................................................5th (5-2)
• 197: #10 Eric Schultz .......................................................................5th (5-2)
• HWT: #13 Christian Lance ...............................................................6th (3-3)

White's Pin Puts Huskers Past Ohio State

• Nebraska used a last-second, match-clinching pin from a hobbled No. 4 Isaiah White (165) to defeat No. 3 Ohio State 19-14 on Feb. 2. The Huskers won six of ten bouts overall to record their first victory over a top three-rated opponent since 2008.
• No. 6 Mikey Labriola (174) set the tone for what would be a thrilling meet with a match-opening 3-1 victory. 
• Buckeye redshirt freshman Rocky Jordan was able to record an upset victory over No. 8 Taylor Venz (184) in the second match of the afternoon.
• No. 6 Eric Schultz's undefeated streak against dual meet competition came to an end as No. 1 Collin Moore (197) tallied two takedowns and rolled up two minutes and 27 seconds of riding time to win 6-2.
• David Jensen (HWT) got the nod at heavyweight for a second consecutive match and recorded a second straight win for the Huskers. 
• Alex Thomsen (125) continued his streak of resurgent wrestling with a 5-2 decision over Malik Heinselman.
• No. 13 Ridge Lovett (133) added to the drama with a last-second reversal in his match against No. 19 Jordan Decatur.  
• No. 1 Luke Pletcher ran his record to 21-0 with a 10-1 victory over No. 8 Chad Red Jr. and No. 2 Sammy Sasso scored eight of his 13 points in the third period to defeat No. 14 Collin Purinton by a final score of 13-4.
• No. 16 Peyton Robb was able to even the team score at 14 with an 8-3 decision over Ohio State redshirt freshman Quinn Kinner.  
• With the match's outcome hanging in the balance, No. 4 Isaiah White squared off against No. 14 Ethan Smith, who had revenge on his mind following a 4-1 semifinal tiebreaker loss at the Cliff Keen Invitational back in December. White sustained a left ankle injury following a first period scramble at the edge of the mat. After receiving attention from the medical training staff, White decided to gut it out and continue wrestling. The back-and-forth match was 4-3 in favor of Smith with 10 seconds remaining. White then threw Smith to his back and recorded a pin with two seconds on the clock. Nebraska was deducted one team point for losing control of the mat, but it did little to dampen the Huskers' 19-14 victory.
• "I've been on the [losing] side so many times, including last Friday night [against Penn State], but today we made it happen," Head Coach Mark Manning said after the meet.

11 Huskers Earn Academic All-Big Ten Honors

• 11 Huskers were named to the 2020 Academic All-Big Ten team:
• Seniors (5): Johnny Blankenship David Jensen, Dalton Peters, Collin Purinton and Kyle Reuttiger
• Juniors (2): Eric Schultz and Taylor Venz
• Sopohmores (3): Tucker Sjomeling, Cade Svoboda and Colton Wolfe 
• Freshmen (1): Peyton Robb  

Huskers Sign Six Wrestlers to Class of 2020

The following wrestlers will join the Nebraska wrestling program ahead of the 2020-21 campaign:

Dominick Serrano
Windsor, Colo. (Windsor)
Projected Weight: 133 pounds 

• Dominick Serrano is a four-time state champion and became only the second Colorado prep to complete an undefeated high school wrestling career.
• Serrano won Colorado Class 4A titles at 120 pounds (2017), 126 pounds (2018) and 132 pounds (2019, 2020) and capped his career with a perfect 168-0 mark.    
• He also has a 2019 Fargo Junior Freestyle National Championship (132 pounds) and 2018 Cadet national title to his credit and is a Super 32 All-American.  
• Serrano is ranked second in the country at 132 pounds by FloWrestling, The Open Mat and InterMat.

Nathan Haas
Norwalk, Calif. (St. John Bosco)
Projected Weight: 184 pounds

• Nathan Haas finished his prep career by winning a second consecutive 182-pound California state title. 
• A Top 10-rated recruit by FloWrestling (No. 7), InterMat (No. 9) and The Open Mat (No. 8), Haas earned a first-place finish at the California World Challenge in October 2019.
• His resume also includes a 2019 USA Wrestling National Folkstyle Wrestling title at 181 pounds and a 2018 Junior Cadet title.

Silas Allred
Muncie, Ind. (Shenadoah)
Projected Weight: 197 pounds

• Silas Allred capped off his prep career by winning a second consecutive Indiana state title. 
• Allred's title completed what was a decidedly dominant senior campaign, as the 195-pound grappler went undefeated with 39 wins by pinfall, including four at the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Finals. 
• Allred finished his high school wrestling days with a 144-2 record, including 139 wins by fall, and a 74-match winning streak, with his last loss coming in a state quarterfinal bout when Allred was a sophomore. 
• Allred is ranked second in the country by FloWrestling, third by The Open Mat and fourth by InterMat.

Jeremiah Reno
Kansas City, Mo. (Liberty)
Projected Weight: 125 pounds 

• Jeremiah Reno finished his decorated high school wrestling career by winning a fourth state championship and running his career record to an unblemished 179-0. 
• Reno won Missouri Class 4 state titles in 2017 (106 pounds), 2018 (106 pounds), 2019 (113 pounds) and 2020 (120 pounds).    
• Reno also has a second-place finish at the 2018 Cadet Folkstyle Nationals to his credit. 
• He is ranked fifth in the country at 120 pounds by The Open Mat and fourth by InterMat.

Brock Hardy
Brigham City, Utah (Box Elder)
Projected Weight: 149 pounds

• Brock Hardy is a four-time Utah high school state champion and five-time first-place finisher at the USA Folkstyle Nationals.
• He was ranked as high as No. 2 at 145 pounds by some services.
• Hardy graduated from high school in 2018 and is currently serving a two-year LDS mission to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• He will join the Nebraska wrestling program for the 2020-21 campaign.   

Brandyn Van Tassell
Mapleton, Utah (Maple Mountain)
Projected Weight: 184 pounds

• Brandyn Van Tassell won a Class 5A Utah state championship at 182 pounds in 2018.
• He also won a state title in 2017, wrestling less than one year removed from tearing both his ACL and LCL in his knee.
• Like Brock Hardy, Van Tassell graduated from high school in 2018 and is currently serving a two-year LDS mission.
• He will join the Nebraska wrestling program for the 2020-21 campaign.